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How do cows get enough nutrition by just eating grass?

Best Answers

The problem many people don't know or understand is that cows don't eat just grass, and truthfully cannot get all their nutrients from grass alone. A lot of the nutrients they get actually comes from the microbial population in their rumen, not the grass alone. read more

A cow's natural diet isn't just grass, its plants, and believe it or not plants also have proteins and fats. Cows, strict herbivores, are a lot different from humans and as such they have different amino acid and vitamin profile requirements than we do. read more

Grass is not only difficult to digest, but time-consuming to eat. Many herbivores depend on grass for a majority of their diet, but grass doesn’t contain as much protein as meat does. A predator can get enough protein by eating perhaps only a handful of meaty meals a day. read more

A modern dairy cow consuming grass alone would be equivalent to a marathon runner or Olympic athlete consuming only lettuce with a few sprigs of broccoli. In the old days, everyone had a couple cows, and they only needed to make enough milk for their family. The modern dairy cow now makes about 10 gallons of milk every day. read more