The average dairy cow eats approximately 25 kilograms of food each day. This includes a nutritionally balanced diet of ground oats, barley, corn, soybeans, hay such as clover and alfalfa, minerals and vitamins. Clean water is always available. On average, a dairy cow drinks 80 - 160 litres a day. Cows generally have their first calf at 2 years of age.
Cows are pregnant for nine months and are given a rest period from milking between calvings.
The average cow gives 27 litres of milk per day and cows are milked either 2 or 3 times each day. Some of the milk may be used to feed young calves on the farm and the rest is stored in refrigerated tanks where it is picked up every other day and taken in special trucks to the dairy. The Dairy Farmers of Ontario have a Nutrition Education Program and a Dairy Education Program for primary and junior levels.