Why are ALL of the cows lying down today? This week the herd is grazing in the field at the end of our road where an old brick silo stands. The grass has been bitten by all the frosts we've had recently, and it too is lying down, looking like scattered straw on the frozen ground. Today was sunny and windy, around 44 degrees at 1:00 when I set out, and all of the cows were lying down facing southwest. When I got home at 3:30 the cows looked like they hadn't moved, except for one who was doing a bovine down dog as it clambered to its feet to move a few inches and then plop down again.
so i asked my dairy farmer friend and he said the lying down in one direction has something to do with magnetic fields and/or polarity. go figure! and as for moving just a little bit- i think their guts can't stay in the same position too long, but i didn't ask him that question.
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