Recently I have heard some pretty interesting myths about the agriculture and beef cattle industry. I have decided to do a segment here on discussing some of these myths and telling the truth behind them.
The other day someone asked me: is it true that if you see cattle lying down there is something wrong?
This is defiantly not true. Cattle actually sleep lying down much to the disappointment of all the myths about cow tipping. If a cow is sleeping standing up it is probably due to either poor ground conditions such as excessive mud so that she can’t lie down, or a really bad storm. In the case of a storm a cow will sleep standing up so as to avoid getting snowed in. If a cow is forced to sleep standing up she will get really weary and become too tired to eat and will lose weight. This is why ranchers always ensure that cattle have a comfortable place to sleep. 
Healthy cattle should spend most of their day chewing their cud or ‘idling’ (lying down or standing as part of a group) Cattle naturally have only two active periods where they are standing and moving around. These time periods are usually between 5-11 am and 4-10 pm. The rest of the day is usually spent lying down and chewing their cud. This is what i naturally observed, but since cattle are curiouse creatures if people come in they will often get up to check them out. 
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