World's Tallest Cow is a Holstein

[JWBrahman]

6'4" at the shoulder, the Illinois Holstein is being photographed for the Guiness Book of World Records.

 

[inyati13]

Nice.

 

[Stocker Steve]

She does not look like a milker. Do you think they will flush her?

 

[tja477t]

i wish the holsteins i used to milk were that tall. i hated bending over all the time

 

[JWBrahman]

She probably has a good life ahead of her as an attraction at state fairs and political events. If that is all the milk she has it is hard to see how anything could nurse her so far off the ground. That drop out of the birth canal cannot be fun for the calf, either.

 

[TexasBred]

Looks like a freemartin

 

[Nesikep]

It looks like it has a terrible conformation! I know a lot of dairy cows aren't all that pretty, but this thing doesn't look even close to being structurally sound,... and no udder? Unlikely she'll be used for flushing or anything else productive.. she'll just be a freak show attraction.

So what does that amount to in frame scores??

 

[Stocker Steve]

So what does that amount to in frame scores??

a 10 :lol:

 

[Nesikep]

Isn't the frame score (Height-48)/2 using inches?.. that would make her a 14.. I can't remember if it was 48 or 40 inch for a 0 frame, in which case it would be a 18. Makes my big cows look like minis either way!

 

[VirginiaCattle]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29624760

They have a short video of the cow on that link. The cow is 13 years old and doesn't move well at all.

 

[Nesikep]

I can't watch videos from here, but at 13years old I'd expect to see an udder. I could tell by her stance she wouldn't move well, she looks hunched permanantly

 

[B&M Farms]

Looks like a freemartin

Exactly. Probably the only way she got that big.

 

[Taurus]

Looks like a freemartin

Exactly. Probably the only way she got that big.

I don't know about that, I just saw few cull Holstein cows at sale barn last Monday, they are very big and biggest one weighted at 2,145 pounds and her udder is full of milk.

 

[Nesikep]

Umm.. it makes sense that she's a freemartin, but why the heck keep one for 13 years???.. I'm sure she's got a fair appetite too...

Can't imagine the splat those cowpies make hitting the ground!

 

[branguscowgirl]

Yep, just a big ole homely pet!

 

[TexasBred]

Looks like a freemartin

Exactly. Probably the only way she got that big.

I don't know about that, I just saw few cull Holstein cows at sale barn last Monday, they are very big and biggest one weighted at 2,145 pounds and her udder is full of milk.

Size has nothing to do with it. This one just has the look of a freemartin. There is no evidence that she ahs ever had a full udder at any time.

 

[Taurus]

Exactly. Probably the only way she got that big.

I don't know about that, I just saw few cull Holstein cows at sale barn last Monday, they are very big and biggest one weighted at 2,145 pounds and her udder is full of milk.

Size has nothing to do with it. This one just has the look of a freemartin. There is no evidence that she ahs ever had a full udder at any time.

I don't say that, I just don't believe that being a freemartin is responsible for her size but I don't see anything in that article suggests her being a freemartin. Not much about her story.

EDITED: Turns out that she's a strictly pet cow. Doesn't sounds like she has seen a bull in her whole life.

 

[Nesikep]

She's perhaps strictly a pet because she couldn't be bred... Or perhaps the dexter bull just couldn't find a way to do it :hide: I think if a cow that size was in heat, at some point in her 13 years she'd have walked over a fence to go find a bull.

So in fact she's not the world's tallest cow.. she's the worlds tallest and oldest HEIFER...

 

[VirginiaCattle]

She's perhaps strictly a pet because she couldn't be bred... Or perhaps the dexter bull just couldn't find a way to do it :hide: I think if a cow that size was in heat, at some point in her 13 years she'd have walked over a fence to go find a bull.

So in fact she's not the world's tallest cow.. she's the worlds tallest and oldest HEIFER...

I tend to agree with this assessment.

I would add that she's becoming immobile and i don't think she should be a pet much longer.

 

[inyati13]

She probably has a good life ahead of her as an attraction at state fairs and political events. If that is all the milk she has it is hard to see how anything could nurse her so far off the ground. That drop out of the birth canal cannot be fun for the calf, either.