Cow

Cow

Class	Farming and Animals
Type	Livestock
Life Stages	Calf Cow Bull
Breeds	Angus Simmental Holstein
Smallest Pen	80 tiles
Pregnancy	280 days
Products	Cow's Milk
Food	Animal Feed Grass Hay Vegetables Fruits
Old Age	4320 days

The Cow is the largest farm animal in Knox Country, and it gives a survivor milk, beef and a heavy hide. A single adult carries more meat than almost any other animal, and a milking cow keeps giving for as long as she is cared for.

Cattle are livestock. They live on farms and ranches, and they stay calm around people who treat them well. Young cattle are Calves. A female Calf grows into a Cow, and a male grows into a Bull. The Cow gives milk and calves, while the Bull fathers the herd.

The game has three breeds, and each one leans toward a different product. The black Angus is a beef breed with a lot of meat and very little milk. The black and white Holstein is the dairy breed, with a lot of milk and less meat. The brown and white Simmental sits between the two and does a fair job of both.

Cattle matter because one healthy herd can feed a group for a long time. Milk comes in every day once a Cow is in milk. A herd with a Bull also renews itself, so older animals can be butchered while young ones grow. The trade off is size. Cattle need wide pens, steady feed and careful handling.

How to Raise Cow

Cattle live inside a livestock zone. The zone helps them find food, water and shelter, and it keeps them from straying. Fences stop casual wandering, but a stressed animal can still break out. Adult Cows need the widest pen of any livestock, and a cramped pen slows their growth badly.

Cattle graze on usable grass inside the zone. They also eat animal feed, hay, vegetables and fruit from a feeding trough. Water goes in a separate trough, since one trough never holds food and water together. An empty trough left under the open sky fills with rain.

Calves drink milk from their mother. A newborn Calf must stay with the Cow that bore it to feed.

Stress is the main danger. Loud noise, nearby zombies and people running close to the herd all raise it. Being kept above ground level stresses cattle too. Butchering in sight of the herd frightens them, so slaughter belongs in a separate yard. A roof over part of the pen gives shelter from the weather.

Petting each animal raises its trust and lowers its stress. It also trains the Animal Care skill, as does milking. Bulls attack when stressed and fight back when hit. A Bull's charge can knock a person down and leave deep wounds.

Cattle are moved on a rope. A roped animal follows its handler to a new zone, a post, a tree or a livestock trailer. A stressed animal can break free of the rope. Calves can be picked up and carried, but adults cannot.

Cow Breeding

A Calf grows into an adult in about six months of game time. Bulls can breed a little before their first year. Cows can breed from about one year of age. Cattle mate at any time of year.

A pregnancy lasts about nine months. The pregnancy time can be changed in the sandbox settings. After a Calf is born, the Cow rests for a couple of months before she can carry again.

Genes pass from parents to Calf. They shape size, meat, weight, lifespan, milk, strength, fertility and temper. Each breed is pushed toward its own strengths, so an Angus Calf tends to grow meaty and a Holstein Calf tends to give a lot of milk. Two Bulls in one herd may fight, so one Bull is the safer choice. Cattle live for many years before they reach old age.

The cow grows through these stages, each one taking the days shown to reach full size.

Stage	Grows For	Becomes
Calf	180 days	Cow, Bull
Cow	360 days	-
Bull	360 days	-

Cow Breeds

Each breed of cow, with how much meat, milk and size the game sets for it.

Breed	Meat	Milk	Size
Angus	High	Low	Medium
Simmental	High	Medium	High
Holstein	Medium	High	High

Cow Products

A Cow starts making Cow's Milk a few days after she becomes pregnant. Milking needs a large fluid container such as a bucket. The amount depends on her breed, genes, age and condition. Holsteins give by far the most, and Angus give the least.

Regular milking keeps the milk coming. After the Calf is born, the milk dries up within a few days if she is neither milked nor nursing. A full udder left too long hurts her health, so a dairy Cow needs milking every day. Higher Animal Care gives larger yields and a calmer animal during milking.

Cattle also leave Cow Dung around the pen most days. Dung is compostable and feeds a composter.

What a living cow gives without being butchered.

Product	Name	Image	How
Milk	Cow's Milk	-	Milked from a Cow

Cow Butchering

A cattle carcass is the biggest prize a butcher can find. It gives Steak, Beef, Animal Sinew, Animal Bones, Large Animal Bones, a head, a skull and an unprocessed hide. Calves give less meat and a smaller Calf hide.

The hide and head follow the breed and the stage. An Angus gives an Angus Hide, a Holstein gives a Holstein Hide, and so on. Cows, Bulls and Calves each have their own head and skull.

A Butcher Hook is needed for an animal this large. Only a carcass hung on a hook gives up its hide. The hook also raises the amount of meat and other material. The final yield also depends on the animal's size, its meat genes, the age of the carcass and the Butchering skill. Whether the animal was roadkill matters as well.

What a butchered carcass gives at each life stage, one tab per stage.

CalfCowBull

Name	Amount	Breed	Spawn ID
Animal Bone	4-7	All	`/additem Base.AnimalBone`
Angus Calf Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Angus	`/additem Base.CalfLeather_Angus_Full`
Calf Head	1	All	`/additem Base.Calf_Head_Angus`
Calf Skull	1	All	`/additem Base.Calf_Skull`
Simmental Calf Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Simmental	`/additem Base.CalfLeather_Simmental_Full`
Holstein Calf Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Holstein	`/additem Base.CalfLeather_Holstein_Full`

Name	Amount	Breed	Spawn ID
Animal Bone	8-10	Angus	`/additem Base.AnimalBone`
Large Animal Bone	3-5	All	`/additem Base.LargeAnimalBone`
Angus Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Angus	`/additem Base.CowLeather_Angus_Full`
Cow Head	1	All	`/additem Base.Cow_Head_Angus`
Cow Skull	1	All	`/additem Base.Cow_Skull`
Animal Bone	7-10	Holstein, Simmental	`/additem Base.AnimalBone`
Simmental Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Simmental	`/additem Base.CowLeather_Simmental_Full`
Holstein Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Holstein	`/additem Base.CowLeather_Holstein_Full`

Name	Amount	Breed	Spawn ID
Animal Bone	7-10	All	`/additem Base.AnimalBone`
Large Animal Bone	3-5	All	`/additem Base.LargeAnimalBone`
Angus Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Angus	`/additem Base.CowLeather_Angus_Full`
Bull Head	1	All	`/additem Base.Bull_Head_Angus`
Bull Skull	1	All	`/additem Base.Bull_Skull`
Simmental Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Simmental	`/additem Base.CowLeather_Simmental_Full`
Holstein Hide (Unprocessed)	1	Holstein	`/additem Base.CowLeather_Holstein_Full`

Cow Locations

Cattle start on farms and ranches with cattle zones. Standard cattle farms keep a few Cows and one Bull. Large cattle farms keep a bigger herd with a single Bull. Some mixed farms roll cattle, sheep or pigs when the map is made. The breed is picked at random unless the farm sets one.

The farms that start with cow, by size, and how many females and males each one holds.