Cows milked twice daily don't lie down as much as cows milked three times a day, according to Sara Ö sterman and Ingrid Redbo (20 January, p 19). The reason, they suggest, is that the former find it more difficult to lie down and get up.
If Österman and Redbo had chewed over their scientific cud a little more they would have discovered that when a cow is milked she is given her ration of dairy cake which sweetens and/or flavours the contents of her first stomach.
If a cow is milked three times a day she gets three portions of dairy cake, which encourages more chewing of the cud and thus more lying down.
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