Can Cows Eat Meat? Is it OK?

Animals are typically classified as herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores. Our cows, for instance, are herbivores because they eat nothing but plant matter… but just how strict is this classification?

Ask around and you’ll hear plenty of stories from cattle owners about how, every now and then, one or more of their cows will eat a bug, an egg, or even a whole bird. Surely something’s wrong with the cow!

But is it possible that cows need some special nutrients from meat? Can cows actually eat meat safely?

No, cows cannot and should not eat meat. They are incapable of digesting it and extracting any meaningful nutrients. Large amounts or repeated consumption of meat will make cows extremely sick.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s no secret method to the madness if you’re thinking about giving meat to your herd. If you are very lucky, nothing will happen, or they’ll only have a mildly upset stomach.

A far more likely outcome is you’ll make them terribly sick and throw the rumen environment into disarray. The bottom line is that you should never give meat or any other animal protein to your cows. I’ll tell you more in the rest of this article…

Cows are Not Carnivorous

It doesn’t get much clearer than this: cows are not carnivorous. They are herbivores, meaning they only eat and digest plant material. It doesn’t mean they are omnivores with a plant focus, and it doesn’t mean they can eat some meat once in a while or in emergencies.

Cows should not eat meat. That’s it. Accordingly, you shouldn’t give it to them or encourage them to eat it for any reason.

Any Animal Protein that Cows Eat is Usually Incidental

I should address something before we go further. There are videos online, and plenty of witnesses in real life, which will attest that cows seemingly do eat meat or other animal protein from time to time. I myself am among them, and have watched a few cows scarf up eggs, small lizards and even birds on occasion!

And before you ask, yes, they seemingly did it with great deliberateness. It isn’t like a bug was hiding in the hay and went down the hatch by accident or anything.

So, if you want to get really nit-picky about it, then cows do, occasionally, eat meat.

However, this is not the rule and not proof that they can or should: just because a cow might instinctively eat something doesn’t mean it is good or safe for them. Animals eat all sorts of dumb and indigestible things from time to time, as we all know!

When I say that cows don’t eat meat and shouldn’t eat it, it’s because meat is a totally non-nutritious option for them and highly likely to cause harm. It doesn’t mean they won’t try and it doesn’t mean they can’t swallow it. Your job is to see to it that they do not.

Do Cows Like Eating Meat?

Generally not. In my experience, I haven’t seen very many cows that will deliberately eat meat again and again, even if you do try to serve it to them. Their instincts are predominantly wired toward eating plant matter…

Is Meat a Nutritious Food for Cows?

No. This isn’t to say that meat itself, whatever kind it is, is not nutritious. It absolutely is! The issue is that cows cannot access this bountiful nutrition because they cannot properly digest meat.

So even though meat has lots of good calories, protein, healthy fat, and abundant vitamins and minerals it is wasted on cows because they cannot extract it to make use of it.

So it doesn’t matter if you’re considering giving your cows chicken, turkey, pork, beef, reptiles, insects, or eggs: their bodies just cannot process any of them.

In fact, the opposite is highly likely to happen: giving cows animal protein will usually cause serious digestive tract upset or even worse.

Can Dairy Cattle Have Meat?

No, dairy cows cannot have meat at all for any reason.

Can Beef Cattle Have Meat?

No. Although there is hardly anything that is as well-rounded nutritionally and as caloric as meat, your beef cows cannot make use of it to get bigger.

Can Meat Cause Health Issues for Cows?

Certainly, yes. Meat is bad news for cows, and the negative side effects pile up in direct proportion to the quantity that they get or the length of time that they are eating it in the case of smaller amounts.

Now, to be clear, if one of your cows gets just a little bit of meat or other animal protein, whatever kind it is, they may not show any outward effects. They may not lose their appetite or get an upset stomach. On the other hand, even small amounts of meat can cause either.

Diarrhea is also highly likely, and even a simple upset stomach and loss of appetite can start to impact the health and wellness of the animal.

But it can get so much worse than that. One of the worst things that can occur from eating meat is that it drastically changes the pH balance in the cow’s rumen; the organ that they use basically as a big fermenting tank to help them process tough and marginally nutritious food for digestion.

When the microorganisms inhabiting the rumen get messed up or thrown out of balance, cows lose the ability to process food effectively.

This will result in them essentially starving even if they don’t lose their appetite and continue eating other nutritious food. This can be difficult to correct, and if it gets too badly out of balance your cow can come down with acidosis which is easily fatal.

And the bad news keeps coming. If they eat meat infected with viruses, prions, or other nasty gribbles, they can contract hideous diseases, most worryingly bovine spongiform encephalopathy, more commonly known as mad cow. A particular prion is responsible for that, but there are plenty of others to worry about, too.

These germs can subsequently be passed on to people, so this is no small matter.

All of the above, and more, should be reason enough for you to completely abstain from ever attempting to feed your herd meat.

Can Cows Eat Meat in an Emergency?

No. If, for whatever fanciful reason, there is absolutely nothing else around for your cows to eat they still shouldn’t eat meat. It is better for them to go without food entirely rather than eat meat.

And to be honest, this question typically only comes up from people who are just hell-bent on giving one of their cows a bite of a cheeseburger or a pork chop as some sort of sick and juvenile joke.

Your cows do not need meat, they cannot digest meat and they should never eat meat for any reason, ever. Thus endeth the sermon.

Is Meat Safe for Calves?

Absolutely not. Everything I’ve told you above pertains to adult cows, and still applies to calves. The difference is that all of the negative consequences are magnified in severity if they should be afflicted on baby cows.

Their lower body weight, underdeveloped systems, and general fragility compared to adults means that any illnesses or other negative health effects that arise due to eating meat will be very severe and will likely kill them…