The Real Truth Behind Cows Lying Down When It's About To Rain

The real truth behind cows lying down when it's about to rain

Cows are complex creatures

CommentsNewsJoshua Barrie17:26, 04 Jan 2017Updated 17:30, 04 Jan 2017

Cows used to eat my garden. One minute, I'd be running around, and the next, I'd see a cow, friendly but imposing, chomping on my mother's flower bed.

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And then the big old farm animal would have a lie down.

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Talking of mums and cows and rain, did your mum ever used to say to you: "Look, the cows are sitting down! That means it's going to rain."

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Even if your mum wasn't married at the time, what she told you was an old wives' tale. It's untrue, despite past suggestions otherwise – even when they draw on a scientific study.

The problem is, the scientific study, published in 2013 and conducted by the University of Arizona and Northern Missouri, wasn't really about rain at all. It was absolutely about cows – but cows' body temperature and its effect on milk production. Still, a lot of people still believe that cows sitting down equals rain.

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Here's the thing – cows do tend to lie down when it's chilly. They like to keep a patch of grass dry and keep their stomach (they only have one, honestly) warm. And there's the (tenuous) link – cooler air might indicate coming rain.

However, cold weather doesn't always indicate rain and, more importantly, cows lie down all the time, for lots of different reasons.

In an interview on Modern Farmer with the author of the study on cows, Dr Jamieson Allen, the scientist debunks the theory resolutely. Ultimately, cows usually lie down because they're tired, which is probably why you lie down, too. They might also be "heat-stressed," or, as a communal animal, following the leader of the herd.

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Dr Allen is asked: "Basically their conclusion was that, if a hot cow likes to stand up, then a cooler cow will lie down. It often gets cool before a rainstorm. Therefore a cow on the ground may be forecasting rain?"

But it's more often than not simply not the case, it seems.

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"It’s a pretty big leap," Dr Allen replies.

"For one thing, we were just studying heat-stressed cows. Day to day, there are 100 reasons why a cow may choose to lie down or stand up. Cows are individuals; they act of their own accord.

"They could be standing because they’re thirsty and are moving towards water. They might lie down because they’re tired. Cows are herd animals. They might just be following the direction of a leader.

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"If an animal is left on its own in a pasture, it will spend a third of its time gathering food, a third of its time eating, and a third of it sleeping. If they’re lying down, it probably doesn’t signal much beyond the fact that it’s sleeping time."

Live Science also goes some way to debunk the old wives' tale about cows sitting down.

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After mentioning some reasonable sounding theories, it says: "Is there any weight behind this tale? Not likely – cows lie down for many reasons, and there’s no scientific evidence that rain is one of them.

"As the Farmer’s Almanac says, 'Cows lying down in a field more often means they’re chewing their cud, rather than preparing for raindrops'."

AHDB Dairy also suggests this: "By nature, cows are more likely to take a nap than to sleep for a long time, but that doesn't mean they don't like to chill out. Cows can lie down for up to 14 hours a day."

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A spokesperson told Mirror Online that while they can't specifically say how many times they sit down and get up, "cows can spend up to 14 hours lying down each day, with their complicated digestion process turning the grass they’ve eaten into milk."

What's definitely true is cows are fascinating creatures. Look at the facts

POLLDid you used to think cows lying down meant rain?Did you used to think cows lying down meant rain?No, I'd not heard this Yes, my mum used to tell me this too People used to tell me this, but I didn't believe it ‌

- Cows are social, and make friends in their herd, while avoiding others they don't like.

- A cow can smell food up to six miles away.

- Cows have near-360 degree, panoramic vision.

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- Cows don't bite grass, they curl their tongue around it and pull it up.

- A cow is unable to vomit.

- The average dairy cow produces about eight gallons of milk per day.

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- Cows have one stomach, but four separate compartments for digestion.

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