General Question

nebule's avatar

Why do sheep and cows "baa" and "moo" at dawn?

Asked by nebule (16452points) June 1st, 2009
25 responses
“Great Question” (2points)

Is it feeding time?
Are they welcoming the day in?
Are they cold?
Are they talking to one another?

Any ideas most welcome

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Answers

psyla's avatar

To scare off the wolves.

Bluefreedom's avatar

They’re probably discussing all the different aspects of domestication and farm living and how they can make it work to their advantage.

psyla's avatar

They’re also saying What is that damn Sun Thing?

Resonantscythe's avatar

perhaps they’re happy to see themselves having lived through another night and not made into lamb chops or steak. Juicy, delicious, mouth watering streak. now I’m hungry

DarkScribe's avatar

Do they? I haven’t noticed more noise at dawn than any other time that they are disturbed.

Judi's avatar

Probably just saying, “Hey, daylight’s a’ burnin! Come feed me!!! (Or Milk me, my udders are hurting here!)

bonus's avatar

They’re hungry.

whatthefluther's avatar

Its their daily discussion of the dynamics and complexities of the food chain and their relative and/or personal position therein. At least, that is what they tell me. But, @bonus is probably correct…they’re just plain hungry…..wtf

Response moderated
SirBailey's avatar

They forgot the words to “Love Will Keep Us Together”?

Darwin's avatar

They are hungry and their udders hurt and they are calling the herd (or flock) together and they are talking to each other.

Or maybe they are talking about how they made a killing by shorting farm futures.

jfos's avatar

Animal Farm, anyone?

galileogirl's avatar

For the same reason we say “Just 10 more minutes!” when the alarm goes off. Human superiority-the invention of the snooze button.

ubersiren's avatar

I know people who Baa and Moo when they wake up. :) It’s probably just like us groaning as we walk to the toilet and then downstairs, zombie-like to grab our coffee/tea.

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

For much the same reason birds sing the sun up and sing it down in the evening. Night time is a time of danger to diurnal creatures, for most predators (but not all) are nocturnal. They use their voices to find each other, to call the lost into the safety of the herd, and like someone else mentioned, in the morning, the domesticated animals are probably hungry and desire the attention they were bred for.

Domesticated animals are different than wild animals, and given free rein to run free, as some PETA folks fantasize about, would result in their ultimate extinction, as they no longer have natural immunities to disease, or the smarts/instincts to escape predators.

cyn's avatar

@jfos ughh NO!
Why do roosters cookadooodle? is that even a word?

Darwin's avatar

Roosters “sing” to mark their territory. Anytime there is enough light that other flocks might be out and about the roosters yells to let them know his own area is taken. That means they do tend to crow as dawn comes. However, they also crow at a full moon, when security lights go on, and periodically throughout the day.

I have heard that the only way to stop a rooster from crowing, at least when he is in the chicken house, is to place the very highest perch close enough to the ceiling that the rooster may stand comfortably but too close for him to stretch out to his full height. As the leader of the flock the rooster will always choose the highest perch, but he can’t crow unless he can stretch out.

The actual term for what roosters do in English is to crow. When they crow, the sound they make is described as “cock-a-doodle-doo.” We say that roosters say “cock-a-doodle-doo” because we can’t really pronounce what they do. In French roosters are said to say “cocorico,” in German “kikeriki,” in Spanish “kikirikiki,” in Italian “chicchirichí ,” and in Indonesian “kikeriku .”

psyla's avatar

Why do all the roaches make that scratch-scratch sound every morning? It’‘s very annoying. I try to domesticate them by feeding them but they just don’t want my attention.

DarkScribe's avatar

@psyla Have you read the novel “King Rat”? It seems that those large flying cockroaches are very tasty, they are similar to prawns (shrimp). Maybe you should try eating them if you can’t tame them.

psyla's avatar

Instead of feeding them I’ll feed on them. High in protein I hear. : )

Darwin's avatar

@psyla – Although cockroaches can be excellent pets, they really don’t get attached to individual humans, and they never learn to come when you call. In fact, if you were to die in your sleep, they might just help eat your body, although they might prefer other foods.

psyla's avatar

Damn cockroaches! I’m starting up a pesticide budget! Eat my dead body, will you? They’ll bite (and eat) the hand that feeds them will they?

whatthefluther's avatar

@psyla…they’re resilient little fluckers…you may need to nuke them, but beware of mutated uber-roaches. By the way, did you ever win the War of the Hare and get those trees and vegetables planted? See ya…wtf

Garebo's avatar

I think they are trying to say turn that damn light down, I am trying to get some sleep.

AstroChuck's avatar

To keep the wolverines away.

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