In modern cattle, biting and chewing behavior is often seen in the
Jersey breed, and its almost entirely absent amongst beef cattle and
other dairy breeds. Jerseys will chew fence posts, carry sticks, lick
fences and metal pipes excessively and basically spend hours
manipulating objects with their mouths. Holstein-Freisian cows in the
same pen won't do any of these things. I suspect this behavior could
manifest itself as molar wear if the objects bitten or chewed were
narrow enough for a cow to get to the back of her mouth.
Jim
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