Meet the world's tallest cow who stands 6ft 1in and ‘wouldn’t stop growing’
A "gentle giant" cow has officially been named the worlds tallest after reaching a staggering 6ft 1in.
The large bovine called Tommy lives in Massachusetts USA with his owners Fred Balawender and Laurie. The 13-year-old cow has lived on the property in Cheshire since he was just a day old after he was rescued from an auction at a dairy farm. Brown Swiss are a typically large breed, but father and daughter duo Fred and Laurie couldn't believe it when Tommy just kept on growing.
Tommy stands at 1.87m and is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the World's Tallest Living Steer. His appetite lives up to his size, consuming a whopping 13kg of dry grain, more than 34kg of hay and 150 litres of water per day. He also loves apples, but his favourite snack is a cinnamon bun. However, Tommy is too tall to fit in the farm's 7ft cattle trailer, so there is no knowing how heavy he truly is.
Tommy lives on a farm in Cheshire with father and daughter Fred and Laurie (Guinness World Records)"People are truly astonished when they see him," said Laurie. Despite his huge size, Tommy is described as a gentle giant. He is known as a steer as he has been castrated, this means he is more easy going and less dangerous than other bulls. Laurie said that his sweet nature shines through, especially when it comes to interacting with dad Fred, as reported in the Sun.
"He is always very aware of where my dad is and watches him intently whenever he is around," she said. He is also affectionate towards children, gently reaching his head down for a stroke whenever they come to visit. Tommy also has a very cheeky personality, and "has been known to use his horns to pluck the gate off the hinges when he is ready to go outside."
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Laurie said: "One day he was walking around with the large round bay hale feeder on his head.” The family created a huge, bespoke stall for Tommy in the barn in order to give him the space he needs. As he has gotten older, Tommy has started to slow down, taking longer naps throughout the day.
He recently recovered from a sore foot injury, so hasn't been roaming the farm as he usually would. "We had special hoof experts and veterinarians work on him but it's a long, slow healing process when they have issues with their hooves. Especially a heavy animal like Tommy," Laurie explained.
His favourite snacks are apples, cinnamon buns and carrots (Guinness World Records)Laurie took the decision to submit evidence of Tommy's height to the Guinness World Records to get him the title of "World's Tallest Cow." She said her dad Fred is so proud of him. Laurie said: "He [Fred] loves Tommy so much and is so proud of him, I had to go for it. The two of them are legendary and I knew it was a chance to capture them in history and share this wonderful pair with the world. To say we are thrilled doesn’t do it justice. We are so honoured and happy that we have such an amazing creature amongst us!"
While Tommy's sizes is staggering, he isn't the tallest cow that has ever live. Knickers, a Holstein Friesan from Australia claimed that title standing at 6ft 4in and weighing 1.4 tonnes. Sadly Knickers died in 2020.
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