I do not think cows learn names. At least in my work, I've been led to believe that. But I guess that goes back to the question "does a dog know its name?" Of course your initial response is to say "Yes." There have been many who say the dog does not really know its name. It responds to a particular repeated sound, but the dog is not aware that it is their name. That's a debate for people other than me.
We have quite a few dogs here at the ranch and I can say this; I have no proof that each dog knows it's name, but I am pretty sure they know everyone else's.
So with that in mind, I do not name the cows who reside here. I figure it would just my human requirement to apply some kind of order. As we know, disorder is some kind of order.
Dairy cows can live a miserable existance. They are used as a milk machine until they can no longer produce and then it's off to market to become quarter pounders. Whoa. I do understand the food supply system. No need to explain. Would you like fries with that?
Every now and then, when the pasture space permits it, we reach into the food supply system and bring one of those cows here. It's very simple, you'll just have to eat something else that day. Try a salad or something.
Well, a little while ago we grabbed three cows out of the food supply system. A friend of mine took two and I brought the other one here. I didn't give her a name but I'm beginning to think I should. The only thing that comes close to the pleasure of freely grazing in a pasture is being with me.
She refused to even go near the other cows. She would stand at the edge of the pasture at a fence and wait for me. I would go see her, talk to her, and then she would graze. Whenever I walked over to the fence, she was standing there waiting for me. (Raven enjoyed it when I freely admitted I hugged the cow. I told her to keep that between her and me.... oops.)
I kept trying to get the cow to understand that the other cows were her friends. Nope. I was her friend.
I was away for awhile when I spent some time in a hospital for needed health care services. The report from the ranch was that the cow was still waiting for me at the fence. When I got home and I walked over to the pasture fence, yep, there she was. Now I'm not sure if it has ever been documented that cows show emotion. But I'll tell you what, that was one happy cow.
Since then, I've been able to get her to accept her other cow friends. She seems to get some enjoyment out of being with them. But, when I show up, all is forgotten and she starts walking my way.
The other cows now think something really good is going on and they will follow her to me. So, what was a visit between the cow and me, has now turned into a cow party.