After dairy cows have had their first calf do they keep producing milk without getting pregnant again?
Image by nicolas.boullosa
Question by Tabby: After dairy cows have had their first calf do they keep producing milk without getting pregnant again?
I’m trying to slowly adapt to veganism (veggie for many years) but want to fully understand this process and if animals do effectively get bred just to produce milk and if its the same process for goats milk? And UK answers mainly please as i think the proces is likely to be slightly different in USA etc. Thanks for listening to my ignorance!
Give your answer to this question below!
8 Responses to After dairy cows have had their first calf do they keep producing milk without getting pregnant again?
Leave a Reply
Heck no!!
stardustl154
April 12, 2013 at 4:05 pm
No, not all cows are bred for milk, some are bred to breed, others are bred for meat, and some are bred for milk. If you want to give up milk, as in animal origin, try the different types of soy and rice milk, good luck
dfclarke2006
April 12, 2013 at 4:23 pm
After they give birth they can produce milk for about a year and then they need to be impregnated again.
elanyre
April 12, 2013 at 4:25 pm
nah once it gives birth they impregnate it again. if its a female calf it becomes a dairy cow if its a male calf it is usually sold to the veil companys
Xandier
April 12, 2013 at 4:55 pm
Cows are repeatedly made pregnant (and milked during) and each of their calves are taken away at a few days old (males are killed – either incinerated or for veal, females are fed on left over milk and grow up to be milkers themselves). Once the cows can no longer produce efficiently they are slaughtered for meat.
(I am in the UK).
Steffi Giraffe
April 12, 2013 at 5:51 pm
it is the same for goats too. look at humanemyth.org. you will find alot of answers there
puddles [whip~lashed]
April 12, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Cows neither produce milk all the time, nor do they only produce milk when they are pregnant. In general, cows begin to produce milk when they give birth and will continue to do so until they are “dried-off”, which happens when their calf is weaned (beef cows) or when the farmer stops milking them (dairy cows). For most cows, milk production increases until about 90 days after they give birth, and then slowly declines during the rest of the lactation. If a dairy cow is re-bred successfully at 60-90 days following calving, she will usually be “dried-off” after a lactation of about 305 days so that her mammary gland has a chance to re-charge for a couple months before she gives birth to another calf. (A cow’s gestation period is about 280 days.) Some cows that do not re-breed can be milked continuously for 2-3 years, but production declines sufficiently over time.
Remember this: Cows are not milked for about two months before and the birth of a calf
Annie Oakleaf
April 12, 2013 at 7:01 pm
Just like humans. A woman produces milk when pregnant and while the baby is nursing. Same with all mammals.
So cows milk is food for baby cows…not humans. So it is kinda sick that we would consider this a good source of food for humans! It isn’t. Once a human reaches the age of 12, we are unable to utilize the nutrients in milk (human or cow) anyway. Milk is baby food and the body being as smart as it is, says “Enough”! I don’t need this anymore.
huckleberry
April 12, 2013 at 7:56 pm