a question about milk and cows

[Kenneth ken]

I stopped drinking milk nigh on twenty years ago, but some years after that a woman I was dating asked me about cows and milk. Her position was that cows just produce milk always. Mine was I didn't see why cows would be the only mammal on the planet that produced milk for other than nurturing their young.

So, how often are milk cows bred to produce calves to ensure their continued milk supply? How long does a cow produce milk, in a more normal situation (i.e. a beef rancher wanting to increase the size of his herd, as opposed to a dairy farmer situation.)

please and thanks

:hi:

[livinginphotographs]

1. At most factory farms, cows are impregnanted pretty much yearly.

Besides the cruelty of factory dairy farms, there are numerous health risks to drinking milk. The obscene amount of protein in cow's milk makes you pass pretty much all of the calcium, Vitamin D, etc. that would make the milk beneficial.

Human milk for human, cow's milk for cows. That's what I say.

[Kenneth ken]

3. that's pretty much what I used to say

when I stopped drinking milk: no thanks, I'm not a calf. :)

and thanks for the answer.

[smbolisnch]

2. Hi Ken!

:hi:

You are right! Cows produce milk only to feed their babies. However, the calves are taken away and they are given milk replacers....that way the mother's milk goes to your grocery store.

The female cows are constantly inseminated....after they give birth, they produce milk for 10 months. This just keeps repeating....Cows live normally for about 25 years and produce milk for almost 10 years. Once they aren't helping the dairy farms anymore, they are sent to the slaughterhouse. :cry:

I hope that helps you out......

[Kenneth ken]

4. thank you

that's very helpful, even though I only dated the woman for a few months, and haven't spoken to her in many years :(

it's good to have more specific information, and I had never bothered to look it up - I don't internet search really well, and it takes me lots of reading through things before I finally find what I want - I knew this would be faster :)

:hi:

[smbolisnch]

5. You're very welcome :) (nt)

[AlienGirl]

9. Yes, and the "milk replacers"

that the calves are fed are made of blood from the slaughterhouses. Not only is this disgusting, it's also a BSE risk, but of course the laws against feeding cows to cows only apply to *tissue* and not to blood...

Tucker

[RebelOne]

6. I really love milk, but I have substitued it with soy milk.

In fact, it tastes a whole lot better than milk and is a heck of a lot more healthy.

[Kenneth ken]

7. I used to like milk

but got out of the habit, and now I drink a lot more juice and water. I haven't developed a habit for soy milk, but do use it in occasional recipes that call for milk. Mostly, if a recipe calls for milk, I just look for a different recipe. :)

:hi:

[flvegan]

8. Also, if not for the dairy industry, veal would be obsolete

Yeah, when they set momma cow up in the rape rack, impregnate her, milk her constantly throughout her life, etc, those baby cows gotta go somewhere. Sweet little calf, enjoy your veal crate for your short, tortured life.

I won't even eat in a restaurant that serves veal.

[JackieO]

10. Does anyone know what the deal is with "organic" milk?

Not that I want any - yuck, no thanks - but I'm wondering what kind of methods are used because people bring it up sometimes when I talk about the dairy industry. Do they do the same stuff with the artificial insemination, milk replacers and veal calfs?

[Kenneth ken]

11. I will guess

that "organic" means it isn't pumped full of hormones and crap. BGH ( and I think there's another letter in there - bovine growth hormone ...)
antibacterials etc.

I'm sure there are some dairy farmers in the world who actually let their cattle graze and have relatively decent lives, though how they make a livinig I couldn't begin to say; for dairy farmers to make a profit, they would still have to have cows that produce a steady quantity of milk, so I'd think the impregnating, and shipping off calves etc. would still apply.