Animals lactacting and milk?

Question

Do animals (such as cows, goats etc) need to be pregnant to lactate (produce milk) or do they simply lactate the same time every year (in heat) ?

Answer 1

yes because all r mammals they need to be pregnant b4 producing milk , as all of them have their offsprings

Answer 2

Keep in mind that milk is produced from resources that the mother's body would otherwise use for itself.  It would be a waste to produce milk if there were no offspring to care for (not to mention conductive to an early death if an animal was starving and still producing milk).  In some social species like meerkats for example, females will lactate for pups even if they are not the mother.  The presence of pups, however, is still a required stimulus.

Answer 3

They don't automatically lactate at the same time every year, or when they are on heat. They only lactate after giving birth....the same as humans.

Answer 4

Lactating animals produce milk for their off springs. During pregnancy there is no milk secretion. Immediately after delivery milk is secreted as colostrum containing high antibodies level to protect the newborn. Then milk will continue as long as the animal is not pregnant with a decreasing amount and change in contents. If the baby stop suckling or the animal is no longer milked by the owner, the animal will get dry of milk.

The process is controled by hormonal secretion.