Why do cows that aren't pregnant still produce milk?

Question

Why do cows that aren't pregnant still produce milk?

Answer 1

they still produce to feed the calfs but dairy farms do not allow the calfs to feed of the mother cow for more than a day or so that way we get the milk

Answer 2

Simple - just like humans....

When the milk is being emptied, the body assumes that there is a need for it so continues to create the milk to feed the "assumed" young.

So, when a cow is milked, even though it is a milking machine doing the job, the cow's body thinks it needs to continue producing to feed the young....

Just as a human mother's milk is produced "on demand"....  Make sense?

Meredith

Answer 3

Okay, first of all, when they're pregnant they DON'T produce milk. Mostly pregnant animals are putting all of their energy into creating the new baby and they don't have any left over to make milk.

Once the baby is born, if you continue to put a demand on the mammary glands, they will continue to produce milk. That's why you can get some crazy women who are still breastfeeding their 9 year olds. That's why you can have some women who can sell themselves as wet nurses, feeding other people's babies despite not having had one of their own for many years.

The cows get dried off before being impregnated and then they have their calves and the whole cycle starts over.