Talk:Dairy cattle
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The "stub" designation should go. I haven't checked yet to see if anything else needs to be done besides removing it, but just in case somebody is waiting for a discussion before doing so, here it is. Gene Nygaard 13:28, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)
It says 'cows are unique in their ability to produce milk.' Obviously I am interpreting this wrong... --Ihope127 7 July 2005 19:39 (UTC)
- I think it makes sense in the context "Dairy cattle are distinguised by gender at birth. Cows are unique in their ability to produce milk, and thus heifers, young cows, are generally considered more valuable than bulls" Guerberj 18:03, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
Growing up on the farm, one thing my dad liked about artifical insemination was that it eliminated the need to keep a bull on the farm, especially considering how dangerous bulls can be.
JesseG 00:55, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
"At death, the cow is butchered and sold for its meat." - Surely the death of the cow is caused by the butchering? Barnaby dawson 18:42, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, in most cases. The farmer does not wait until the cow/bull dies in the cowshed, but instead it is culled and brought to the slaughterhouse. In case the animal dies unexpectedly, it goes to the rendering. Gbaor 12:32, 18 September 2007 (UTC)
Colostrum is unfit for human consumption? I think not. In Norway, we use it for a dessert called råmjølkspudding (lit. "raw milk pudding"). The first milk is very very thick, so it's not usable as milk, which may be what the author meant. Kjetilho 09:02, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] What is a perennial cow?
The article states that some farmers will, "settle for the lower production rate of perennial cows". What is a perennial cow? Following the numbers in the article, a cow would have to be mated 10 days after giving birth to start milking over again without a break at the end of the previous cycle. Is that what it means? Or do they just keeping milking and milking for years without the animal giving birth again? How does that work? I don't think a woman can do it. Conversely, what do they do to make a cow go dry? Ravenhurst 21:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
This ("perennial cow") refers to cows that continue being milked without having another calf. Cows can be milked for years without the animal giving birth again. It is common for cows (especially cows with difficulty conceiving) to be milked for more than two years before milk production decreases to the point that it is no longer profitable to keep the cow. (Note that the cow can do this because the cow is completely drained of milk several times a day, thus encouraging continuing milk production. A cow would dry earlier if the cow were to only produce sufficient milk to feed a calf - particularly after the calf begins consuming ruffages.) You can force a cow to go dry simply by no longer milking her. Jav43 19:25, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
"...milked for more than two years before milk production decreases to the point that it is no longer profitable to keep the cow. ..." Also note that this is not the common (traditional) policy of dairy cattle breeding. The more common situation is more like this:
- After giving calving the cow is milked 2 times per day (the whole period is called "lactation" with standard length 305 days) . On the 40th day of lactation the cow is artificially inseminated and hopefully remains pregnant. The exact day of insemination may vary. Approx. 60 days before planned second calving the cow is dried to allow her to prepare herself for this calving. At this point most of the nutrients consumed by the cow goes to rapidly growing fetus. The cow calves for the second time. Good (but unofficial) indicator of reproduction performance for cows is one calf per year . Cows with bad fertility indicators are most often culled and replaced with cows/heifers that could do the job.
I just noticed that similar text is written in the article itself, but now I save this, if it is already written :). Gbaor 12:21, 18 September 2007 (UTC)
Hi. My name is Louissa and I am doing a project in school about dairy cattle and cows. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.66.254.231 (talk) 19:43, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

