How often do dairy cows need to be impregnated to keep producing milk? And what happens to the calves?
Q Hi. Just a quick question. How often do dairy cows in Australia need to be impregnated and give birth to keep them producing milk? I was under the impression that if they give birth once and then are milked every day that they will then continue to produce, but I recently read they need to be impregnated and give birth once a year to keep the milk supply going. Is this true? If so, what happens to the calves? Also, do organic milk producers treat their cows better? A From what I am aware, what you have been told is correct. Cows are impregnated once a year otherwise their production of milk starts to decrease. What happens to the calves? Some of the resultant female calves are kept to re-stock the herd. (As the milk production of older cows slows with age they are sent to slaughter due to them being economically unviable. This may happen at around 10 years of age (they can live 20-25 years). The rest of the female calves and most male calves are slaughtered for veal at a few days of
