Re: If cows are not milked, do they just absorb the milk or do they leak? Explo

If cows are not milked, will they leak? It depends on the volume of milk
produced daily and on the anatomy of the teat.

A dairy cow can easily give 40 liters of milk a day. This large volume
cannot be absorbed. The teats will eventually leak, and the cow will be
in severe distress and pain if not milked.

Other breeds of cattle that are not bred for milking produce just enough
milk to feed one or two calfs.  If the calf dies the milk production
will be stopped whithout so much problems and most of the milk will be
reabsorbed.

Leaking of milk under normal husbandry circumstances does occur
sometimes, just before the normal time of milking. The reason is that
the conditioned stimuli (sound of the milking machine) will cause the
milk to 'rush in' and 'want out'. Farmers don't like this, because the
milk on the outside is a great feeding ground for all kinds of bacteria.
And these bacteria could make the milk go sour or infect the udder thus
leading to mastitis.

And finally there is something called 'dry cow management'. This means
that cows are not milked for 6 weeks or more prior to the next calfing.



Hope this helps

Eva