zoologicallyobsessed:

dairyisntscary:

omnifail:

Farmer propaganda at its finest.

You know you could of googled a lot of this.

Cannot find the percent of males that go to mature beef. That is based on my experience on the many farms I’ve researched and visited and may vary with country. I stand by the vast, vast majority being raised to two years old, at least in the US

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/1460129/ (highest milk yield -> 4th and 5th lactation cows)

Cows, and any other mammal, only stop lactating after they stop being milked/suckled. Some human women breastfeed their kids up to their teens, some farms only calve cows once. They only technically need to give birth once. Their milk production will go down, though, hence why they’re bred again.

Dont need to to explain that a cow barn full of lumbering excitable cows isn’t a good place for an immunocompromised fragile newborn, even if his presence increases milk yield.

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=dairy+cow+welfare+milk+yield&hl=en&as_sdt=0,19&as_vis=1 here’s a variety of studies on dairy cow milk yield & welfare and the correlation. There are many, many of these studies that all have the same results.

But hey what does science know after all

Hi zoologist here, while my main work is with bees not cows, I did complete my undergrad degree in zoology on a historical agricultural university, which was 80% land for the cattle, sheep and deer we had, where I also lived for the whole time. This meant I spent a lot of my undergrad degree and free time helping with the farm, and using the animals for educational purposes. 

So here’s a bunch of scientific research on well-being in cows = higher milk yield 

• Behavioural indicators of cow comfort: activity and resting behaviour of dairy cows in two types of housing 

• The management of intensive dairy farms can be improved for better welfare and milk yield

• Combined effects of once-daily milking and feeding level in the first three weeks of lactation on milk production and enzyme activities, and nutritional status, in Holstein cows

Here’s some scientific studies on why keeping calves with their mothers increases disease and risk of injury: 

• Evidence for age susceptibility of cattle to Johne’s disease 

• Successful control of Johne’s disease in nine dairy herds: Results of a six-year field trial

• The effects of weaning beef calves in two stages on their behavior and growth rate

• Suckling behaviour of young dairy calves with their own and alien mothers

• Acute effects of cow-calf separation on heart rate, plasma cortisol and behaviour in multiparous dairy cows

Here’s also a statement by the Australian Veterinary Association supporting off-cow rearing  

Also everyone go support your local farmers and listen to people who have actual education, experience and knowledge in this area, not from idiots with a laptop and access to the internet like @omnifail