David, I'm too old, memory fading, and it's been a long time since we had milk cows, and now-a-days dairies have chemicals and medications and all kinds of unnatural ways to get the most milk, but I'll try to give you some generalizations to the best of my memory.
Cow = female, heifer = female before first calf
Bull = male, steer = male after castration
Breed heifer first time at approximately 15 months of age; gestation of 9 months, so first calf born when cow is 2 years old. With beef cattle, the calf is left with the cow to drink all the milk. With dairy cattle, we take some or all of the milk after letting the calf have it the first day or two. I don't really know just how dairies handle the calves now, but we'd milk the cow, but not complete the job, then turn the calf in to finish up (had to keep them separated the rest of the time). And now I don't remember at what age, we'd wean the calf entirely, but before we turned the calf loose in the pasture with the cow, we'd put a "blab" on the calf. That's a gadget attached to the calf's nose with some sharp spikes so if the calf tried to nurse, they'd stick the cow, she'd kick the calf, and would not let it nurse. About 3 months after having the calf, the cow would be bred again. She'd produce milk for about 10 months after having a calf, with gradually declining volume, and would go dry for a couple of months before the next calf was born, and you start the cycle all over.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If the calf stops nursing, and we don't milk her, the cow will stop producing milk, right? )</font>
Right.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( What happens if you stop milking a cow for a few days? )</font>
You'd have one very uncomfortable and unhappy cow; sometimes even a little milk dripping from the teats. To suddenly stop milking when she's producing milk may also cause some kinds of infections or other medical problems that may ruin her for future milk production.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Does she stop producing milk or does she explode? )</font>
You can actually cause her to go dry early by continuing to milk her, but just don't get all the milk each time; that way she'll be gradually producing less all the time and dry up too soon.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( When I get really tired of milking a dairy cow twice a day, will she taste good? )</font>
Yes, if she's old enough, the meat might be a bit tough /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif but it would still make good hamburgers. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
And for those of you with more experience and/or more recent experience feel free to correct anything I just said. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
