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Comment by morningmoon | Hacker News Reader

Only cows that have been pregnant produce milk. Cows are made pregnant to increase the duration of milk production, and to produce more cows for dairy or meat. (Edited for clarity)

The process of artificial insemination involves sticking a rod/hand with bull semen into their vaginas. Just do a quick search for this and you can see videos of how artificial insemination works. There’s also a process of hormone injections to ensure cows sync up for more efficient AI.

Usually most farmers justify this by talking about how it’s safer than letting a bull fuck the cow while it’s confined to a pen (how it was done in a bygone era).

Oh, and if you’re wondering about how they get the bull semen they have them fuck artificial vaginas, or masturbate them if that’s not working out.

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>Only pregnant cows produce milk. Not true, a cow will produce milk many months after she gives birth.

Cows naturally get into heat, the behavior of the cow changes, she will start jumping on other cows and it is dangerous to be around it, you have to bring a bull or have it inseminated.

I know this because I was raised at a low tech farm, I am not aware of procedures or reasons to make a cow get pregnant more often but maybe this exists somewhere, if this was true probably it would be used for getting more meat not more milk,

Anyway there is no rape involved, if is artificial inseminated then it is a medical procedure, similar how fixing cows birth problems that involved doctors pushing their full arms in the cow is a medical procedure to save the cow.

Huh? Cows don’t lactate until calving. At least not any appreciable amount.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_cattle#Animal_welfare

Artificial insemination isn’t rape. Keeping them confined isn’t slavery. Slaughtering them to eat them unnecessarily isn’t murder.

Sorry if I expressed myself wrong, english is not my native language and I am missing zoo-technical terminology. I was attempting to tell that it does not make sense AFAIK to get a cow pregnant more often then it is natural

That doesn't seem like a reasonable belief (without source) for two reasons:

1 - AFAIK, the natural process doesn't favor milk production above all else

2 - There has to be a reason artificial insemination is used. It _might_ be for higher veal production, as you imply, but I always thought this was a secondary aspect of the milk industry.

Also, in your original point, you argued that "there is no rape involved, if is artificial inseminated then it is a medical procedure".

If you want to argue that applying terms like "murder", "cruelty" and "rape" to animal husbandry isn't legitimate, fine. But let's be clear, medical procedures _have_ been used [probably since the beginning of medical history] to rape.

Any medical procedure without a consent is an assault. Then again sometimes consent can be inferred...

Are you sure on ANY? how do you get consent from your pet to treat it?

So all veterinarians are criminals, and all pets must be left to die without treatment?

> Only pregnant cows produce milk.

I think there's a definition confusion here. "Pregnant" means fertilised but had not yet given birth. After an animal gives birth, they are no longer pregnant. If an animal only produced milk when it's pregnant, then it would never have it at the right time for it's offspring.

I think you had meant to say "... if it has been pregnant recently". That's why there are so many confused replies to your comment.

>Only pregnant cows produce milk. //

That's not true.

Cows don’t really produce much or any milk until after giving birth. Milk is what they feed their babies...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_cattle#Animal_welfare

Yes, cows which have given birth, not cows which are pregnant.

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