Dairies do strive for maximum production, yes. But the cows are given as good a life as can be expected within the confines.... I don't like confinement dairies. But even the ones that the cows go out to pastures daily are looking for the cows to make the max amount of milk that their genetics allow.
Cows are supposed to produce a calf every 12 months... whether it be dairy or beef. A cow freshens, she is milked for 45-60 days, then hopefully is cycling and breeds back... So, she gets preg at 90 days fresh... she will get milked until 60 days before due date, then dried off. 2 months "rest", the calf is doing the maximum of growth/size the last 2 months... Calves again and starts over.
Many cows actually have a 13-14 month calving interval... For young high producing cows, it may take at least 60 days before they start to cycle... their bodies putting all into producing milk. It is the same in both beef and dairy, only the genetics and quantities are vastly different. So it takes 120 days ... or 4 months, to cycle and get bred...so they are milking an extra 1-2 months, get dried off and get the 60 day rest dry period, then calve and start again.
In a perfect cycle, they are preg 9 months and open 3 months and calve every year on the same date....
Nothing is perfect.
Many times a cow will breed back and do the 12 month cycle for 1 or 2 years... then she slips a bit and goes 13-14 months between calves. If she is milking good, that is no big deal.
We try to do the same with the beef cows... we want a calf every year, same time every year. We have a spring and fall calving season because of 3 reasons... #1... splits the cows so that there are not too many on summer pastures with calves... not enough places to put them that they will not overgraze and destroy the pastures... #2, splits up the calf crops so have calves to sell at different times so a little better spread out demand and income... #3.... takes into account the occasional bought cows, and the ones that are "late" in their group, to hold over to the next calving group... sometimes young beef cows put so much into their first calves and trying to grow that they do not cycle back... so you either ship off a good young cow for beef or you give her a second chance... since we calve twice, they only "lose 6 months" so to speak... or like the few "tail enders" we are waiting on now... they will never breed back with the bulls at this point, and if they do, they will continue to be tail enders... so we hold them back, their calves are older than the rest, and the cows should be in very good condition to get bred back early with the next group... these 4 or 5 will go with the cows that should start to calve in Mar-May... their calves will be 3 months older, but the cows should cycle back as soon as the bull is put in with them in June, and go back to calving at the beginning of the group.
WE give them a 2nd chance, then watch. If they are chronic problems, always breeding back late, they do not stay and continue to get put back... several have gotten 2nd chances and go on to do fine for years... AND we will often give a real good older cow a "break" and put her back with the "next group" ... had 2 cows that we purposely let have 18 months their last 3 dcalves... they all were over 10 when they had their first need for a 2nd chance... raised real good calves,,, so got a bit of a break and went on and had several more calves before finally needing to be culled for other reasons. 2 were at least 17 when we finally culled them out...
You cannot afford to keep cows that do not produce a calf yearly... It is too much time and cost to hold over non-producing cows or ones that are consistently late ... Cows have single births, and carry for 9 months... we do not have the flexibility of the smaller ruminants like sheep and goats... 5 month pregnancies and multiple births, faster turnarounds...
It is figured that it costs an average 900-1000 per year to keep a cow... $3.00/day.... with one pay day in 18 months... 9 months preg, 9 months before the calf is weaned off..... so the cow needs to get bred back to give a return every year. She is pregnant with the next one while raising the current one. Basically the same idea with a dairy cow... she is making milk while she is pregnant to then be able to dry off, calve and start the cycle again.
Dairy cattle have better nutrition and their diets are monitored better than most people... kept in peak condition like an athlete.... because if they are not healthy, they are not productive.
Beef cattle do not get the same type of intensive nutritional oversight, but more and more beef farmers are paying more attention to the pastures, the condition and types of grasses the beef cattle graze. More is being done with rotational grazing to have the grasses in better growth cycles, so the grasses are more nutritious when the cows graze them... The whole "study the buffalo" ideas of graze/move/rest.... trampling the uneaten grass so it goes back into the soils to be broken down by earthworms/other microbes.... rest and regrowth for the grasses... Hay samples taken and diets monitored in the winter months for better nutrition for the cattle...because the better the beef cow milks in the early months, the better the calf grows, the more it learns from the cow, the faster it learns to eat grass and hay forages, the more it weighs at weaning, the more money for the farmer.
Yes, it is about the money... return on investment... genetics plays a big part.... but you HAVE to be practical... are you going to feed an animal to put in your freezer for 18 months or 4 years???? to get the same growth??? Are you going to have a cow in the field and only get milk for 6 months and then have her free loading for another year before a calf???? I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT PETS/COMPANIONS...... I am talking about the practicality of being self sufficient and productive on the farm to not go BANKRUPT....
I am also not talking about the differernt breeds that have the genetics to do certain things... Like the "bresse" chickens that
@canesisters has tried... slower growing, more able to grow on a pasture/free range type system... for meat birds... there are others, Freedom Rangers ... others, that tout real good growth, albeight a little slower; than say the Cornish Cross that gains weight real fast that
@Baymule raises to butcher... with legs that do not hold up to an older age... there are ways to compensate for that to a degree too...
There is a balance, and dairy farmers have reached a spot where they can control the feeds, the conditions, and as many of the variables that they can, in order to make the dairy profitable...
Do you not cull an "okay/average" goat or sheep... because she raises a mediocre lamb or kid? She doesn't milk that good, she has an attitude, she doesn't meet the basic standards for that breed? Bad legs, poor udder attachement....you name it.... You make culling decisions and if you have the last 10 of a breed, you keep every single one and try to get better young ones... once you get a better population, you "breed up" and cull out the least desireable and least productive ones.
Have you ever really put a pencil to every single thing that goes into the costs of keeping the animals that you have???? Everyone is entitiled to a pet, a favorite.... you cannot afford a field full of pets that you are making excuses for unless you have the resources of a Rockefeller....
Dairies have to make their living and the animals have to produce... In order to do achieve that, the farmer provides as good a situation as he can, and meets as many of the cows needs and requirements as he can. Same with our beef cattle... and we give more chances for some than most do...
Very informative.
