Comment

this_jury_is_hung@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

That number moves much closer to 0% if you start counting the baby cows killed in order to keep their mothers perpetually lactating, rather than just those whose bodies were used as a direct ingredient.

A cow will be impregnated 6-8 times during her life on a typical dairy farm, before she is killed af half her natural lifespan to be replaced by a younger cow. One of those baby cows will be raised as that replacement cow, the rest will be killed shortly after birth since.

Killing baby cows is an inherent part of cow-milk production.

source

Sort:hotnew top

hans@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
most dairy calves are brought to full weight before slaughter.

source
- davepleasebehave@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  a man who has never eaten veal.
  
  source
  - hans@feddit.org ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    hardly any dairy calves end up as veal.
    
    source
- this_jury_is_hung@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  It’s highly market-senstive what happens to them, but I have previously worked on dairy farms in NZ and AU, and in both countries, calves(except replacement heifers) that get raised at all are a rounding error, maybe a handful per farm that are kept for personal slaughter and consumption.
  
  If the bobby-calf (aka veal) market is paying well enough, then they are shipped off for slaughter at ~4 days old. If the market doesnt pay well enough to justify 4 days of rearing costs, then they are killed immediately and sold for their skins.
  
  source
  - hans@feddit.org ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    i present the math below
    
    source
hans@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
a dairy cows life span is like 5 years

source
- toomanypancakes@crazypeople.online ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  A cows natural life span is 20ish years. They’re kept perpetually pregnant for years until their bodies give out, then they’re slaughtered at around 5 years old.
  
  source
  - hans@feddit.org ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    cows don’t naturally live to 20 years. they can live that long if they are well fed and watered and protected from disease, predators, and the environment. that’s an artificial life span.
    
    source
- HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  ours were closer to twelve but go off the documentary you watched once
  
  source
  - hans@feddit.org ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    albertamilk.com/…/how-long-does-the-average-dairy…
    
    source
    HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    you are correct all of our cattle were born seven years old
    
    source
    -> View More Comments