> “We tried explaining to our 75 cows that they needed to produce less milk but they don’t seem to have understood,” I don't know why, but this is the funniest thing I've read in a while. I can just imagine the monk explaining COVID to these cows, and just getting a "Moo" in return.
Kind of strange, because cows don't just produce milk by nature. Much like humans they have to be impregnated & give birth, after which they produce milk for about ten months. Inquisitive people might wonder how the cow is impregnated in the first place and what happens to the calf.
Which just about brings us from spring 2020 to now.
According to a quick google search, cows gestate for 9.5 months.
> then the “ideal” breeding season for spring-born calves is 9 1/2 months prior to that or beginning in April but for sure by May. [^1]
If you're planning to have baby cows in April 2020, you breed them in August 2019. By the time you find out about COVID it is already too late and you're gonna have a bunch of milk whether you want to or not.
As for what happens to the calves: they can't drink all the milk modern cows produce. Also they become big cows. Afaik we don't usually eat dairy cows because they have been selectively bred to produce ridiculous amounts of milk, but not to be tasty.
[1] https://beef-cattle.extension.org/when-exactly-is-the-beginn...