What happens when a cow needs to be milked but isn’t? (2024)

Farmers work hard to make sure their cows are on an ideal schedule to maintain their health and well-being. Cows are typically milked two or three times per day. Each milking is timed so there is the same amount of time between milkings. Cows do really well with routine! For example, cows may be milked at 4:00 a.m. and then again at 4:00 p.m (12 hours between)

While going too long between milking shouldn’t happen, if a cow goes too long without being milked, milk will build up in her udder, causing it to become full. This will cause her to become uncomfortable. This doesn’t happen with the normal amount of time between milkings. If a cow, who was in the middle of her lactation and producing eight gallons of milk per day, went for a significant time without being milked, it could cause bruising, udder injury, sickness and, if it continued, could result in death (this would take many consecutive days without milking).

With the standard of care that is given to dairy cows across our region and across the country, this is not an issue that dairy farmers face regularly.