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Why Only Cow Milk?

F

Fearless Leader

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 21, 2006
2,360
0
Hoosiertown
I have a question that I cant seem to answer. Why is it that it is mostly cow milk that is consummed? Why can't I buy a gallon of goat, horse, cat, sheep milk at my local grocer?

I tried thinking about acient civilizations and the uses for animals.
Cows are just large things that eat all day, i guess they could carry stuff, same with goats (well minus being large). But horses can run fast and carry stuff and produce milk, they seem most logical for what we would be drinking today.
 
Simple, they produce more milk than any other land animal in temperate climates. Plus they're easy to take care of and can be slaughtered for their abundant meat. They're also quite hardy animals.
 
The fact that some of us drink milk past infancy is itself interesting. I think it was the advent of farming in Europe that made animal milk plentiful, and led to an adaptation in physiology so adults could drink milk. Those descendant from Europeans are more likely to have both the habit and tolerance for drinking cow's milk.
 
Fuzzy14 said:
Ever tried to milk a cat? :eek:
How many would you need to produce a gallon?
Click to expand...

well no I cant say I've tried to milk a cat, I was just making a point...

(when I was typing the first post i left the "s" out of horse and when I was checking for typos and thought "hehe that sounds really bad")

Doctor Q said:
The fact that some of us drink milk past infancy is itself interesting. I think it was the advent of farming in Europe that made animal milk plentiful, and led to an adaptation in physiology so adults could drink milk. Those descendant from Europeans are more likely to have both the habit and tolerance for drinking cow's milk.
Click to expand...

I also find it interesting and quite odd and thats why I drink very little of it. I think it tastes bad, but it doesn't bother me that I'm drinking it. If someone were to prepare me cats milk I'd drink it, not sure I'd like it though
 
Just being funny, but it does actually make you think. I suppose for cows it's just a mixture of availability of food (grass) and that they can't run away when fully laden. Never heard of horses milk, but I suppose they're mammals so it must exists, but maybe they run away!

Based on my huge reference library of Roman Europe, they all drank goats milk back then.

I suppose the most efficient thing to milk would be a whale but they're a bugger to catch!
 
Doctor Q said:
The fact that some of us drink milk past infancy is itself interesting. I think it was the advent of farming in Europe that made animal milk plentiful, and led to an adaptation in physiology so adults could drink milk. Those descendant from Europeans are more likely to have both the habit and tolerance for drinking cow's milk.
Click to expand...
That's an interesting thought but I disagree with the adaptation in adults to drink it. People have been drinking goats milk and the like for millennia. Logically if infants drink mothers milk than an adult would be able to do the same (unless they have an allergy to it in the first place).
 
Fearless Leader said:
If someone were to prepare me cats milk I'd drink it, not sure I'd like it though
Click to expand...
It would probably be a bit uncomfortable being down on the floor with the saucer.

I don't know the answer to your real question in this thread, but I could guess. Cows are fattier than goats, horses, and cats, so their meat tastes better to humans. Perhaps it's the same for their milk. I don't know if sheep are fatty or lean; who can tell with all that wool!?
 
And to all those who are wondering, since I have a 5 week old baby boy I can confirm that human milk tastes much like cows milk only a bit sweeter.

And no, she hasn't let me on, I forgot what I was doing when checking the temperature of his bottle.
 
ahhaha to the post on top of me,, athst not that bad, at least it was your wife, i tried my ants by accident a couple years ago in the same way, she just looked at me and started laughing. I was like " that wasn't formula was it?", she couldn t stop laughing for a long time

i ve heard of people drink up to this days mare milk, in the farmlands of south america, goat milk is still very abundant, not as much as cow milk but still, lots of goat cheese out there.. I ve tried goat milk it s okay but a bit too "strong or rich" for me. Also I am sure that a lot of people have tried it, but the milk that we drink here tastes nothing like "real milk", I had some milk a year ago or so, freshly milked form the (it was still warm) and the taste is so much better (IMO) milk up here and in the states is very hmmmm.. has a very watered down taste even 2%. And also i think, it's a very cheap in comparison to other animals to keep cows because of the quantity of milk they produce.
 
mostly taste, quantity and how long the other animals produce milk between breedings.
cows can produce good milk amounts 18 months after calving ( at least here), then supply tapers off and they need to breed again. goats and sheep not so long

Goat and sheep milk is available here in most grocery stores.
I know that every Safeway I have been to has goat milk.

goat milk is also easier for lactose intolerant people to deal with.
 
Good luck milking a cat...


Goat, horse and sheep on the other hand has been and still are being used for milk many places. My favourite cheese, for example, is made from goat's milk...
 
Fuzzy14 said:
And to all those who are wondering, since I have a 5 week old baby boy I can confirm that human milk tastes much like cows milk only a bit sweeter.
Click to expand...
Are you comparing it with the processed cow's milk most of us get at the supermarket? The taste of milk as first provided by a cow may be closer.
 
Fuzzy14 said:
Ever tried to milk a cat? :eek:
How many would you need to produce a gallon?
Click to expand...

Never milked a cat but one of my sister's farm cats adopted a couple of baby skunks one year when she'd had a smaller than normal litter. Never seen anything like that before or since. Cat was perfectly accommodating of these little things whose mama must have been taken off in the night by something. I think it was probably a rather dicey arrangement, considering those little guys are equipped to defend right away (? I think). But maybe the babies would never nuke their new "mama" out of instinctual respect for the source of their meals. I should find out from my sister how long the arrangement lasted!
 
i dont know about goat milk, but goat cheese is pretty good. i watched this documentary about mongolian nomads and they milked their horses and donkeys.
 
I had a cow for 6 years that my mom milked every single day. She'd milk it, skim the cream and dust off the top, and put it in the frige. We probably went through a gallon a day and there are only 5 people in my family. None of us have ever broken a bone and we've always been hormonally balanced, because we also had our own chicken and eggs.

The hormones in food these days isn't even worth it!
Trust me, I know all about the hormones in the foods!


Anyways.
Cows are also a lot easier to cope with. Escape goats was a term for a reason - I have two goats (and no other animals) and they won't stop breaking out of their fence. Cows, on the other hand, just don't make an effort to escape.

They're easy to handle, easy to feed, and easy to eat.
 
Doctor Q said:
Are you comparing it with the processed cow's milk most of us get at the supermarket? The taste of milk as first provided by a cow may be closer.
Click to expand...

well it's been a while since i've had human milk so i can't comment on that, but i have had fresh milk straight out of the cow several times. it is sweeter and much richer and creamier obviously. there is also a special kind of milk that the cow produces right after it gives birth, which is really thick and yellow. i don't think i want to try that.
 
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