History Main / ConstantlyLactatingCow

** Subverted in ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'', which strives to be more realistic than the rest of the series.
*** Cows only give milk for two seasons before they need to be bred again. The quality and quantity of the milk also slow down just before they stop giving milk. This justifies the existence of bulls, whose entire purpose in the game is to impregnate cows. If you don't have bulls, you have to pay to borrow bulls from other farms. Also, if you buy cows, don't expect them to lactate for you immediately, because you have to breed them first. According to Takakura, the reason why the cow you start the game with can lactate for free is because she just recently gave birth.
*** In the original game, the goat can also only be milked for a period, but she can't be bred ''or'' sold. The only way to get rid of her was to let her die. ''[[DistaffCounterpart Another Wonderful Life]]'' and ''[[UpdatedRerelease A Wonderful Life: Special Edition]]'' fixed that by allowing her to be sold.

* Miltank from ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is a cow Pokemon whose signature move is Milk Drink. It's also the source of the Moomoo Milk item. Miltank don't need to be pregnant (which only occurs while she's at a breeder as with all Pokemon). It doesn't even seem that any Pokemon ''are'' truly mammalian, as they all [[WhaleEgg reproduce through eggs]] and young Pokemon eat solids as soon as they're hatched.

In RealLife, female cattle are not able to be milked year round. Like most female mammals, they make milk only for their offspring and thus only lactate during pregnancy and directly after pregnancy, and even then, they only lactate during a warmer season. Cows need to constantly be pregnant (being impregnated once a year) and be in a warm temperature in order to make milk. Even then, cows will eventually stop giving milk with age, which leads to the cows either being retired or sent to the slaughter.

* There's ''Film/KungPowEnterTheFist'' and its SignatureScene of TheChosenOne Vs. [[ALizardNamedLiz Moo Nieu]], a cow gifted with karate that can squirt her milk as a weapon.

In fiction, however, cows can be milked even when they haven't had any calves. Cows can be milked even when the weather is unsuitable for lactating. Cows in fiction lactate no matter what. The only time they'll stop is when sick, old or starving. This is because cows are mainly known for producing milk. Add this to very young audiences often not yet knowing that milk doesn't come from ''just'' cows, and you get an erroneous perception that they produce it all the time. In video games where cows and their milk are a resource, this spares the logistics involving animal husbandry and managing the calves. Sometimes, udders are a WeaponOfChoice for the cow, with the milk being EdibleAmmunition.

Sub-trope of ArtisticLicenseBiology. May overlap with LactatingMale if the [[AnimalGenderBender cow is male]]. See also CowTipping for another trope about fictional cows being portrayed inaccurately, PerplexingPearlProduction for another animal product portrayed inaccurately, and TheSimpleLifeIsSimple for other agricultural misconceptions. Has nothing to do with MilkingTheGiantCow.

Sub-trope of ArtisticLicenseBiology. May overlap with LactatingMale if the [[AnimalGenderBender cow is male]]. See also CowTipping for another trope about fictional cows being portrayed inaccurately, and TheSimpleLifeIsSimple for other agricultural misconceptions. Has nothing to do with MilkingTheGiantCow.

* ''VideoGame/SakuraDungeon'' has a wide variety of monster girls, one of which being cows. In the uncensored version, Yomi comments that the cow girls can be milked, but no mention is made of whether or not the monster girls can even breed.

In fiction, however, cows can be milked even when they haven't had any calves. Cows can be milked even when the weather is unsuitable for lactating. Cows in fiction lactate no matter what. The only time they'll stop is when sick, old or starving. This is because cows are mainly known for producing milk. In video games where cows and their milk are a resource, this spares the logistics involving animal husbandry and managing the calves. Sometimes, udders are a WeaponOfChoice for the cow, with the milk being EdibleAmmunition.

Sub-trope of ArtisticLicenseBiology. May overlap with AnimalGenderBender if the cow is male. See also CowTipping for another trope about fictional cows being portrayed inaccurately, and TheSimpleLifeIsSimple for other agricultural misconceptions. Has nothing to do with MilkingTheGiantCow.

Sub-trope of ArtisticLicenseBiology. Milking a cow might be part of EverythingsBetterWithCows. May overlap with AnimalGenderBender if the cow is male. See also CowTipping for another trope about fictional cows being portrayed inaccurately, and TheSimpleLifeIsSimple for other agricultural misconceptions. Has nothing to do with MilkingTheGiantCow.

In RealLife, female cows are not able to be milked year round. Like most female mammals, they make milk only for their offspring and thus only lactate during pregnancy and directly after pregnancy, and even then, they only lactate during a warmer season. Cows need to constantly be pregnant (being impregnated once a year) and be in a warm temperature in order to make milk. Even then, cows will eventually stop giving milk with age, which leads to the cows either being retired or sent to the slaughter.

In RealLife, cows are not able to be milked year round. Like most mammals, cows make milk only for their offspring and thus only lactate during pregnancy and directly after pregnancy, and even then, they only lactate during a warmer season. Cows need to constantly be pregnant (being impregnated once a year) and be in a warm temperature in order to make milk. Even then, cows will eventually stop giving milk with age, which leads to the cows either being retired or sent to the slaughter.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheItchyAndScratchyShow'' episode "Butter Off Dead", Itchy shoves Scratchy into a cow's mouth, and after Scratchy is digested, Itchy is somehow able milk him out through the cow as butter. Not only does the cow not appear to be nursing, but cows don't milk out what they digest in real life.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Barnyard}}''. Not only can the cattle give milk without nursing, but [[AnimalGenderBender some of the cattle are male]].

* Averted in the ''Literature/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'' books, where the family's cow stops giving milk when the hard winter comes.

* Averted in the final episode of ''Series/TheGoodLife'' where a subplot is that Geraldine the goat has stopped giving milk. At the end of the episode, Barbara realises Geraldine needs to be mated again.

* In the final episode of ''Series/TheGoodLife'' a subplot is that Geraldine the goat has stopped giving milk. At the end of the episode, Barbara realises Geraldine needs to be mated again.