Line #70 Main/ConstantlyLactatingCow


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4	->''"And if we had that goat, I could have a glass of milk whenever I wanted."''
5	-->-- '''Greg Heffley''', ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidCabinFever''
6
7	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 about once a year)[[note]]Gestational time for cattle is about 9 months. Add 3ish months for the months of nursing and you get a full year.[[/note]] 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.
8
9	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 weapon for the cow, with the milk being EdibleAmmunition.
10
11	This trope also applies to other animals used for milk, such as goats and buffalo.
12
13	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, TheSimpleLifeIsSimple for other agricultural misconceptions, and SuperWoolGrowth for another trope about farm animals producing resources faster than they should. Has nothing to do with MilkingTheGiantCow.
14
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
20	* Zigzagged in the ''Manga/AkazukinChacha'' TV series. When the characters need to find milk for a giant baby, they observe that they need to find a cow that's recently had a calf. However, there's one all-too-conveniently available.
21	* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'': Minotaurs lactate constantly, so they need to be milked. Of course, they have human-like breasts rather than udders, since it's an {{ecchi}} comic.
22	* Applied to ''humans'' in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'', when Thorfinn and friends find a baby, they immediately hand it over to the girl in the group so she can feed it. Except, as she has to explain to the dumbfounded males, she's not pregnant or nursing and thus won't produce milk.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
26	* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'': One strip has a man and a cow on a liferaft, the cow trying to drink a glass of milk while fending off the man.
27	-->You said you were empty, you stinking liar!
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Eastern European Animation]]
31	* ''Animation/{{Fantadroms}}'': One appears in episode 5, hooked to a milking device so it can sell its milk to some customers. It's still selling milk by episode 7.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Fan Works]]
35	* Like in the [[VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade original game]], cows in ''Fanfic/DoYouBelieveInFairies'' can be milked immediately upon aging into adulthood, no breeding required.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
39	* At the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBirdsMovie2'', [[SuperSpeed Chuck]] milks a cow who does not appear to have any calves.
40	* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Barnyard}}''. Not only can the cattle give milk without nursing, but [[AnimalGenderBender some of those cattle are male]].
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
44	* ''Film/KungPowEnterTheFist'': [[ALizardNamedLiz Moo Nieu]] is a cow gifted with karate that can squirt her milk as a weapon.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Literature]]
48	* In ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidCabinFever'', Greg mentions that his dad wouldn't let him take home a goat that he won from the state fair. Greg thinks that the goat would be able to give him milk whenever he wants, despite the fact that the goat wouldn't have any kids if it is the only goat that he would have.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
52	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "Miss Brooks Takes Over Spring Garden", Mr. Boynton decides to abruptly start milking the school mascot (a goat in this episode) to provide the kids with fresh goat's milk. There's no discussion of the goat ever had any kids, or even being milked before.
53	* Seemingly played straight for most of ''Series/GreenAcres'', but subverted in at least two episodes. In season 1's "Lisa Has a Calf", the Douglas' cow, Eleanor, has a calf, [[JustifiedTrope justifying]] the fact that she had been able to be milked thus far in the series. In season 4's "A Husband for Eleanor" she stops giving milk, and the plot revolves around finding a bull to breed her with.
54	* ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth'': The group is overjoyed in season one to discover that a cow managed to survive [[ThePlague the virus]] as it means they get to have fresh milk. Whilst the cow does end up getting pregnant, they still milk it even when its not. Likewise after it dies, they just go to milking its calf.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Video Games]]
58	* ''VideoGame/FaeFarm'': The cow-like mamoos can be milked daily, even when they don't have offspring.
59	* Cows in the ''VideoGame/FarmingSimulator'' series always produce milk, thanks to the fact that EternalEquinox is also in play in vanilla. This is averted in the Seasons mods for these games by Realismus Modding, cows will only produce milk after they have given birth though [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality they are artificially inseminated which requires no input from the player]]. This can be further averted with a mod for the [=GlobalCompany=] script extension in ''19'' that only milks them every half-day.
60	* In ''VideoGame/{{Farmville}}'' you can milk cows, and you can breed them, but you don't need to breed them in order to be able to milk them.
61	* In ''VideoGame/HayDay,'' cows always take exactly an hour to regenerate their milk after being fed, no pregnancy needed.
62	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', you can make any cow instantly produce a surplus of milk by playing Epona's Song on the ocarina while standing next to it. If you have an empty bottle, it'll let you fill the bottle with milk in gratitude for playing such a nice song.
63	* In ''VideoGame/LetsBuildAZoo'', fertile cows will produce milk as long as they're in a barn or battery.
64	* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': Cows are a OneGenderRace, but they and their {{Planimal}} cousins the "Mooshrooms" can also be milked with a bucket anytime (though there is a cooldown of about five minutes). With a bowl the mooshrooms give ''mushroom stew''.
65	* In ''VideoGame/Mother3,'' there is a cow which you can milk if you interact with to receive the HP-restoring item, Fresh Milk. More Fresh Milk can be obtained in this way at any time so long as there is no other Fresh Milk in your inventory. There isn't a calf to be seen.
66	* In ''VideoGame/MyTimeAtPortia'', cows start producing milk once they reach adulthood. You don't even need to actually milk them: bottles of milk will just appear in their pen overnight as long as you keep them happy and fed.
67	* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'': Mozzarina is a cow Pal that will produce milk when assigned to the player's ranch, even if they were [[WhaleEgg newly hatched from an egg]] or have not bred before. Furthermore, [[LactatingMale Mozzarina of both genders will produce milk]], which the Paldeck mentions is a mystery best left unsolved.
68	* 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). In any case, all Pokemon [[WhaleEgg reproduce through eggs]] and young Pokemon eat solids as soon as they're hatched.
69	* ''VideoGame/RimWorld'' has several animals that regularly produce milk once they grow into adults. There's no need to keep males around unless you plan on breeding or eating them.
70	* ''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.
71	* In ''VideoGame/{{Spiritfarer}}'', cows can be milked once an in-game day without needing to get pregnant.
72	* ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' has cows and goats who will give the farmer milk every day (though goats lactate every other day) if they're fed and cared for every day. Given the best care, and the farmer will be given Iridium quality Large Milk.
73	* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'':
74	** In most titles, all adult cows can be milked year round. They only stop lactating when sick. As soon as a calf turns into an adult, she can be milked.
75	** 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 is because she just recently gave birth. The goat can also only be milked for a period, but she can't be bred ''or'' sold meaning 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.) All of this was changed in ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsAWonderfulLife'', where the cows and goats can be constantly milked with the only drop in number being during the hot summer and cold winter, and a drop to nearly useless C quality milk if neglected.
76	* Marge from ''VideoGame/{{Toonstruck}}'' is an anthropomorphic cow who laments her butter-making Churnatron being out of order due to a missing part. Once you find that part and it gets reattached, Marge will attach the machine's suction caps to her udders every few seconds to produce butter.
77	* ''VideoGame/VivaPinata'': Moozipans and Flapyaks are able to produce milk by simply feeding them a sunflower and then directing them to a milking shed. If they are wearing a bell, the sunflower isn't even required.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Western Animation]]
81	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'': Pajuna, the bartender, is an antropomorphic cow who serves her own milk. She doesn't have any calves, and there is no sign of her ever being pregnant over the entire course of the series.
82	* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'': Cow is able to milk herself, often squirting it at villains as Supercow. The thing is, she is supposed to be a child, and probably not even entering puberty yet.
83	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In the episode "Pasture Bedtime", one of the animals on Liam's farm is a goat. Despite being the only goat on his farm, and therefore not having any kids, she is still able to make milk. This comes in handy when Lincoln and his friends try to make Liam [[WarmMilkHelpsYouSleep fall asleep with the milk]].
84	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
85	** The "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror" special "The Isle of Dr. Hibbert" has Ned Flanders turned into a half-man-half-cow creature (he has his own torso but a cow's body, similar to a centaur) and is in pain from needing to be milked, even though he hasn't recently had calves.
86	** ''JustForFun/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.
87	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The Season 11 episode "Shopping List", has [=SpongeBob=] and Sandy milking a giant fangtooth fish (apparently the [[FantasticFaunaCounterpart underwater equivalent of cows]]) who does not have any fries with her.
88	* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'': Played with. While most of the cows from Clay's farm are explicitly not raised for milk, being raised for their meat instead, he has an old cow named Bessie who still lactates.
89	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ConstantlyLactatingCow