Mouse in the House
Posted by Judy Welborn, on February 22, 2005
Q: Just for fun, how much milk does a house mouse produce in 24 hours during "full lactation", that is, when her litter is exclusively breastfeeding (do mice "breastfeed") and eating no other solids? Also, what is the approximate volume of milk at each feed for each "mouselette". I look forward to your reply.
A: Oh my, you really want specifics! My wife is a lactation consultant and tells me that there really are people who measure mouse milk This is the site for one such piece of research - milk volumes on Day 15 ranged from 10 ml to 30 ml. : jeb.biologists.org
As to whether mice "breastfeed" - well, yes, all mammals nurse their young, but the words we use to describe it vary: Do they breastfeed, nurse, or suckle? Generally, we seem to reserve the term "breastfeed" for women and perhaps elephants and other primates, all of which have breasts. We probably use the term "nurse" for most other mammals. The choice of words might be different in other English-speaking countries though; in Australia, most would probably simply say mice "feed" their young.
Hope this helps. Thanks for your question.
John Wiessinger ( February 24, 2005)