There are several reasons why cows are milked so early in the morning. 1. It’s so that the milk can be pasteurized & shipped out to be on the shelves of your local supermarket by 6am on the following day. 2. Cows are easier to handle in the wee hours because like humans, they’re sleepy & tend to doze thru milking. 3. Depending on the breed some cows are milked in the very early morning & in the late afternoon. However other breeds, that are very heavy milk producers, have to be milked 4 times a day, which means they get milked about in the very early morning, around 4am, then again around 10am, again around 4pm, again around 10pm. If cows don’t get milked on time, they get very uncomfortable & cranky & noisy.