out that the milk could be mixed in with the animals’s feed, as Mr. Jones had occasionally done,Napoleon tells them not to worry about the milk. He distracts them by telling them to follow Snowball out into the field to finish the harvest. By the time they get back, the milk is gone; it is safe to assume that it has been consumed by the pigs. This action foreshadows the fact that the pigs care for no one but themselves.

The milk disappears in Chapter II, and the animals discover what happens to it in the next chapter. It is revealed that the milk is mixed each day into the pigs' mash. When the animals wonder why the pigs are receiving this privilege, Squealer argues that the pigs, because they are the brains behind the farm, need the extra nutrition found in the milk and apples, which, he claims, is scientifically proven to be essential for pigs. He even says that some of the pigs don't like milk and apples, but eat them for the benefit of all the animals. What this foreshadows is that the pigs, contrary to their rhetoric about the equality of all animals, are going to reserve certain privileges for themselves. They have no intent of creating true equality on the farm. This is the first example of the corruption of the principles of the revolution, which will eventually disintegrate into a totalitarian nightmare in which the pigs are no better than the humans.

The disappearance of the milk demonstrates that the pigs are starting to exert control.  The animals assume that the milk and apples will be shared by all animals.  The cows have to be milked, and the apples that fall on the ground have to be eaten.  Animal Farm is supposed to be a collective effort. 

This also demonstrates the sneaky manner in which the pigs took the milk and apples.  They did not announce that they were doing it, and did not explain until they were questioned.  Napoleon said, "Never mind the milk, comrades!"  He obviously had plans for the pigs to steal it.

The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up. It was mixed every day into the pigs' mash. … The animals had assumed as a matter of course that [the apples] would be shared out equally; one day, however, the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness room for the use of the pigs. (Ch. 3) 

Squealer explains that the pigs are the brainworkers of the farm, and they need the milk and apples because they have to work to keep the farm running.  The pigs are making themselves in charge.  They are taking the best things for themselves. 

The way the pigs took the milk and apples is only the beginning.  Slowly, the pigs alter all of the Seven Commandments as they find they need to.  They begin sleeping in the house, they drink alcohol, and kill sheep and hens that were supposedly in league with Snowball, whom they say is a traitor.  They also begin trading with the humans. Eventually, the pigs actually walk on two legs and carry whips in their trotters.  They are soon no different from the people they replaced.

Early in George Orwell’s fable (or, perhaps, more accurately, allegory) Animal Farm, the animals are becoming increasingly agitated about their subordination to and dependence upon humans.  The farm animals have begun to question the existing arrangement, in which they serve at the pleasure of man, who does, himself, contribute to the arrangement but seems to exist solely to consume the fruits of others’ efforts.  As Major notes in his address to the assembled masses,

 “‘Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. . .And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies.’”

Major’s speech is revealing in Orwell’s allegorical tale about tyranny and human nature.  He, of course, is a boar, and, as will be revealed in Chapter III, it is the pigs who abscond with the missing milk after Napolean, another boar’s, refrain to the assembled animals to ignore the issue of the milk: “‘Never mind the milk, comrades!’ cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. ‘That will be attended to. The harvest is more important. Comrade Snowball will lead the way.”

The boars’ apparent diversionary tactic, and an important literary device in the story’s evolution, conceals the answer to the question of the missing milk.  As Orwell’s narrator notes, “The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up. It was mixed every day into the pigs’ mash.”  The pigs, it turns out, conspired to keep the milk for themselves, justifying their actions on the basis of their presumed importance to the broader enterprise:

“All the pigs were in full agreement on this point, even Snowball and Napoleon. Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanations to the others. ‘Comrades!’ he cried. ‘You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers.”

The pigs, in other words, kept the milk for themselves because of their conviction that their survival and prosperity is key to the success of the animals’ plan for self-rule.  That the pigs have succeeded, at least for the moment, in institutionalizing the ancient concept of ‘first among equals’ -- as would the Nomenclatura of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in its infamous and decidedly unsocialist hierarchy – so does this early and prominent fracture in the animals’ newly established order serve as the central theme of Orwell’s story.  

The milk is of course a rich source of food, and the luxury item available to the animals on the farm.  When it becomes apparent that the milk has been taken by the pigs, they quickly come up with a reason for this need. 

It is reasoned by Squealer that the Pigs require the milk (and apples) to feed their brains.  If their brains fail, he uses the veiled threat that Mr Jones may return and take back his farm.  This sneaky method of using propaganda to manipulate the thoughts and emotions of the other animals is one of the early examples of the pigs showing corruption and their less-than-desirable attitudes towards their equal society.

It is worth noting that the milk is discovered taken by the pigs, the puppies have also been taken to be raised by the pigs as well.  Basically the signs to the reader about corruption, and the future enforcement of rules by military force become apparent.

All of the evidence points to the fact that the pigs have taken the milk for themselves.  We discover this in chapter 3.  The pigs make the point that they need the milk and apples because they have important jobs planning and leading the animals.  This is significant because at the beginning of the revolution everyone was supposed to share everything.  When the milk and apples start going to the pigs and only the pigs, there is a distinction between the pigs and other animals.  The pigs are holding themselves above the common animals.  They make the innocent argument that they need the milk, but it is the beginning of sneaky behavior by the pigs.

The pigs taking the milk and apples is the turning point of the novel because it demonstrates that the pigs were taking charge and reserving luxuries for themselves.

After the animals revolt and the humans are forced off the farm, the cows need to be milked.  They are very uncomfortable it they do not get milked.  The pigs are able to milk them successfully, and the other animals begin eying the milk.  Milk is a hot commodity on the farm.  All of the animals like it.

"What is going to happen to all that milk?" said someone.

"Jones used sometimes to mix some of it in our mash," said one of the hens.

"Never mind the milk, comrades!" cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. "That will be attended to. The harvest is more important. …” (Ch. 2)

What does happen to the milk, and the apples, is actually very significant.  These two luxuries seem to disappear and the animals do not know where they are going.  Soon they find out what happened.

It was mixed every day into the pigs' mash. The early apples were now ripening ... The animals had assumed as a matter of course that these would be shared out equally; one day, however, the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness−room for the use of the pigs. (Ch. 3)

Squealer explains to the animals that the milk has to go to the pigs because they are the farm’s brain trust.  Since they work harder than everyone, and they are in charge, they deserve the milk and apples.

This is a turning point for the animals and for the reader. It is the first time we realize that Animal Farm is not going to be the egalitarian paradise that Old Major foresaw.  Corruption is already setting in.  Taking the milk and apples for themselves is only the first abuse the pigs engage in.  Soon they are worse masters than the people they replaced.

In the first few chapters of George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, milk plays an important role as a symbol of privilege. The first reference to milk occurs when Old Major, in his important early speech, associates it with the privileges of humans. Humans, he says, do not produce milk; instead, they take it from those who do produce it and they use it for their own benefit. Expanding upon this charge, he asks,

You cows that I see before me, how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given during this last year? And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone downthe throats of our enemies [that is, humans].

Major’s charges will later seem ironic when it is animals themselves (specifically, the pigs) who take milk from the cows and keep it for themselves. After the Rebellion occurs, the cows are milked, and although various animals (including chickens) express interest in the milk, Napoleon tells them not to worry about it. Later, when they return from other activities, they notice that the milk is gone. Later still, the animals discover that the pigs have appropriated the milk for their own benefit.

Inevitably, it is Squealer, the propagandist, who is given the task of explaining this situation to the other animals:

'Comrades!' he cried. 'You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty?'

The other animals quickly agree that only the pigs should have the milk – a very specific example of Orwell’s point that the communist revolutionaries in Russia quickly became a new elite after they overthrew the traditional aristocrats. The milk thus functions as a specific symbol of the way Soviet leaders appropriated many privileges to themselves and justified their luxuries on the grounds that they were only working tirelessly to promote the greater interests of the people.