Photos I was Afraid to Share



Our cows, resting on the bedded pack in our dairy barn.




An example of a photo I was afraid to share....
cows walking in "poop" (manure).

 As part of my goal with my blog, I believe that there is nothing to hide about what we do on our farms everyday!  Some have accused me of "sugar coating" the truth about dairy farming, but rest assured, everything that I post is the honest truth.  That being said, I had a startling realization the other day.

I was talking with our hoof trimmer Brian (the lovely man who comes to give our cows pedicures twice a year) about the health of our cows' feet and hooves as compared to other types of dairy farms.  He shared with me a very interesting point....but I'll start at the beginning first.  Our cows are housed in a pack barn (see above picture) where they are allowed to roam freely each day around this pen.  We bed it every few days with fresh wood saw dust.  The bedding helps to keep our cows dry as well as comfortable.  As you can see, they rest very comfortably.  Much like a traditional modern free stall barn, we have a feed alley where the cows can also freely walk to and eat.  In this feed alley, they walk in "poop" (manure).  In fact, on certain days, with certain cows, they actually accidentally sleep on "poop".  The "poop" is removed from the floor twice daily, but during parts of the day there is "poop" on the floor.  Pictures that I have taken in our barn of cows eating on the alley have been carefully edited, cropped or avoided all together because I wasn't sure how I could explain to a consumer the fact that our cows walk in "poop".  The funny thing is that I give tours to preschool kids and parents, where they see first hand the cows walking in "poop", and I was able to explain to them why this was ok, but I couldn't do it on my blog. 

So...back to the hoof trimmer.  Brian shared an interesting fact about cows that walk in "poop"...their hooves are actually in the best condition of all the feet he trims!  No way!  Walking in "poop" is actually good for cows...much like cows on pasture which will walk in mud, or create cow paths that may get moist!  The moisture from the mud or in the case of our farm, "poop" acts a a moisturizer for cow feet, thereby helping the cow maintain good hoof growth (hooves grow like human finger nails).  Brian also shared that cows that have feet that are always kept dry and clean, actually have a painful problem: their feet get hard, dry and brittle.  In some cases the hoof material actually stops growing!  So...I no longer need to feel ashamed to share a picture of our cows standing on a "poop" covered floor...because the truth is that our farm facility is natural to the cow and provides for her excellent hoof health!  So rest assured...I am willing to share everything!

Kids Ask, I Tell...

After last week's preschool tour, I thought I would take this week before we start cutting hay to reflect on their questions, and how I responded to them.  I think even adults wonder about some of the things that they asked, and frankly...if you want to know, JUST ASK US!  I am more than willing to share with you why we do what we do, instead of having false assumptions made about our farm...so here we go....first up!

1. Do your cows go outside?
Seems like a simple question, since we were in a barn at the time when this was asked.  Our milking cows do NOT go outside.  They enjoy life inside our barn with a roof, sidewalls with curtains for natural light and ventilation, and fans and sprinklers for summer heat.  We house our cows inside for a number of reasons, but the main one is that we are protecting them from the environment outside.  Inside our barn they are protected from rain, snow, sun, heat, cold, wind, etc...and they are protected from predators (coyotes are most numerous in our area).  We also have them inside so they stay out of mud.  Those silly cows sure do love their mud!  I can't believe how much mud they make and play in when they are outside.  Mud=dirty, and dirty=increased chance of mastitis (which is painful for the cow and our pocket book-clean cows are healthy cows!). 

We have a pack barn which is basically a big bedded pen, allowing all cows plenty of walking room each day.  They get exercise by walking to and from the parlor, up to the bunk for feed and water and mainly from running around with their herd mates during the day-playing!  Yep! You got it!  Cows play!  You should see them play, it makes Jon and I laugh so often during the day!  I love watching them just have a blast!

Our dry cows DO GO OUTSIDE.  They enjoy a 2 month vacation outside before they have their next calf.  Here they have one job, to eat and relax.  One of the moms on our tour last week thought that sounded nice, since she was expecting a baby in a couple of months ;)  In this pen we strive to keep them clean, but darn it if those cows don't find a mud hole every once in awhile, especially in the summer after a cool rain.  We hope to someday move these cows indoors to also protect them from the weather, but for now they are doing just fine.

2. How come your cows walk in poop?
This one was a great question!  Ever watch a herd of cows walk home from the pasture?  The follow the same path over and over again, until its dirt (hence the term "cow paths").  When it rains this turns to mud, but there is also "poop" there.  Cows poop all of the time.  Cows will poop when they get up to eat, when they lay down, when they leave the parlor, when they come into the parlor, and when they are scared.  We work hard to prevent the last condition-walking through the barn peacefully is a requirement, but with 20+ kids laughing and screaming at the cows...well, let's just say they were scared/nervous.  One very astute child suggested that we take the cows outside the barn, onto the grass and let them poop outside and then bring them back into the barn.  Just like a dog!  What an observation!  BUT....those cows would poop on the way out and on the way back, still making a mess and making a mess of our front lawn.  Unfortunately we have not potty trained our cows, but if someone ever figures out a way to do it I know many dairy farmers that would be interested.  Our cows walk on alleys that are made with concrete.  The cows have grip on these to prevent them from slipping.  We scape these alleys everyday-twice a day to prevent the "poop" from getting too deep.  It's a job that we do when the cows are in the parlor waiting to be milked.  Some farmers have machines that automatically scrape the alleys during the day while the cows are in the barn, but we do not have a system like that.  The "poop" is scraped into a holding pit which is pumped out every few weeks, and hauled to our fields.  Scraping "poop" is critical to making sure that our cows stay clean-the cleaner the cows are, the healthier they are, and we improve the overall quality of the milk that they produce! 

Awesome questions!!!! More to come later this week!!!

They came, they went, they learned!

Whew! What a day! 42 preschoolers later, I am exhausted! It was busy morning getting ready for the preschoolers before they arrived at the farm. Add to that the energy needed to keep up with 42 4 and 5 year olds, and needless to say it took a lot out of us today. The weather was beautiful and the kids were great! So many awesome questions asked. A BIG thanks to our 2 dairy princesses who came with us today for the visit! Some of the funny questions and comments are listed below....and pictures will be coming soon....

• "Is that a boy cow, it only has one earring? Girl cows should have 2 earrings"-pointing at a cow's ear tag.
• "My favorite part was milking the baby calves"-trying to tell us about feeding the calves milk in a bottle.
• "How come they poop on the ground?"-because cows can't be potty trained yet ;)
• "Is she bleeding?"-pointing at the teat dip on the cow's teat, which is dark brown colored.
• "Whoa, she made a mess! Who's going to clean it up?"-when a cow pooped in the parlor.
• "Can we walk in the poop too?"-wanted to walk in the scrape alley with the cows.
• "That feed stinks-how do they eat that?"-pointing at the TMR, smelling like silage.