2 of my high school friends, Pat & Audra got married, and Farmer Pat helps run his families farm called Windmill Dairy. Audra was kind enough to give us a tour and let the kids check out all the cool moo moos! I took tons of photos b/c it's always so fun to visit a farm.
AROUND THE FARM:
THE PARLOR: Milking goes on constantly because of the number of cows at the farm. Each cow gets milked 3 times a day! They pump around 8100 gallons of milk into the bulk tank each day! Incredible!
THE BARN: I didn't take any photos of the outside, my bad. These barns are huge. They have a total of 1000 head of milking cows at the Dairy. These barns are state of the art too! The cows can sleep on waterbeds if they want! They are large pads that lay in the stalls. They help protect the cows joints and keep vet bills down. They also have a special genetically perfect (I don't know what you'd call it, maybe if Audra comments on this she can correct me!!) lady Holstein and she's worth $100,000 smackers!! I'm calling her, "Holstein Royalty". Schweet!
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| Halt. Cows Crossing. |
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| Here's our groupie. Cesar with Sabine & Marlo. Carley and I. Audra, Pearl, John & Hugo. | That's farmer Pat in the background, he was busy working. |
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| A Jersey cow |
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| This baby was just born...and I mean like 2 minutes before we walked past. It was still wet and and hadn't gotten up yet. Pretty awesome! |
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| Ella Pearl |
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| John Patrick |
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| Whoa There Partner. Checkity check out that gargantuan utter! This cow got overlooked somehow when it was her turn to get milked...OUCH! Someone call the lactation specialist! |
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| Audra |
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| This Holstein has some serious reach! |
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| This was my most favorite part of the barn. A new instillation since I've been to visit. It's a massager! When the ladies feel a little stressed and life gets to be too much for them, they can line up and get relief! How cool is that! They just have to bump it and it starts to spin and...Ahhhhh! | | | | |
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JUVIE: About a half mile away at the site of the old farm, is where the juvie males hang out.
THE NURSERY: Just beyond the juvies is where the babies are kept. It was sad to see them without their mamas, but you have to respect the process.
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| Apparently this calf has nipple confusion. |
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| Carley was in love with this little calf. |
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| The calves have their own milk tank. They can get milk anytime they want by walking into these little stalls that have a nipple waiting. The stalls look simple, but they are fully automated by computers so they know exactly which calf is eating when and how much...gotta keep 'em healthy!! |
The End.
2 comments:
These are just awesome pictures. When my dad sees them he is going to go into withdrawals from the small 42 head he used to care for! I would love for my kids to be able to see the operation of some of these huge dairies!
Hey Millie! Pat and I loved your post. It's always fun to see the farm through other people's eyes. We had a great time with everyone, as always!
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