We always brag that our cows live a good life. Today we thought it would be a bit fun to take you through the day to day lives of our favorite ladies.
During the winter, the day begins around 5 AM when we turn the lights on in the barn and it’s breakfast time. Our cows get a small snack to munch on while we clean the barn and hoe out their stalls and give them a fresh mat of hay to lay on. AFter they’ve eaten and we’ve cleaned up everything it is time to get milking. It takes us about an hour to milk all 30 cows. We use 4 machines and each cow will usually milk out in about 5 minutes. After milking and when the equipment is washed and put away, we give out a little bit more hay to finish off breakfast and so that they will have food throughout the day. Cows spend about 8 hours each day eating, so it is important to us that they always have food available for when they get hungry.
After the morning milking and breakfast, most of the cows will lay down and it is time for their mid-morning nap. It takes a lot of work to make such delicious milk, and with little else to worry about, cows will spend around 12-14 hours sleeping each day. During late morning and early afternoon the cows can be seen napping, eating, chewing their cud, and socializing with their neighbors. It is a very relaxed lifestyle.
Around 2:30, Rick will begin the afternoon chores, where he repeats the morning activities- a quick snack for the girls, hoe out, clean the barn, and distribute more hay. After this, it’s coffee time for Rick while the ladies ruminate and enjoy attention from farm visitors. At 4:30 we start milking, again about an hour to milk everyone and then it’s lights off and time for bed or more socializing.
During the summer the routine is very similar except that they enjoy their days out on pasture where they can nap in the shade of the trees, bask in the sun, take a dip in the pond, or just hang out and visit with friends. They also spend nights outside and enjoy the cool night air when they bed down together as a herd.
We try to minimize the stress and change in the day to day lives of our cows, as they love a dependable routine and are happiest this way. Happy cows are healthy cows and make delicious milk, and that makes us happy!
