Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2008 9:02:01 GMT -5
My teen daughter has been training to do the milking chores at a nearby farm while the family got away for 2 days this weekend. Last night I went with her as she did it for the first time by herself.
Wow! What a job. I'm incredibly proud of my kiddo.
We milked about 45 cows. This is an old farm and is not set up for efficiency. I was the official dipper, letter-inner and out-er, and gutter shoveler.
I was amazed at the sheer variety of cows. Big saggy udders, small high udders, tidy cows, filthy cows, lumps and bumps, arthritis, extra teats. I obsess over the irregularities on our animals, but these ole girls made my cows look like show specimens. I complain about the chicken droppings in my barn, but am now convinced that we have the sterilty of an operating room compared to a bigger facility.
We were very slow - I think some of the cows gave up on us and just laid down to relax in the barn. We found ourselves walking out among them and calling names, which they recognized. Veronica? Patsy?
There were some comical moments, like when an unidentified cow came into the parlor. I said, "who is this?"
Lydia says, "Does she look like Cindy Lou?"
I laughed. "What do you mean does she look like Cindy Lou???! They all look alike at this point!!"
"I mean is she small and dark with a big udder," says Liddy.
I guess you had to be there, but we were getting tired and punchy.
After that, there were bottle calves, dry cows and heifers, pigs, a horse -- and we could not find the lightswitch in that barn. It was pitch dark and we could hear fireworks in all the small towns around us.
How lucky I feel this morning. Handmilking our 2 cows seems like a pleasant little pastime.
Wow! What a job. I'm incredibly proud of my kiddo.
We milked about 45 cows. This is an old farm and is not set up for efficiency. I was the official dipper, letter-inner and out-er, and gutter shoveler.
I was amazed at the sheer variety of cows. Big saggy udders, small high udders, tidy cows, filthy cows, lumps and bumps, arthritis, extra teats. I obsess over the irregularities on our animals, but these ole girls made my cows look like show specimens. I complain about the chicken droppings in my barn, but am now convinced that we have the sterilty of an operating room compared to a bigger facility.
We were very slow - I think some of the cows gave up on us and just laid down to relax in the barn. We found ourselves walking out among them and calling names, which they recognized. Veronica? Patsy?
There were some comical moments, like when an unidentified cow came into the parlor. I said, "who is this?"
Lydia says, "Does she look like Cindy Lou?"
I laughed. "What do you mean does she look like Cindy Lou???! They all look alike at this point!!"
"I mean is she small and dark with a big udder," says Liddy.
I guess you had to be there, but we were getting tired and punchy.
After that, there were bottle calves, dry cows and heifers, pigs, a horse -- and we could not find the lightswitch in that barn. It was pitch dark and we could hear fireworks in all the small towns around us.
How lucky I feel this morning. Handmilking our 2 cows seems like a pleasant little pastime.