We are chopping ice off the water tanks every day. Some days it is four inches thick or more. The ground is frozen solid; it is near zero most mornings and the wind has a savage bite to it. However, no matter what the weatherman or the calendar says, spring is coming. House finches and chickadees are singing their mating songs, cardinals are calling cheerily from down below the drive and the first blackbirds are showing up at the feeder. The cows are shedding like crazy too, with clouds of hair flying all over the barn.
This leads to an interesting phenomena. The cows go nuts when they see a broom, or at least they do on my side of the barn. See I have been spending quite a lot of time sweeping floors and cleaning windowsills in honor of the fact that, since we are shopping for a new milk market, we are meeting a lot of new milk inspectors.
A bit of sweeping and polishing helps give a good first impression when they walk into the barn to talk turkey.
Anyhow, as I walk down the aisles brandishing my tired, old, barn broom, I also sweep off the loose hair on the backs, rumps and tails of any cows that are lying down. This is something I do every spring. The cows love it. Within a couple of days of my starting, they begin to beg, cow style, to be next for grooming. They stare at me intently and swing their heads up and down, clanging their stanchions. Some will even moo at me and groan eagerly when they see the broom coming.
While the stiff bristles are scrubbing off their excess hair, they put their heads right down to the floor and chew frantically, in a reflexive action like a dog moving its leg when you scratch its ear. Cows that are normally about as friendly as crocodiles lean toward me and jostle their neighbors to keep themselves closer to the wonderful tool. Some of them insist on standing up, which makes it much harder to broom them, as I am not terribly tall. The smart ones stay down though, so I can get at every itchy inch.
It makes the job fun to have them enjoy it so much and they really look amazingly better when I am done. Clean cows are another important issue for milk inspectors, so I get a business benefit along with the satisfaction of making the cows more comfy.
Cows
Farming
Signs of spring
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5 comments:
Do your cows get to go outside or do they stay in the barn? When I was growing up we usually had 2 cows that we milked for home use and they were outside except during milking time. I think the dairy farmer down the road had a small lot for his cows but they seemed very crowded in the small lot compared to ours who had about 20 acres to roam in during the day.
Ours are pastured in summer, out as you say, except at milking time. In the winter they are inside, except for daily excercize in the yard. When is icy particularly, we keep them inside, as it is very easy for them to slip on the ice or to knock each other down when jostling around. It is all too common for cows to split their pelvises if they fall, which is a fatal illness. They don't mind being in. In fact when the barn door opens someone has to stand there to direct traffic so to speak or they will try to all get in at once. They feel the cold just like we do.
I had forgotten about sweeping cows, so it was great to read your wonderful description. Yes, I remember how much they loved it.
You have written a wonderful post, giving us an important inside glimpse to your work. I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for your note! I am glad that your cows still get to go out to exercise and graze. It appears that many chickens are not so lucky. I was appalled at learning how many are kept in small cages and almost force fed for their short lives on some chicken farms. I think some pigs are treated the same way and then there are "veal calves."
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