Yesterday, M&D took me on an adventure to see some cows!  We went to McClelland Dairy Farm, where they have lots and lots of them, and they offer tours.

At first, I was a little worried about what cows eat.  Turns out this young Jersey calf was just being friendly, and NOT trying to eat Daddy’s watch.  Phew!

Of course, then she started to go for Mommy’s pocket.  I kept a close eye on her after the watch incident.

Mr. George McClelland gave the tour, which included a chance to milk one of his prize show cows, Valentine.  At 1600 lbs, Valentine was a bit imposing, so I decided to leave the milking to the professionals.  Maybe next time.

And here are the professionals at work in the milking parlor:

(Ed. Note: Thanks to Laurie Proctor for the pictures (and for organizing the outing through SRMC). Daddy forgot his camera…)

• The cows can produce between 5 and 14 gallons of milk a day, depending on their diet (low protein grass yields lower milk production, high protein feed results in higher milk production).
• It takes 4 to 20 minutes for the cow to get milked in the parlor.  Each of their 800 cows are milked twice a day.
• Cows have a 9 month gestation period, and they live from 6 to 14 years.
• Cows are kept in individual stalls (as pictured above) for the first months after they are born so that the farmers can monitor their health and keep them away from other cows that might be sick.
• The milk from McClelland’s Dairy goes to Clover Stornetta, which is the brand of milk we buy!