Got Milk?

Today Dan and I had the pleasure of accompanying Kailer and his friends on his first field trip to L&F Dairy Farm. This little farm is located no more then 5 miles from our doorstep and who knew that their milk supplied all of the Kirkland Brand (Costco) and Wilcoxson's Ice Cream (which is made 20 minutes from here in Livingston), just to name a few.
The minute we got out of the vehicles all of the children were immediately attracted to the dozen or so barn kittens that were running around. In fact, they were all so involved with the kittens, that we probably could have just stopped the tour right there and they all would have been just as happy. Mr. Gary (or "Farmer" as some of the kids called him) even told the kids that if they were good they could take home a kitty ... he's more than ready to get rid of a few. Needless to say, no one left with a kitten, but a certain someone (Dan) sure tried hard to get another certain someone (Me) to agree to taking one home.
The tour was actually quite interesting and it's amazing how much milk they are able to collect in one day. Mr. Gary stated that they milk two times per day (2 am. and 2 p.m.) and usually get about 18,000 pounds of milk or 2,155 gallons! We got to see the babies that were still being bottle fed, followed by the ones who had been weened, but were kept in crates to keep them healthy, then the "hospital ward" where there were cows who had gotten old or had a bad hoof (which, by the way, he puts a block of wood on the good hoof to keep the 'bad' one of the ground in order to heal), and onto the milking station. Some of the cows even have mattresses to sleep on and Mr. Gary was telling us that water beds are available now for them!! We also learned that technology has helped to play a great role in the whole process. The cows wear sensors around their necks, which are coordinated with a computer and it regulates how much grain a cow is allowed to eat in a day. The milking unit is all automatic, they just have to hook up the pumps and the milking begins, which takes approximately 3-4 minutes per cow. It really was quite interesting and I'm glad that we were able to partake in Kailer's first field trip!

Daddy and Kailer checking out one of the calves in her crate.

Kailer, a calf and I believe Dan trying to convince me and Kailer that this particular kitty needed to come home with us! :) Kailer bought into it, momma didn't.
Kailer and his "big brother," Quinn, checking out the cows......lets just say their utters were HUGE!!

The milking station.