Week of 07/30/2006
The weather was hot, hot, hot.
"I have something really exciting to do and I need you kids to help
out," Harold said all bright eyed one morning.
"Okay," I murmur, not sure how exciting this really was going to
be.
So we went out through the pastures to the calves. Well I guess things can
get pretty exciting with a group of calves! When we reached the calves Harold
said, "we need to move the calves from here to there," as
he pointed to the other side of the pasture. At first I did not understand
why this was so exciting and why we needed my brother Justin and me to help.
Moving calves happens everyday, and after a while it is no longer exciting!
Calves do not get a whole pasture like cows, because they do not eat as much,
so we divide the pastures up for them, and everyday they get moved to a new
portion of the pasture, with a portable fence.
"We are going to try this more conveniently," Harold explained,
and with a wire, (which looks like an electric fence to the calves), Harold,
Maria, Justin and I made a square around the herd of calves. We began to walk
to the new part of the pasture where we wanted the calves to be. It worked
so smoothly. That saved us a lot of chasing! (Although that can be fun). And
it was exciting because it was something new, and you do need four people to
do it everytime.
Later that week we had a farm tour. Farm tours are always an exciting event,
and meeting new people is my favorite part. The day before the tour the tent
was delivered because the tour group needed a place to eat lunch afterwards.
Two men set up the tent, and when they where done they asked if they could
look at the calves. It's amazing how they can be on the job to set up a tent
and learn about calves while they were at it. It was probably the most exciting
thing of their long workday! The next day the tour finally showed up! (If you
were at the tour you might know exactly why I wrote finally).
Okay now that you are all here: We will let the tour begin! Are you all ready?
You can all follow me into the milking parlor. This is where the cows get milked
twice a day. They walk in through the back and line up on either side of the
pit. When milking a cow you stand in the pit. The cow's back end is facing
you. Before we begin milking we spray every teat with iodine and then clean
it with a cloth rag. We could just use a paper cloth, but would you rather
wash your face with a paper towel, or a cloth towel? It is the same for cow's
teats. Then we hang the milking unit on, about 6 minutes later we take it off.
In the mean time we prep the other cows. The way our parlor is set up, you
can get a lot milking at once. When the row is done, we open the gates and
they walk out into the cow yard where they get food and water while they wait
for the others.
Okay, any questions so far?
"Yes, how long does it take to milk all the cows?"
When they leave their pasture until the time they return it is about 2 hours.
All right, let's make our way into the milk house. These 2 big tanks are where
the milk is stored until the milk truck picks it up or until we bring some
into our house. The milk travels in these pipelines from the milking unit into
the tanks.
Let's just walk out this door and hop on the hay wagon and we will look at
the animals on the pasture. My brother Tony will be driving us. Our first stop
is at the chicken wagon. This is a chicken house on wheels, so we can move
it from pasture to pasture. If you would like, you can walk to the chicken
wagon. All you have to do is duck under this fence, be careful not to touch
it or you will get a shock. I'll just open the door so you can see in. Who
wants to touch a warm egg? I'll pass it around. Here on the sides are the nest
boxes where they lay their eggs. In the center is where they eat their grain
and on the other side is where they roost. If you look way back there you can
see that there is a small door where the chickens walk out. Stay away from
the rooster, he can get a little mean sometimes. Every day we open the door
and the chickens walk out, they wander very far but always come back. They
eat grass and eat the fly larva to keep the population down. Any questions?
"Yes, how many eggs does a chicken lay in one day?"
Each chicken lays about one egg a day. And we have about 80 chickens.
Let's get back on the hay wagon and our next stop will be the cows.
Right now you have the opportunity to mingle with cows! You can duck under
this fence and walk up to any cow. Just remember that these are big animals!
Okay, let's head back and have some lunch! Thanks for being a great group
of tourists!
Your farm friend,
Julia Krusenbaum
Farm Fact:
A hen requires 24 to 26 hours to produce an egg. Thirty minutes later, she starts all over again.