THE MILKHOUSE

So, even though I spend a considerable amount of time in the barn each week, I realize I still haven’t gone into great detail as to what goes on within its walls. I’m still milking twice a week (now Monday nights and Wednesday mornings) and have barn chores (mucking stalls, fluffing bedding, emptying the drop, feeding) on Wednesday mornings and then whenever someone needs a cover in the evenings. We have mechanized milking units, but milk by hand if a cow needs a teat stripped due to a mastitis infection, so I’m getting a bit of practice with that as well.

A bit about our dairy:

Our milk is certified organic. Our cows are let out to pasture in between milkings and any grass they graze is supplemented with organic hay and grain to boost their diet and milk production. We sell our milk to Organic Valley and while they are required to pasteurize it be

fore distribution to the public all the milk that we consume on site is whole and unpasteurized. It is illegal to sell unpasteurized milk in the state of Wisconsin, so this is only for personal consumption. Our cows are milked twice a day, at 5:30 AM and PM. Currently, we have approximately 30 milkers and another 40 dry cows, including calves and expectant mothers. Cows are usually dried off two months before calving (they are all artificially inseminated, which is another fun story) and once the calf is born it is separated from the mother and she returns to being milked twice a day. All of our calves are bottle-fed. Male calves are sold (for meat, etc.), but we keep the females and they eventually join our milkers after being bred a few years down the line. Cows in a small-scale organic dairy such as ours usually live 15-plus years, giving milk until the end. The average life span for a factory-raised dairy cow is only 2-3 years.

What else… We have four milk machines and it usually takes (me) about two hours to milk all thirty cows if you include set-up and clean-up. Other, more experienced milkers probably only one and a half. Before and after attaching the machine to the cows’ teats we spray them with iodine and wipe them down to prevent both contamination of the milk and infection of their udders. The milk travels up the hoses, through the piping and into our bulk tank, where it is stored and cooled until Organic Valley comes and picks in up, every 3^rd day. The cows are much better mannered in the mornings after a good night’s sleep. Also, in the evenings they are fed as they are being milked, thereby losing any modicum of manners they may have possessed. They move a lot more and are less hesitant about lifting a hoof, so you have to be on your toes.

Friedo, one of the founding members of Community Homestead, is in charge of the barn. He’s from Germany and a very thorough and meticulous teacher. The first few weeks I milked exclusively with him, but now I milk on Wednesday’s with Ryan as well. I do chores with Bruce, Dustin and Steve, three of our life sharers; this involves helping keep them on track and moving them onto the next task while working alongside them.

The hours may not be the most convenient, but I’m finally starting to get a hang of everything and I really do enjoy being with the cows. Additionally, there are a plethora of friendly barn cats that hang around waiting for you to spill milk or throw an errant scratch their way.