A Day in the Life of a Cow

What does a dairy cow do every day? Lots! They’re busy ladies. A day in the life of a dairy cow, as told by the cow.

5 am- “Time to rise, shine and start the day! The farmer came to get my herd mates and I up to head to the holding pen. Once I stretch and hop out of my stall it’s cleaned so I have a nice place to sleep when I come back. I love naps!”

“While I’m in the holding pen waiting to be milked the barn is scraped free of manure. My gal pals and I like to be clean and pretty, but we can sure make a mess!”

Isn’t my barn so clean and shiny thanks to my farmer.

6am- “It feels so much better to have my udder empty! It fills up in no time with all this food, water and rest. Us ladies get milked 3 times a day to keep us comfortable.”

6:30am- “Shhh… I hear it. When you hear the tractor start it means FOOD is coming. I love food. I could eat all day. We get fed twice a day when our feed comes out of the tractor and mix wagon. Did you know I eat 100 pounds of feed a day? It takes a lot to keep this milk machine running!”

Here comes my farmer with the chow wagon!

7am- “Well my tummy is full, my udder is empty and my stall is clean. This means only one thing, nap time! I like to relax and sleep almost as much as I like to eat.”

12:45pm- “Time to get moving again. I’ve chilled most of the morning but now it’s time to get milked again. Off to the holding pen I go!”

“I think when I walk past these tubs I need to stop and get a sip. My farmer has seen all these silly pictures of gallon jugs wrote on lately with people trying to get in a gallon of water a day. They got nothing on me. I drink a bath tub full every day. Sip, sip away!”

On top of the automatic water troughs in the barn, we can drink from these tubs when we head to the holding pen and after we’re milked.

1:30pm- “My milker is on and I’m chugging away! After a short wait in the holding pen I’m getting some udder relief. It takes a little over 5 minutes for me to get milked.”

Milking away!

3pm- “I hear that noise again, the one that I love, food wagon!!! We have a nutritionist who makes a rations just for us, it meets all the needs we have to produce quality milk for you to enjoy. My favorite part of the mix is the corn silage, but we also have hay and grain mixed in too.”

Eating with my gal pals. This TMR (total mixed ration) is delicious!

5pm- “Sometimes these mini farmers, as we call them, come play in our sand. They’re loud but we see them everyday. It’s to the point we barely notice them unless we want some scratches. They’re always playing in our beds!”

Mini farmers making sand castles, silly kids!

7pm- “It’s a nice evening so all of us girls headed outside to soak up some evening sun and take in the breeze. Socializing when it’s cooler is such a nice break.”

8:50pm- “It’s that time again. Off to get milked I go! While I wait to get milked I enjoy standing in the door way. My farmer does a good job, but I like to supervise.”

Milking is done best under my careful supervision.

10pm- “I made sure to belly up to the water tub before heading back to the barn. I’m going to grab a quick bite to eat then hit the stall. I’ll be back up and at it again in a few hours!”

Nighty, night!

“Thanks for spending the day with us. Remember to drink your milk 😉 “