A tour of the milking process & a first rodeo

As part of being a representative for USFRA, they invite me to write features for their site.  This month's feature is A Tour of the Milking Process.  Enjoy!

That is obviously an older picture ... no one is wearing short sleeves right now.

This past week Kris and I took the boys to visit Kris' family in Texas.  We had the chance to go to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, and it was educational and fun!  (Just as promised!)  

That's bigger in Texas.

Giant barn filled with livestock

There were a million schools on field trips there, and we did all the activities right along with them.

The show is giant!  We saw a cow being milked, sows nursing piglets, turkeys, chickens, bee hives ... along with farm machines.  Besides all of the educational parts, it is an actual show.  People were readying their animals to be shown and judged.  

Milking

Buy your feed here!

Livestock washing area

Longhorn

Brahman, a cattle breed.  So interesting to see!  Long ears and a hump.

Along with all that, there's a carnival, music, and the rodeo events.

During the day, they also have mutton bustin'.  (That's right!  No 'g'.)  This is an event where children of a certain weight range can mount a sheep and hold on for dear life.  

This is what was my favorite - you can just do it!  It's like going on a ride!  Sign a waiver, put on a vest and a helmet, and away you go!

Our son Ty met the weight requirements, and had a fun time doing it ...

Clearly, this is a life skill for farming.  My ancestors used to have sheep, but we never have ... if we did, they could practice this daily!

Meanwhile, back on the farm ... all is well.  We're all pretty used to the cold weather and all looking forward to the warmer weather on the horizon.  The cows are pregnant, healthy, eating well, and we're only two weeks from spring!  March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb ... that you're trying to ride.



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They're not fat, they're pregnant

Have you ever seen or slept in an antique bed?  Or gone into really old houses?

Before amazing nutrition and super grocery stores, people were shorter and smaller.

(In fact, when I was touring an old house - it may have been Monticello - we commented on how small the bed was, and the tour guide assured us that the bed was regular sized and it just looked short.  The entire tour group collectively called him a liar and told him our beds at home were WAY longer.  Since then I've slept in an 'antique' bed which is synonymous for 'sleeping diagonally to fit' bed.)

The same goes for our dairy parlor.  When it was built in the 1970s, our cows were smaller.  My family was milking Guernseys, which are a smaller breed.  Then my dad started breeding Guernseys to Holsteins, which still made them smaller than purebred Holsteins.  Many years of different crossbreeds later - now, we're milking Holsteins bred by Holsteins.  They're just a bigger cow.

Of course, they're even bigger when they're pregnant.  (Who isn't?  Oh, celebrities?  They don't count.)

This has caused a problem in our parlor.  We milk ten cows on a each side.  But when they're pregnant ... we can only fit in nine on a side.  They're just too big to fit!

Not only does this slow the milking down, but we want our cows to be comfortable.  So, yesterday and today we put in a new ... brisket rail.

Delightful, right?  The name of the rail is the same name as the part of the cow that you eat!  Did you already know where the brisket was located?  (I didn't.  But I was solid on the ribs.)

As with anything that happens in the parlor, it has to happen in between milkings.  So right as soon as the morning milking was done, the builders quickly did one side of the parlor, finishing just before the afternoon milking.  Today they're doing the other side of the parlor.

The red line shows where the new brisket rail will be.

The cows will now have more room and we'll be able to fit in ten on a side again.  Even the seven-months pregnant ones.  Their briskets will be comfortable, they'll eat to their hearts' content, and they'll sleep in beds that fit them.

And if any tour guides tell you that the cows aren't really bigger - you just think they are - feel free to point them to me.

Bulls

"Where's dad?"

"He took a bull to the auction to sell it."

"Is it going to be steak now?"

"No, he actually sold it to a farmer who's going to use it to breed his cows."

"Then is it going to be steak?"

"Well, maybe. Or it might go to a different farm after that."

"THEN is it going to be steak?"

"Possibly. It'll end up as steak or hamburger eventually."

"I don't want our cows to be steak!"

"Why? You like steak."

"Yeah, I like steak. When is dad coming home? And when are we having steak?"

&&&

The employees replaced both doors to the milking parlor today. One of them was the original door - circa 1970s. I'm sure the cows will appreciate the new decor.

The builders continue through the rain and wind. There were seven trusses up by the end of the day!

The 10-day forecast shows rain almost every day, and it's thundering right now. Planting soon? Not looking likely. Maybe Kris will just have more time to grill up some steaks for the kids.