My name is Jaime, and I'm a second year pre-vet student here at U-Maine. Milking at Witter Farm can often prove a challenge considering that I barely 5'1"!
Before milking the cows, we have to retrieve them from the paddock outside. They stream into the barn in a flood of chaotic energy, and it's my partner's and my job to direct them back into their individual stalls. This was an intimidating task when I first began. It's hard to assume authority over a 1400 lb. animal that looms over you. However, as I began to milk more, I started recognizing the cows' different personalities and to best motivate each of them to listen. For example, Rocket, a wavy haired beauty, is often very sweet and only too eager to go back inside. Padme, however, likes to pretend that she doesn't know where her stall is, so it's best lead her there directly. One important lesson I've learned is that even if you're not 100% confident handling the cattle as they stream in, it's best to act like you are. The cows will be more likely to listen if you appear self assured and undaunted by their presence rather than rattled. This is especially important for someone of my stature considering that I already don't appear to be an very imposing figure! While milking the cows, it would be advantageous to be tall because long limbs are often needed to reach around the cow it she's being kicky and/or uncooperative. It would also be advantageous to have more weight to lean into the cow to keep her steady as I work with her. Often times, however, if you act like you know what you're doing, the cow doesn't put up much of a fuss about being milked, thus making the previously mentioned attributed unnecessary. Although being short and small can sometimes been perceived as a disadvantage, there are certainly ways to do the same tasks as a larger person, and equally well. Just keep pushing forward! Hello! My name is Sonja Williams and I am a part of the UMADCOWS for the spring semester. The UMADCOWS share responsibilities around the farm. One of the responsibilities that we share is called being the “Production Herdsperson”. This means that each week a different person has a few extra small jobs around the farm, such as cleaning up a little bit more than normal, being the first person on call (in case someone can’t make it to their milking shift or the noon check shift), and washing the tails of the dairy cows. This past week I was the production herdsperson so I had these extra jobs. I want to focus on the tail washing part of the duties because it is often overlooked, and although it might not seem too important, it actually is. We try to wash the tails of our cows at least once a week if at all possible. When the cows lay down in their beds their tails are free to whip around and sometimes they rest their tail in urine or manure, which makes the hair clumpy and uncomfortable for them. This also allows them to hit their neighbor with their gross tail and that’s just not very nice. The manure that gets stuck on the tail hair can be transferred to anything, and if we touch it we can transfer any of the organisms to anything else we touch. This makes it hard to be biosecure and keep the animals and people healthy and safe. This is WHY we wash their tails, and now I will briefly tell you how we wash them. First, we fill a bucket with warm, soapy water (we use a special soap made for cows). Next, we try to pick off any loose clumps that we can see and brush off some of the dry manure, to make things easier once it is wet. Now we gently soak the end of the tail in the warm water to let the clumps that are left soften and then set the bucket aside. This is when we use a comb to pick out all of the manure stuck in the hair until the tail is clean and untangled. Then we dip the tail in the water again to rinse it. This makes sure that all of the manure is out of the tail and makes sure the tail is all clean. Finally, we let the tail air dry while the cow whips it around and flings water everywhere (this is the cows’ favorite part!).
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