This is because this past Thursday the dairy farm went through a process called classification. Classification is when the dairy herd is scored by the Holstein association. The cows were scored on a multitude of categories, and given a number from the Holstein association which is basically the same as a rating. The scale goes from 1-100 with an average cow being somewhere in the 70-80's and an ideal cow high 80's to 90's. Some of the things the cows are scored are include: udder condition, stance, how many fingers can fit between their ribs, how their head looks, how wide their udder is, etc. All of these things affect the overall functionality and productivity of the animal. A few of the highest scoring cows in our herd were Poohbear, Ponyo, Revolver, and Coca-Kola. Our highest scoring heifer was Bailey.
Now why were students at the barn over an hour before they normally would be? This is because classification took place at 2:30 in the afternoon and we wanted to make sure the girls udder's would be nice and full at the time of classification. Soon after the milking started other students and volunteers started to trickle into the barn to help with cleaning projects. If you had come into the barn on Thursday you would've thought it looked brand new with how clean everything was made. It was a lot of hard work and a large group effort. Everything that could be scrubbed got scrubbed!
If classification wasn't busy and complicated enough, Reejay decided that it was the perfect day to add a calf to the mix. She went into labor right before classification started, and the baby was born around 4:30 in the afternoon. Overall, Thursday was a very busy and tiring day for everyone at Witter, but the day went very well for everyone.