Nobody seems to mention just how many dishes there are involved with calf chores. Every single day we have to clean all sixteen milk buckets, plus the tube feeder if it was used, and all of the milk replacer bottles twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon following feedings. The number of milk replacer bottles fluctuates per week, but as of now we have six. We also have to wash the grain buckets and the water buckets all while keeping the warm room clean too! Today we did exactly that, lots and lots of cleaning! It is so important that we clean this frequently to ensure that our calves are are at the minimum risk of encountering a pathogenic organism such as a virus or bacteria. Our calves are born with no immune system and many of their initial protection to pathogens comes from the immunoglobulins (antibodies) that are absorbed from the colostrum. Imagine if we did not clean the equipment as frequently as we do, we would be putting our newest members of the herd at a direct risk of catching a potentially life threatening illness. This is also why some farms will purposefully feed the cows from youngest to oldest to avoid the transmission of pathogens to the youngest members.
Today we had one Jersey heifer and one bull calf born.
Today we shipped 4,627 gallons of milk.
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