All begins at 4 Am when we arise. Then breakfast is cooked and any formula for the calves is prepared. The family heads out to the milking barn and check out the equipment and repaired and prepared. Someone heads out to bring the cows in. The cows know the routine and head back by themselves. Someone shovels hay and shavings and feed hand prepares the stalls. We use barn style not rotating deck style milking stands/.All four feeding bays are loaded with hay and grain to keep the cows occupied while we milk. Milking machines are hooked up to freshly washed and conditioned teats.
After the milking is done which takes about twenty minutes or less, the machines are removed and the cows are left to be washed cooled down and turned back out to pasture. The milk is pumped into cooling then pasteurizing tanks then turned back into holding tanks to be cooled down and ready for use. Then the barns are mucked out, hosed out and cleaned after the last cow heads out. About 9 or so at night the process begins again. But the cows come in for dinner and head back to their stalls so getting them is easier.
This is also the time we normally check for illness and give medication so it can work over night. If a cow is ill or has a problem, we remove that cow from the milk line. With our cows we let her nurse for a while and we use only partial milk. We want healthy babies and mommies milk is better. So we don’t get as much, but we are not a factory farm either. We have only four cows and the milk that we do produce is not always sold either. We often make butter and cheese and cream.