A Visit to the Farm

We had a beautiful day for a visit to the farm! 

Poor Cadence woke up with a fever and a really bad cough so she didn't come to school today! While we were at the farm she was in the office watching TV, so she did get to see us a little. Hopefully she feels better tomorrow, but I know she was sad she didn't get to actually be with the kids for it!

After we got to the farm we were split into different groups. Our group went to see the cows and robots first! My dad (Cadence's grandpa) was the one that talked about the robots with us. He does some of the field work, fixing of the robots when they are down (or any other thing that needs to be fixed!), breeding cows and taking care of the cows. 

This is the hallway in front of the robot area. Too bad the windows aren't shorter because we all had to peek in the door to see them! I think next year we will have a long stool for the kids!

I prepared the kids before we went to the farm that there wasn't going to be a robot wheeling around milking cows, it's more like a stall that the cows go in and there is a robot arm that puts the milkers on. There is a touch screen (in the picture below) that you can use to see exactly how much milk each cow, and even quarter is producing! If ever the cow is not producing as much as expected, they are alerted so she can be checked out in case she is sick. If there is ever a problem with a robot, it will call the phone of whoever is "on call" at that time and let them know. Sometimes they are able to fix it from their phone, but other times they actually have to come out to fix it... and sometimes that is in the middle of the night! If a cow hasn't been milked for several hours she will show up in the red section on the computer and someone with have to go give her a little nudge to go get milked. Another awesome thing is that they can not eat until they have been milked recently. The gates read their collars and will not let them go to the feed ally until after being milked.

The robots are running about 23 hours a day. The only time they stop is when they are being cleaned. The cows have to be milked at least 2 times a day, but if a cow wants to be milked more, it sure can! (But there is a limit. If the cow was just recently in there it will not let them in.)

As soon as the cow enters the robot it reads which cow it is and gives them the appropriate amount of grain for that cow and all her information can be brought up.

 This is part of the bulk tank where the milk goes before it is picked up by the milk truck. The other part of the tank is in another room on the other side of the wall!

 Cadence's mom showing us that a newborn calf drinks TWO of these right after they are born and then after that one in the morning and one a night. A calf can also walk an hour after it's born. I asked Chelsey if her new baby sister that was born on Friday morning could walk yet... she said no. :) She also showed us the milk replacer (formula) that they use to mix up the milk and the calf feed they start to eat only a few weeks after they are born.
Cadence's mom is in charge of all the calves and getting cows in to be milked that are in the red and making sure the cows are healthy. (These are her main jobs, but she also does a lot of other things, too!)

 

This calf was just born so it is still in the sick pen until it is put into a hut.

 In Mrs. Kelley's hand she has a pill that they give to calves when they are sick. I know it's hard to see, but it is huge! The white tool she has in her other hand helps put it down their throats. She also showed us the one they give to cows when they are sick.

 This is Cadence's uncle Ryan. He is charge of feeding the cows. He mixes several loads of feed a day. Do you see that huge pile beside him!? He also does a lot of the field work.

 This is what Ryan mixes into the cows feed every day. There is ground up corn, vitamins and minerals, and silage (either hay silage or corn silage). These 3 buckets are about how much a cow eats everyday!

 The 'poop pond.' Twice a year it gets emptied out and spread on the fields.

 These white bags store silage until the feed is needed. They also use silos to store feed.

 Ryan and Cadence's little brother, Zach.

 The mixer that mix all the feed. It then pours it all out in front of the cows.

 The robot barn. 

 This is the free-stall barn where the cows are when they aren't being milked. They can either eat or lay down in the stalls bedded with sand.

I decided to make this a very detailed post because of all of the crazy questions that I was getting throughout the day! Hopefully this will help answer any questions!

There was also a "hawk/eagle/scary bird" call that the kids heard. It went off every few minutes to scare away any birds that might come to eat some of the feed or leave any droppings that might make the cows sick.