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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Stupid Cow.....

In case you didn't know, Mabel is an "easy" milker. You just get her started, and she "pees" milk into the pail.

I don't go MILK the cow - I go DRAIN the cow.....
Most of the time the stream coming out is fairly slow - not too bad, but not like the kitchen faucet.

On ONE occasion, it was coming out so fast, that it was actually making foam in the bucket. THAT would be nice to have ALL of the time.

Well, this morning, I grab my pail, and head out for the morning drain. Nothing unusual - Mabel and the two brat calves were in their Three Cow Garage, waiting for breakfast. It wasn't cold out, but the they were cozy out of the wind.

Mabel saw me leave the house and head toward the barn. She knows that there is a shiny stainless-steel bucket in my hand then chances are, she's gonna get fed. I stop in the milk room to get things ready there, and get food for Mabel and her charges ready.

I feed the calves while Mabel is on the stand so THEY get to eat, too.....

By the time I get things ready inside, Mabel is usually waiting for me at the back door of the barn - or close to it. Most mornings, I open the door and see her smiling face telling me I'm late with food (even if I'm early).

She heads through the door, stops to grab a bite of hay from the stack, then heads into the stanchion while I head outside to feed the other bovine. When I get back, she's in the stanchion and waiting to be drained.

Since she is a "Left side milker", I sit on the step I made for the goats to get onto their side and turn on Mabel's faucet.

This morning, we had a nice, big stream going along at a fair clip. Mabel was happily munching her grain. It is during this time that I reach up and use the curry comb on her side. She enjoys it, and it helps her to relax and let down the milk.

When all of her food is gone, Mabel likes to stare out of the window in front of her - or so I THOUGHT.

This morning, she finished her food and BACKED RIGHT OUT OF THE STANCHION AND HEADED FOR THE DOOR!

SOMEBODY forgot to latch the headstall.....

At any rate, here goes Mabel, still draining a good sized stream of milk - heading for the hay stack in the barn. After a couple of "gollys" and "Gee whizzes", I came to my senses and dumped another cup of grain into her pan - and went after Mabel.

Naturally, she was interested in the hay, and didn't WANT to go back to the stanchion. I finally got her turned around and headed back into the milk room - all the while watching the steady stream of milk flowing onto the ground. Even in the dirt, I could see the white trail before it soaked in.

The cats were very happy, and wondered what the hub-bub was about....

It seemed like an hour, but it was ONLY about 5 minutes before we were able to resume our business. The damage was done, though - a good amount of milk was wasted on the barn floor.

Stupid cow......

1 comment:

  1. What a visual image! I can so understand what you went through.

    ReplyDelete