Fun on the Farm

We got to go to the Sauter Dairy Farm last week! Before our trip, we learned about the different kinds of cows we would be seeing, and how the cows are cared for, fed, and milked. We saw a Power Point presentation about the farm, and also read lots of books. We were very excited on Farm Day!

Before we even got off the bus, we had to put plastic boots on our feet to keep our shoes from getting all yucky.
The boots came up to our knees. It was kind of hard to walk with them on, but the bus driver was sure happy at the end of the trip when we didn't drag all the smelly farm muck onto the clean bus!

Can we get going now? We're so ready!

The first animal we met was Freckles, the dog.

Then, we went to the HUGE barn and listened to Josh as he told us all about the cows.

The cows got a little nervous when all the kids arrived.

We learned about the special feed the cows get, and we even got to feed them. It was pretty smelly, though.

There were almost 300 cows in the barn, most of them Holsteins,

and a few Brown Swiss.

All of the cows have numbers for identification. It must be really hard to keep track of that many cows!

Next, we went to the milking parlor.

Mark showed us the pre-dip that is used to clean the cow's udder.

Then, he showed us the milking machine.

We even got to put our thumbs in the machine. It felt really funny!

Next, we went to the nursery to see the new-born calves. We got to pet them and let them suck our fingers. That felt funny, too!

A little kitten was all cuddled up with a calf - so cute!

This calf was only about 3 hours old!

Here's the whole crew at the end of a really great trip.

Thanks, Sauters, for letting us visit! We learned so much!