Our Cows
Our cows are a large majority holstein, with a small amount of jersey, Ho-Jo, and red holstein crosses. We calve all the cows at the Chili location, and raise all the calves there as well. Heifers are in two different locations, and spend some time at a heifer raiser in Iowa as well before returning prior to having their first calf. Our cows are always our top priority, and everything we do each day is to care for them in the best ways we know how!
Cow Facts
Each cow can eat over 100 lbs of feed per day and drink over 30 gallons of water. This allows them to give nearly 100 pounds of milk each day, or almost 12 gallons! Cows will spend 10-12 hours per day lying, 8-9 hours per day ruminating, and 4-5 hours per day eating. The cows spend only a half an hour each day in the parlor.
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A cows diet
Each group of cows is fed a TMR each day. While the ration may vary slightly based on the type of group, corn silage and alfalfa haylage are the cows main forages. Other ingredients may include ground corn, canola, straw, cottonseed, corn gluten feed, brewers grain, fats, vitamins, and minerals. A lactating cow may eat over 100 lbs of this ration each day!
