Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Rain or shin, hot or cold, calf feeding is an everyday chore down on the dairy farm.

I'm thankful that my day begins with feeding our baby calves their milk.

It's an experience that always brings a smile when you watch 

their tails wag in appreciation for their nutritious milk.

We transition them from a bottle to a bucket after three

 days in their private calf hutch but milk is fed twice daily for eight

 to ten weeks with the addition of grain and water.

As I  approached the calves this morning, I think I heard them say,

"Got Milk?"

Happy Thursday!

Ayrshire Personality

What's not to love about a sweet red Ayrshire calf?

Even at three days old, this baby, that we call Red,  has a mind of her own.

Those ears are not just standing out because  she loves me!

She was letting me know that she didn't really like that

 first lesson of learning to drink from a bucket.

We transition all of our babies from drinking  a bottle of milk

 to drinking milk from a bucket when the calf is three or four days old. 

Once the calf is drinking milk from the bucket, 

we add a handful of grain after the milk is consumed.

It's amazing that most calves will drink from the bucket 

after two feedings but it's not unusual to have a calf that

 requires a little more help.

We monitor them closely at each feeding to make sure all the 

milk is consumed and give them help as needed.I'm pretty sure

 Red will be one of those that requires a little more assistance.

It may be that red hair!

Cafe-Au-Lait Kind of Day

                                       Although winter won't begin until December 21st,
                                    Sunday afternoon calf feeding chores  must have been
                                     a trial run just to see how many layers of clothes we can
                                                               get on under the rain suit.

Midwest Dairy's Hazelnut Cafe-Au-Lait was a perfect beverage

 choice after feeding calves on a damp and chilly Sunday afternoon. 

                            

Hazelnut Cafe-Au-Lait                           


Ingredients:

3 cups 1% low-fat milk
2 cups brewed coffee
3 tablespoons hazelnut-cocoa spread*
Dash ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons whipped cream


Directions:

Microwave milk,coffee and hazelnut spread in a large,heat proof glass bowl on high for 2 minutes or until mixture is hot,not boiling. Whip with a hand mixer or whisk until frothy. Pour into 3 serving cups. Top with whipped cream and dust with cinnamon.


Yield: 3 servings


Helpful Tips:

*Nutella was used for this recipe
To save time, use a can of pressurized whipped cream to top the drink.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

In spite of the cold,dreary January day, my heart was happy as I drove

 the tractor up and down the  calf hutch rows while my

 oldest son Cody scooped grain for each calf.

It really was an ordinary day of work  but I cherish and am thankful for 

 these  moments in time as I work side by side with 

both my sons on the family dairy farm.

                                                                       
                                         Cody was probably thankful that he didn't get run over!