Milk Production on a Dairy Farm

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Dairy cows are mammals, and like all mammals, they produce milk (lactate) to feed their young. Modern dairy

cows are bred to produce large amounts of milk. The amount of milk a cow gives is monitored and measured

in pounds. Careful records are kept on each dairy cow to know how much milk each one is producing. The

information is used to make adjustments in their care and feeding. What a cow eats and how it lives does

affect its milk production. Dairy farmers employ veterinarians, dairy nutritionists and other professionals to

provide the best care possible. Dairy cows are not pets. They are working animals, and it is their job to

produce the milk we drink.

Dairy cows come in different sizes and breeds, but most tend to be very large animals. The largest are the

Brown Swiss and the Holstein (1500 lbs.). The smallest is the light brown Jersey cow (900 lbs.). Other popular

breeds for milk production are the Ayrshire, Guernsey and the Milking Shorthorn.

Babies born to cows are called calves. A newborn female calf is called a heifer. A male calf is called a bull calf.

Heifers are considered adults at one year of age. At two, a heifer will become a mother and have her first calf.

After the calf is born, the heifer will start lactating and producing milk. From then on the animal is called a cow.

And, depending on whether the cow is being milked or not, it will be identified as a fresh cow or a dry cow.

Dairy cows are on yearly schedules for milk production. Every year a dairy cow has one calf or maybe twins.

After the calf is born and lactation begins the calves are moved to hutches where they live. Farm workers

bottle feed the calves twice a day until they can drink milk on their own. For the next ten months, the lactating

cows are milked two or three times a day. After the ten months, they get a two-month break from milking and

time to rest before the next calf is born and lactation begins again. The resting cows are called dry cows. On

average, a dairy cow will produce between six and seven gallons of milk every day. During the ten months of

milking, one dairy cow will produce about 2000 gallons of milk.

Fresh cows are milked two or three times a day because the udder can get quite heavy and uncomfortable

from carrying several gallons of milk. (The weight of one gallon of milk is 8.61 lbs.) An udder that is too full can

also become painful from the pressure of the milk. Milking relieves the pressure and helps make the cow feel

better.

The feed given to dairy cows is particularly important. Just like people, cows need to eat nutritious food for

strength and energy. It takes lot of energy to produce milk, and a cow needs to be strong and healthy. To

ensure production of high quality milk, lactating cows need to be fed a high quality diet with the right amount

of nutrients in the grains and hay. Alfalfa is preferred to grass hay because of its high nutritional value. Dairy

cows need a lot of food. Generally they will eat between 50 and 60 pounds of hay and grain and drink between

30 and 40 gallons of water every day. During the rest period, the nutrition needs of dry cows change so the

farmer adjusts the feed accordingly.

Text Type:

Informational

Lexile Level:

810L

Mean Sentence Length

11.35

Mean Log Word

Frequency

3.42

Word Count

420