What's in your silo?

[Beverly Flanigan]

Don is right, of course.  I've been off the farm too long, and, as in Don's
family, it was the men and boys who did the milking!

At 11:53 PM 5/8/02 -0500, you wrote:
>on 5/8/02 2:55 PM, Beverly Flanigan at flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU wrote:
>
> > (snip)  It was also very nutritious for cows in the
> > winter, when many were "dry" (i.e., pregnant).  Hay, straw, and alfalfa
> > were stored in the barn, and grain was stored dry (accidental fermentation
> > led to spoilage) in separate buildings called granaries.  Dry corn on cobs
> > was stored in corncribs, with open slats for airing and drying (like
> > cribs).  Ah, the memories. . . .
> >
>
>I wanted to clear up one of Beverly's points.  A cow does not have to be
>pregnant to be dry.  A dry cow does not produce milk -- period -- for a
>variety of reasons.  We didn't turn our cows dry until several weeks (I
>don't remember how many) before the calf was due.  The quantity and the
>taste of the milk change as the birthing date approaches.  There's an
>optimal time to let the cow go dry (simply by not milking her) so that her
>system makes its necessary adjustments to feed the newborn calf with
>wholesome new milk.  For a couple of weeks after the calf is born, the cow's
>milk isn't good for human consumption (taste, texture).  Then the milk
>gradually becomes good for people as well as calves.  The cow I milked for 7
>years was named Snooks, and my brother milked Doris.  Snooks had a bad
>post-partem period after the birth of her fifth calf, Charlie, and she
>seemed to blame me for her misfortune.  (I'm sure she didn't blame me for
>Charlie, just for her terrible mood.)
>
>DMLance


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm