I nearly forgot another part of the Zoo. The family farm. They teach kids how a milking operation works, both mechanically and on video. Also the parts of a cow on a plastic Holstein that lights up (the stomachs).
There are also stationary tractors and such. Then there are several types of dairy cows all lined up eating hay, up close and personal for the kids to see (not pet).
I have to get this right, all y’all because my father-in-law was a dairyman for most of his life and will quiz me on this over the holidays.
Black and white Holstein, Red Holstein, two I forget, short-somethings from England, one Ayrshire from Scotland, and a Brown Swiss. Sorry, hubby will have to help me out on the English short-somethings.
This was all a part of an exhibit that included ice cream (of course), plus a vegetable garden that’s mostly gone this time of year but must be wonderful in spring and summer and includes European, South American raised beds, plus a butterfly garden.
There are goats nearby that the kids can pet. That’s OK with me as long as they have enough, monitor the site, and rotate them regularly. What I did mind is that they also had pony rides. Why would a zoo have pony rides?
Much of the signage was in large print with arrows and photos and used colloquial terms like “yeah!” and I thought it would have been good to place a brief adult version so that the parent can answer his/her child’s questions, as well, such as “how much does an adult hippopotamus weigh?”
Initially I didn’t want to go to the family fun farm but it was interesting and the younger kids seemed interested as well.
Thanks, J, for letting me feed a baby calf all those years ago. He was a twin and often Holsteins only take care of one so it’s up to humans to get them through the first few days. In the dairy community, there are also some cows who can be counted on to be surrogate mothers to the unwanted. It’s an interesting bovine community!
First time I visited my in-laws, a few months before we married, I awakened early and went to use the restroom and turned on the light. Twelve pairs of eyes looked luminously at me and I shut off the light. We’d arrived in the dark and I didn’t know they had bulls 15 feet away who now thought I was J and it was feeding time! Whoops! It freaked me out but even in their simple ways they do have a societal structure. Drink your milk. Eat cheese. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 
Here’s what I missed, from England but here’s the Wisconsin relative: http://www.milkingshorthorn.com/
Here’s from the Dairy State, Dee
Heh heh – the zoos have pony rides bcz they are POPULAR! To you or I, a pony may not be particularly exotic, but to some city kids a pony ride is the peak of their zoo experience. (I know I’ve told you I came w/in a hair’s breadth of being a zoo vet)
Last Fri I hosp two dairy-barn refugees – calves probably weaned too young & now overwhelmed w/opportunistic infections… Of course their new human caretakers are already hopelessly emotionally attached & didn’t want to hear my “voice of reason” that these babies were likely doomed. Looks like we may end up batting 0.500 on these (guess I could fudge my average up to 0.667 – there’s a third calf who didn’t get as sick as these other two; I advised the new owner about proper husbandry & medication)
Zoo vet is one thing, pony rides are what parents get for kid birthdays. Don’t the kids want to see snakes, piranhas, snow leopards or swimming hippos? Come on, we saw a hippo poop in a pool at the SD Zoo, also rare huge Galapagos tortoises mating. As they were probably 100 years old it probably took a year to mate and we didn’t wait around. All they were doing was stretching out their necks to see who would be first. Guys.
Let me know how the refugees did, or don’t. And tell us never to have a hobby farm with two alpacas, a few goats so I can learn to make cheese… D
Social structure, you could make a whole post on that!
Some cattle are very bossy. They push others away at the feed trough.
When we milked cows, some always wanted to be first in line to be milked, some were last. With 4 cows to each side, they seemed able to count and, after the first, hungriest ones had milked (we had feed troughs in the milk barn), the balance KNEW when to stop coming in. We think they could count up to 4 with no problem. Some cows always came in the south side of the barn, some always in the north and we never pushed some to go in the opposite side if they had hung back and were last to milk because we knew those cows would be too nervous to let down their milk if out of a regular spot. How many people in a group will always chose the same seat in a room, say in a training session, on the 2nd day or after lunch, etc?
Yesterday we went to check the beef cows. Those that were raised together and grouped closely together for long periods, still stay together. We have 3 basic groups in one very large, think 300 acres, pasture. Those with the oldest calves, 3-7 months, pretty much do what they want as the calves can find mama when they are hungry for more than grass. The smaller calves and their mamas are all close together, ok , a few are still hid out and mama is posted nearby, well away from the rest of the herd. With the daycare group, the calves are watched by one or two mamas while the other mamas go off to earn a living, that is, they get busy harvesting the grass to convert it to milk. The babies are lying around, resting, you know, like babies needing more naps than toddlers. The toddlers still lie down because mama has told them to, but they also sometimes get in games of running and jumping and frolicking together. The teenagers in the group are really adults now but young ones. Next spring they will be our first calf heifers. They go where the grass is tall and the woods start. They can range as they want to but still kind of stay together. They are 18 months old and have already been bred to calf next spring. In the spring, they will make a babysitter group of their own.
One of the most interesting things Joe ever saw in a group of beef cattle was the time he found them, all with ears up and on guard, making a circle and facing outward, with the babies on the inside, while a hungry coyote threatened them from the outside of that circle.
Other times we have seen the whole herd stampede from a threat. A renegade emu had the milk herd scared and with good cause. One cow had long cuts along her side and udder from the emu’s claws. She actually lost a teat from the injury. We say she lost a quarter because that part of her udder was no longer functional afterward. When the cattle were seen stampeding again a day or so later, it was time for the shotgun. Those curious cows came to watch as the outlaw got it’s punishment. Don’t say, to rehab the bird, it was a criminal and it’s owner would not or could not keep it home. The emu had become a wild, nuisance animal, just like a hungry coyote or a poisonous snake. Cattle must have a shepherd, just as sheep do. When the emu was killed, the cattle all went up and did a victory dance, one got so excited she fell on the carcass! Full grown milk cows look very funny when they are running and jumping and the dairyman doesn’t like to see it because they can get hurt.
Animal science is now learning that even cattle show their young which plants to eat and which to avoid. Lots of common grasses and weeds can be poisonous. They have many different chemicals, some contain ricin, some coumarin(think coumadin, the blood thinner), some develop cyanide under certain conditions or killer molds. Sometimes the cattle eat them anyway and can get sick and die if they consume sufficient but often the poisonous plants are in abundance in the pasture and the cattle just avoid them because they taste bad. Thus, the grass will be all “picked off” but the weeds remain. I looked at a site from Texas A&M a few nights ago and was surprised to learn that maple trees and even oak leaves, when young, are toxic to cattle. With the current drought, prussic acid from johnsongrass or other sorghum grasses and aflotoxin mold in corn and grains is a real danger that the farmer must guard against or find a way to negate. There are strict guideline for limits to aflotoxin in feed. Don’t worry about the prussic acid, it will kill the animal from the cyanide type poison right away. In hay, it can dissipate with proper curing. Yes, the farmer must take extra precautions in harvest to reduce this risk. There are multiple ways food can be contaminated before it reaches the table.
Farmers are the first link in keeping food safe. Most are very knowledgable about making a good, safe, product. They won’t be in business long if they aren’t. How would you like to buy a whole tanker load of milk, 50,000 lbs, if you let a very little antibiotic contaminated milk get in the supply line? ALL commercial farmers are knowledgable and dedicated and work more hours than you can imagine to provide food for our nation. There is something about working with the soil and with animals that just keeps the farmer engaged in farming. It isn’t the income, only a crazy person would work that hard and risk that much to produce a perishable product where he sells wholesale and buys everything retail.
Do you know why I love your eldest son so much? Detail, thoroughness and all-around smarts. You and J gave it to him and I love his brother as a brother, too. Thanks so much for your bovine tutorial! Dee
I sent it along to the Zoo. They’ll call to see if they want to use it and if/how you would like to be mentioned. I think your comments would make great educational material for their classes, thanks M.
I think I can correctly surmise who the emu belonged to.