Last Saturday, I visited the Cornell Teaching Dairy Barn for the first time. I think a couple Rose Scholars were expecting a trip to the dairy bar, but this was definitely not the same. Isabelle, a CALS alumna and current vet student, showed us around the place. We first entered near the milking station. I didn’t quite play attention to how the cows were placed into their stations, but I thought it was interesting how well-behaved they all seemed to be. She told us about the process of milking, and how someone uses iodine to disinfect before attaching them to the main machine. The RFID tagged cows also have their milking history stored in their system, so they can keep track of how they’re doing.

We then moved along to see where the cows resided when not being milked. Along the way, we saw a cow with a cannula. In the cab ride over, we talked a little bit about what we were hoping to see. One person mentioned wanting to milk a cow, but I had said that it would be an interesting experience to stick my arm into one of those cow holes. We didn’t end up getting to do that, but that’s definitely something I’d be into trying sometime. Isabelle said that the force exerted can actually be quite strong.

She talked about how the area was set up, such that sand and bars were placed so that cows would preferably lay down in a certain position, such that their feces wouldn’t end up in the sand, making clean-up easier. She also said that from experience, their sand beds can be quite comfortable.

We also got to see a couple of calves that were just a few hours old. We learned that they were separated from their moms by a fence, because cows can step on their young unintentionally. We also learned that cows like to eat placenta, even if it’s from another cow. We then got to see where the older calves stayed. We ended off with learning a little about their feedstock.

The whole experience was definitely interesting. As someone who has never been interested in vet work myself, it was definitely a unique experience for me. One of my hallmates freshmen year was an animal science major who came from a family who raised cows. I remember her having to go to the barn to do overnight shifts wearing her coveralls, so I was at least prepared enough to wear boots on the day of. Overall, I just thought it was a fun experience to see more first-hand what animal science students much more regularly. They get to experience what they’re learning about too, and I’m glad that Cornell provides what I think is a valuable learning experience and that I was able to get a glimpse of what goes on there.