CT Dairy Farm

It was a lot of fun visiting. That morning (a week ago) I went across the street to pick up some eggs and saw an ad for the open house.  We were in Branford so it was a bit of a drive but REALLY pretty country. When we arrived we signed in and the lady didn't even know the ad had been put up in the grocery store! If you go to the link there are aerial photos of the farm. There are several farms in this co-op. (Strength in numbers) They do everything for the cows. There's a big iron V that moves back and forth along the isles of the barns (on a cable) continuously scraping manure into a system which removes the liquid for use on crops. The remaining solid waste is very dry and is used as bedding in the barns.  Sounds strange, I  know but it seems to work really well.  The cows eat a forage that is produced on the farms.  I think different farms produce different crops and, again, they co-op.  There's a nutritionist who comes out periodically and mixes the feed. The cows free-feed.  So their diet is very clean and the dry waste for bedding is clean, too.  They are all clean, healthy and happy.  I wondered if they all got along but the tour-guide/owner's son/part-owner said there is a heirarchy and the younger ones are isolated for this reason. (They have 3 sheds, older, younger, and expectant mothers) They keep all the female babies and send the males off. They have no bulls and do AI for all breeding. The milking parlor is attached to the barn and when they're ready to be milked, they line up. 7 cows fit in one section at a slant, then 7 more.  There are 14 along one side and on the other side of the aisle there are 14 more. They all get milked 3 times a day.  LOTS of milk!
We bought some of the coffee their brand markets and Jeff, who is a SERIOUS coffee snob, offers it high praise even though it's not dark/bold enough for him.  He can tell it's been hand roasted and has a complex blend of flavors.  []  In case and coffee snobs out there ever wonder....
There were cart rides and when the lady drove there was a bit of cantering going on!  []

The farm looks beautiful Hunterseat. Sounds like you had a lot of fun out there. The cart rides look like a blast, sure is a pretty pair of ponies they have there. Makes me wish for Spring so we can get outside here and enjoy. Looks warm there!

I guess those were Percherons. I didn't ask.  They were truly pretty.  It was a chilly day.  Jeff needs a haircut so I wasn't going to post this but.... all we need's a pitchfork and bib overalls. LOL

Oops.... ha ha... I mean horses, not, er, uh...ponies. They're so cute I figured they were ponies. Lovely grey color. Of the draft breeds Percherons are my favorites.

[] I wasn't sure cuz you know how sometimes we affectionatly call everything pony. They are beautiful animals no matter what we call them! The one on the left was a little bit smaller. But not THAT small. []