My Life as a Dairy Cow

I spent my afternoon at the E.V. Smith Diary Farm: Exit 26 off of 85. I went there for a lab in my Modern Livestock Systems Management class. 

I had a couple of classes first, and then a friend picked me and two other girls up from the Animal Science building. We had about forty-five minutes before we needed to leave, so we went and grabbed some lunch at Veggies-to-Go. Definitely one of my favorites. And made me very happy.

Then we made the 30 minute drive out there, which wasn't too bad. Mainly because I have been looking forward to this for a while, since I love going to E.V. Smith. We always do something fun there. This time my instructor, Dr. Cummins, (who is incidentally my advisor as well), took us around the farm and explained to us all the different methods and techniques they use for waste management, feedstuff mixing, blah blah blah.

 Interesting stuff, don't get me wrong, but I was ready to do what i was really was looking forward to- feeding the baby calves!

Later.

Here I managed to snap a picture of the infamous Dr. Cummins, explaining away the content of these cows' (cow's, cows, cowses? hah) feed: forage, corn silage, cottonseed- O Wait... you don't really care to know that do you? Anyways, this picture is for you mom.

So, the funny thing about dairy calves, is that they are taken away from their mother after a day or two, and then are kept in these things called hutches. There is one calf per hutch and they are kept far away enough from each other so that they can't have any physical contact. They practice this procedure, because it prevents the spread of disease between calves and keeps them from dying. It is funny because it makes them look like dogs, and the hutches look like doghouses. They have a collar and everything. A few of the girls in my class and I decided to see how many people we could fit in the hutch. I count six. I tried to convince the guys to have a "cute guy picture" like ours, but to no avail. 

And then I have about 50 million ridiculously cute pictures of my friends and I all feeding the calves. If you want to see them all, just check out my facebook album. And I don't think I even put all of the ones I had there either. I put up some videos also. 

This calf was everybody's favorite because she was a freak. Ahem, a red holstein cow that is. Not black and white like all her cooler neighbors. Or those happy california cows for that matter. 

Speaking of- did you know that the "Great cheese comes from Happy cows, Happy cows come from California" commercials are played in every state except California, where it is illegal? That would be because PETA sued them for false advertising and won. Don't you just love those people? Here and Here.    

 

I actually took this picture, because Dr. Cummins just finished telling us that this cow has approximately 100 pounds of milk in her udders right now, most likely a little more. Whew! Thank goodness she is walking up to the milking parlor in this picture. If I had 100 pound boobs-     

that would suck.

And just a few more random pictures for ya'll to enjoy.

Groovy Man

Got a few pictures of me and Carlyn rockin' the 3D glasses during the Super Bowl party.

I must say I was slightly disappointed with special effects. I don't know what I was expecting, since it is not like my T.V. is made for that kind of thing anyways. I guess I just wanted everything to pop out at me a little more. Instead I just got a bunch of football players floating around the screen. Maybe I just wanted it to be a little more...

Gratifying? Especially after all the hype and advertising they did about it.

To top it off, my head hurt after I took the glasses off, from adjusting back to the normal television screen.

But at least we looked very hip. Or as Carlyn's mom told her when she handed them to her, "you will be the coolest one at the party!" Thanks mom.

So after I read my sister's blog, I decided to post a few pictures of my own. I got home yesterday and Magen told me she had taken pictures of something on my camera, and this is what they were.

Someone had pulled the trashbag out of the can, and set it down next to it. Combine that with all the leftover Super Bowl snacks, and I just don't think Daisy could resist.

 

I wasn't planning on posting this, because it is not that big of a deal to me. Daisy is constantly flipping the trashcan lid open while I am gone and pulling out just my banana peels to eat. Only when something rises to the level of bodily functions do I not like cleaning it up.  ech. But I just wanted Lindsey to know that her dog is not the only one causing trouble this week. 

Pre-Super Bowl XLIII

I am having a few people over tonight for the Commercials... excuse me, I mean for the Super Bowl.

Called Meaghan earlier, and we decided to go to the grocery store together and buy a few things to fix for snacks tonight.

I fixed the brownie chocolate chip thing suggested by my sister and am currently waiting for the ganache to set. Then we will see if it turned out all right. But it looks Heavenly.

Pouring in the ganache.

Meaghan provided us with some 7-layer Mexican Dip. 

Oh Yeah, we made rotel dip too.

Meaghan also brought her Sheltie, Anna, over to hang out with us. She and Daisy are both pretty chill and they pretty much ignore each other. Except for the fact that Anna tends to follow Daisy around and stare at her. I call her Daisy's lesbian lover.

They love each other!

Haha, I am just putting up this picture that Meaghan took, because she thought it was going to be a good picture... except Daisy sneezed while she took it. She looks pained.

All dressed up with no where to go.

Took a trip down to Tigertown today. First I ate at O'Charlies where my friend works as a waitress. Got some free potato soup to eat for dinner tonight. Eating it right now, actually.

 Then I ran into Hobby Lobby to get a picture frame for some of the lovely pictures Mrs. Gina took of Daisy. Picture frames are always 50% off there, so you can get a fairly good deal. I found a nice looking purple and rhinestone one that matches my bedroom. So now Daisy has her first picture in my room.

On another note, I have really been wanting a curling iron lately. When Lindsey moved out, a lot of things went with her. The curling iron was one of them. So I ran into Sally Beauty Supply and picked one up. Got home and had to pull it out of the box and do my hair. Of course.

Here is my transformation.

Working on it.
One and a half hours later, here is the finished product.

Then Magen came into my room, saw my hair, and had me do hers too.

Sigh... Roomates.   

Took a picture of hers too, she is on her phone of course, and all is right with the world.

 Actually the title is a bit of a misnomer. We are headed out tonight with a bunch of friends,

Sooo...

So Long!

Memory Foam

So, if you remember me talking about getting Daisy a memory foam bed, I basically dismissed it, because I decided I didn't want to pay 200 something dollars for a twin bed-sized memory foam. I would have just cut it up into a circle and stuck it under the donut of her current bed. However, Magen found some foam on the internet for much cheaper.

 

It is $20, or $180 cheaper, that is. So I am going to look into this. We just won't tell Daisy that it is not the name brand memory foam, because what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

Thanks, Magen!

Acronyms

It's kind of funny the there is an awards banquet entitled the SAG Awards. A.K.A "Screen Actors Guild."

You know what SAG means to me? Sexually Active Group. No seriously. that is what it is called when a group of cows come into estrous. 

Maybe we need to look into the double acronym thing. It's just not working for me.

Want another acronym? T.G.I.F. Thats is how I am feeling right now.

Right now I am just chillaxing (that ones for you, Stephen) in the foyer of the science building waiting for molecular genetics to start at 12:00. And then pass me by. Then I'll go straight to work at 1:00, end around 4:00, and I'll be done for the week!  

Thats the beautiful thing about Friday. It doesn't matter how long your day is going to be, or how bad it might go. You will always feel just a little bit happy, because your week is almost over. And you can sleep in the next day. 

So I am happy.

Time for some Schooling

Daisy got a little more educated today. She endured a Livestock Management Systems' class on Dairy cow and Heifer management, and then a Domestic Animal Behavior class on aggression and submission behavior. 

Too bad I couldn't get a picture of her going around the room from person to person soliciting attention. She even managed to get one girl to allow her to lick the plastic bowl she was eating her lunch from. She is good at what she does. 

My teacher then informs me that Golden Retriever's are the "blondes" of the canine world, and that is why Daisy is able to look 25 years old even though she is more like 50. ... Given the fact that he thinks she looks 3-4 years old, and she is actually 8.

He also used her as an example in my Behavior's class as a show of submission. What you ask? Yes, apparently Daisy exudes submissive qualities. He says that the wolves on the lowest of the totem pole go around from wolf to wolf (of higher status) and solicit attention, hoping for food and attention. Who knew?

Other random facts I learned:

• Ratio of Brain Weight to Body Weight: 

Human 2%

Cat 1%

Dog .5 %

Cow .3%

Horse .1%

Pig .05%

That almost worked (Pigs are actually pretty smart). And maybe this is why cats just sit around and stare at us. They probably are smart enough to plot our deaths.

• How can places like Golden Corral afford to have "all-you-can-eat" steak for $9.99? They either use Male Diary Bulls (which aren't really good for anything, and are bred for milk productivity genes to pass on to daughters, but definitely not for their meat quality), or sick and weak cattle that the farmer doesn't want anymore, but still can make some money by culling them for slaughter. So think twice before you get cheap steak. Also, almost all beef patties are Diary Bulls. When you mush it all together, I guess it all tastes the same.
• Now that a bill has been passed to use corn to make ethanol, an alternative fuel source, we have to either find something else to feed our farm animals, or pay more money to keep feeding them corn. Either way, our meat, milk, and egg prices are soon to start increasing in prices in a bad way. :(   And it is quite a shame since converting corn to ethanol is only 1.5% efficient. But hey, at least we are no longer dependent on the Middle East for oil. Too bad we will no longer be able to afford food.