Happy New Year, CREAM friends and family! Our first semester has come to a close and our class has returned home for the holidays. We are all so thankful to the staff at the Fairchild Dairy for not only helping us accomplish a successful semester, but also for taking care of the girls while we are away.
We’ve all had our work cut out for us; six fresh cows in the past two months! Heffalump, Killians, Thumper, Melody, and Trouble have re-joined the string and we have welcomed yet another heifer, Miller, to the milking herd. The numbers have stayed balanced (three heifers and three bulls) and the lucky girls have been named: Lite out of Miller, Ziggy out of Killians, and Eeyore out of Heffalump, who chose to join us on the dreariest, snowiest morning of the semester. Nothing brightens up these short, dark days quite like a fresh calf wobbling around. Cheers, darlings!
Over the past two months, CREAMers have taken time out of their busy end-of-term schedules to learn more and more about what it takes to keep our small herd clean and well. Herd Health subcommittee leader Allison Holdsworth has coordinated with Dr. Dean Elder, allowing CREAMers to visit the barn during regular vet check-ups. We’ve learned so much from these visits about what a dairy vet does and are so thankful to Dr. Elder for sharing his knowledge with us!
The Clean Cow Committee, led by Jess Bart, has also taken up the task of regularly brushing and washing the girls. It takes a lot of extra effort to keep a cow clean, but it’s a huge part of preventing illness and mastitis. We are proud to report that our most recent somatic cell count, the litmus for clean, healthy, high-quality milk, was 27,000 per mL – over 150,000 below the national average! We are happy to see that our efforts have kept the girls happy and healthy.
Outside the barn, CREAMers have gotten crafty making and selling hand-painted terracotta pots at the UNH Craft Fair for a little extra cash! Special thanks to members of the Arts & Crafts subcommittee for pouring so much creativity into this project. If you missed your chance to grab one, not to worry - there will be more! Stay tuned for updates on Instagram next semester.
We could not be more proud of all we've managed to accomplish this semester. And to think, we're only half-way through! There is still so much more to learn and try in the new year. We look forward to continuing our work and picking up new projects as soon as we are back from break! Thanks again to our incredible professors, barn staff, and to our friends and family for sharing your knowledge and lending your support.
Joy and blessings to you all in 2023!
-Birdie
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