U Is For Udder

I'm taking you on a journey from A to Z throughout June Dairy Month.

So come on in...the barn doors are open!

  U Is For Udder

I'm sure you know that milk comes from the udder of a cow, but how does it get there? 

Cows, like all mammals, begin to produce milk when they give birth. Cows typically have their first calf when they are about two years old. About 10 months after calving, the amount of milk the cow gives naturally decreases substantially and the cow undergoes “drying off.” About 12 to 14 months after the birth of her previous calf, a cow will calve again, thus providing milk.

Cows that are milking drink a bathtub of water each day and eat about 100 pounds of feed including hay, silage, grain and proteins. All this food and water to help them produce about 8 gallons of milk each day. That's 128 glasses of milk!

And just like you, we buy pasteurized milk from the store. Now I can fill my udder pitcher. Sara got this for me for Mother's Day. Us dairy moms are suckers for stuff like this  ;)

To learn how our cows are milked visit Farming 101-1 Cow Milking.

 You may also want to read my previous years posts for June Dairy Month...

U Is For United 

and

U Is For Unexpected