Today was all about the cows. We started the morning at 7:45am — not bad at all — with breakfast at the main house. From there, we went out to bring the cows in for milking. Today was a reunion of sorts for the herd, as we joined the group of bulls and dry females we moved yesterday with the group of milking cows.

The moving of the cows was fairly uneventful in and of itself. The unification of the herd took place in the barnyard. It was there I first witnessed what others were calling the “sommelier sniff.” This would occur any time a female would urinate. Hearing the noise, a bull — usually John, the big Kerry — would run over and stick his snout directly in the stream (stream is putting politely, for those who haven’t witnessed a cow pissing). Pulling his nose out, dripping wet, the bull then parts his lips, exposing his teeth, throws his head back, and inhales deeply through his nostrils, sniffing for the scent of ovulation. This would continue throughout the milking.

We herded the cows into the barn and locked them into their stanchions. For some of the cows, this was easy; for others, it was a bit of work. This was really my first direct contact with the cows, nudging, pushing, and pulling them into place. Though admittedly a little timid at first, I got the feel for being around them as the morning progressed. I was a bit wary with John and the other bulls roaming freely in the barn while all this was going on, but it wasn’t so bad. I just made sure to always keep one eye out and made sure I didn’t get between the boys and the girls.

The milking itself was fairly intuitive. The milk line is a vacuum pump affair. There are four sets of silicone or rubber/stainless-steel cups which attach to the udders and draw the milk out. The milk travels down the line, through a filter, and directly into the cheese vat. After showing me how to hook up one cow, Jonathan and I worked our way down the line, milking four at time.

For the most part, hooking up a cow is a one-person job. And, really, it’s quite easy after the first one — as long as the cow is cooperating. Since there’s a vacuum, it’s really just a case of lining the cup up with the teat and sliding it on. When a seal is created, the cup slides right in place with a fairly satisfying slurp. Repeat three times per cow and you’re in business. If all’s in order, all four udders release their milk, which you can see entering the cup. Some cows take a little longer than others - and some take a little massaging to get going. We did all sixteen currently being milked in just about an hour, apparently not too bad for my first time out — and the first time this season the herd has been back together (minus the babies, of course).

One thing about milking is the muck (again, putting it politely). An unavoidable fact of this business is the manure. It basically follows you around the barn - and you always have to be on the lookout for a cow relieving herself. To get the milking apparatus on and off a cows, you’re pretty much squatting right under the thing. I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I was in any way shat upon, but I was most definitely in close contact with the stuff. After the first few minutes, though, you really do get used to it. Turns out, too, that it washes right off.

An interesting little tidbit I picked up today — one I assume will come in handy many times — is that if you want to deny a cow the ability to kick, you pull it’s tail. A couple of the cows have a habit of kicking as the milking apparatus is being put on and taken off. For these cows, I would pull the tail back and up — fairly hard — and Jonathan took care of attaching. Sure enough, if one started to kick a little, all it took was a harder tug to put an immediate stop to it.

After milking, we made cheese. I mostly observed while one of the other interns and Jonathan did their thing. I’ve seen the process quite a few times now, though, and done it at home (albeit on a much smaller scale) a few times, so I’m hoping I’ll get to move up pretty quickly. I did do a lot of washing and fetching, though, so I wasn’t entirely dead weight.

Other than that, the only other work-related items today was a quick trip out into the fields to open up another pasture for the herd to graze. The biggest shock to my system was probably lugging milk jugs full of whey up to the babies, but I think I’ll get used to that chore pretty quickly.

One of the other interns told me he’ll always remember his first morning out here — looking around, taking it all in. I know what he means — and feel the same way.