Our visit to the dairy

In the past couple of weeks, Mike and I have been discussing purchasing milk from a local source. So, this last tuesday, we made a trip out to Spokane Family Farms to see the milk process and, more importantly, to see the condition and quality of life of their cows. 

I must say, we had a really good time. The cows were so cute and it was cool to be able to watch the owner sanatize and milk those big girls. The picture above shows a pretty girl eating some treats while getting milked. They keep their head locked in so that they dont whip out during milking and hurt themselves and the milker.

Who would have thought that cows can be so expressive? Look at this pretty girls eye. You can tell that she is really nervous about me standing near her. Eventually, she let me pet her a little bit, but she stayed looking pretty nervous. throughout the time. 

Mike and I are totally against grain fed beef and really wanted to support a business  that did not feed their cows grain. For those who dont know, cows are not supposed to eat grain. They are supposed to eat grass! Grain fattens them up and then kills them slowly. A cow that eats grain will only live a maximum of about 120 days, before its insides eat themselves. Terrible, huh? Anywho, these cow owners arent feeding them grain. What looks like grain is actually vitamins and mineral wrapped in molasses, so that they will eat it. The cow owner tests each bail of hay and then supplements  what is missing into the 'grain'.

This photo is one of the milking process. He uses Iodine around each teet to kill all the bacteria and then connects the little sucky tube thing that milks them!

Mike tried to pet that cute cow. She didnt really want to be touch though.  

See what I mean about the expression in their eyes?

Then, we got to see the baby calves! Holy moses! They were so freaking cute. This cute little girls kept licking me and trying to eat my clothes, my hair, anything that she could get ahold of! Her name was Blessing. 

Have you ever had a cow kiss? I have! Their tongues feel a lot like sand paper. But still so endearing.                                                                                   

So, all in all, we found that these cows are treated incredibly well. No, they are not organic, but this is because their cows are their pets and if one of them get sick, they do everything in their power to save them. The milk get put in a separate container for awhile and then tested everyday until it is all out of their system. Pretty cool, huh? I'm pretty sure that we are definately getting cow someday!