Sometimes things happen for a reason!

willow_girl · #1 02/07/10, 07:57 PM

I work on a dairy farm. I called off Friday night because we were getting hit by a snowstorm and I was worried about driving home after evening milking. I asked D., the farmer I work for, if I could work Saturday --usually my night off -- instead, and he said "no problem."

When I went in Saturday, as I always do, I glanced at the clipboard where fresh and treated cows are recorded to see how many we had going "in the bucket." The milk from cows treated with antibiotics has to be diverted from going into the bulk tank as it isn't fit for consumption. If the milk is accidentally commingled, the entire tank has to be dumped. If the farmer ships contaminated milk, he is liable for the cost of the entire tanker.

When I checked the clipboard, I noticed cow 489 had been treated for mastitis that morning. She's an older cow and one of my favorites, so I was concerned. Later that evening, as we were bringing in the last group of cows to be milked, I noticed 489 didn't have a leg band on designating her status as a treated cow. I told B., the farmer's wife, who was milking with me. She checked with her husband, and he confirmed that he had in fact treated 489 but had forgotten to put a leg band on her!

Afterwards it occurred to me that if I hadn't been milking that night, and paying attention (LOL), she might have been missed. Sometimes things happen for a reason!

arcticow · #2 02/07/10, 08:14 PM

Who can afford to dump a tank nowadays?? This is why GOOD help is worth so much more than the usual!!!

deaconjim · #3 02/07/10, 08:18 PM

Good catch.

Gregg Alexander · #4 02/07/10, 08:38 PM

Good that you were there. After working on several dairys as a Herdsman , one has to be on top of things like that. Good Job!!

Lizza · #5 02/07/10, 10:04 PM

Wow, nice save!! Dairy farmers have been so hard hit this last year, I can't imagine they could have taken that hit very easily.

**gone-a-milkin** · #6 02/07/10, 10:17 PM

willow girl, I called my Farmer Boss last week during the snowstorm to say I wasn't going to risk his long steep driveway. He actually drove to my house and got me! Then took me home after. (the chauffered milker

) He just said he REALLY needed my help.

Good job catching the treated cow! It takes a thoughtful and aware milkhand to notice something like that. How long have yoou been working with this same herd?

Valmai · #7 02/07/10, 11:23 PM

I'm just wondering do you also paint their legs? It's much easier to pick up than just the leg band.

willow_girl · #8 02/08/10, 07:06 AM

No paint, but we use the plastic leg bands, which seem to stay on pretty good. The last farm I worked on used Velcro ones, and sometimes they would come off!

I've been milking this herd part-time for about 2 years now. Just went to 5 days (evenings) a week in January when I quit my other job. I like being there more often; it makes it easier to know your cows and pick up on little things. I like milking; I only wish it paid as much as testing, though!

BTW, I didn't intend this thread as a brag!

Just thought it was interesting -- happening to be in the right place at the right time.

**gone-a-milkin** · #9 02/08/10, 10:12 AM

I didn't take it as bragging. At least your Farmer Boss wrote it down on the clipboard.

Mine has a way of forgetting even that...or writing the wrong number. I dont call him The Dislexic Dairyman for nothing!

If I have been gone from my cows for a few days, I get the Farmer Boss face-to-face before I start and ask EXACTLY how many and WHO the treated cows are. I dont start until I understand who he 'means', not just what he says.

We have a funny collection of eartags right now including two cows with #3 blue, and three #78's.

The 78's all look completely different from eachother, but STILL.

Plus it has been so muddy that legbands are not especially visible. I like to put some nice bright RED tape on tails too, during this weather.

A good hand in the dairy barn is not that easy to find (and harder to keep). To be good at this job, you have to actually CARE. Which you clearly do.

Michael W. Smith · #10 02/08/10, 11:29 AM

Well of course everything happens for a reason - that's been my motto for years! (See my signature line!)

Hey Willow, too bad the farmer isn't making money - he could have given you a bonus for saving the whole tank (or tanker trunk if it wouldn't have been caught before the tanker got there.)

You quit one of your jobs? Which one? Surely not the TSA job.

rancher1913 · #11 02/08/10, 10:14 PM

when i used to do relief milking that was always a big worry for me. luckily it was a small heard and it was only the regular milker and me, thats how small--one person took care of everything. we had a dry erase bord that we left each other notes on. my one big screw up was forgeting to switch the line out of the tank for the auto wash up. cought it before the detergent cycle and only water went in with the milk, still worried me that i would be fired, i was only 17 so it wouldn't have been the end of the world. the farm owner made cheese from the milk so they just didn't add as much water to the cheese tank and no harm no fowl.

willow_girl · #12 02/08/10, 11:11 PM

Quote:

You quit one of your jobs? Which one? Surely not the TSA job.

Yes, the TSA job!

It paid pretty well, and it was nice having up to 2 hours of breaks in a 5-hour shift (your tax dollars at work, folks!), but I got tired of taking water bottles away from hapless airline passengers. The TSA really isn't protecting anyone, as far as I could tell, just inconveniencing people a lot, and I hated wasting my time that way.

The last straw for me came at Christmas when I got written up for insubordination after a manager insisted that a young woman had to dump the water out of the bag containing her pet aquatic frogs if she wished to bring them through the checkpoint. Clearly, if live frogs were swimming in it, the bag didn't contain explosives! DUHHHH! But common sense has no place at the TSA ...

I'm making less money now, but someone the bills are being paid, and I'm a lot happier on the farm where I belong.