Holstein
Jersey
You’ll see both black and white (Holstein Freisian) and light brown (Jersey) cows on our farm. They’re similar animals, but actually quite different! Holstein cows are much larger and produce more milk. Jersey cows have a much smaller frame and produce less milk, but it’s creamier. We love having both types of cows on our farm.
Cow Comfort
Cow comfort is essential for dairy farms. So at our farm, we make it a priority. The more comfortable a cow is with her surroundings, the more milk she will produce. We ensure our cows are comfortable by eliminating as much stress as possible. We give them easy access to water and food. We give her a place to lay and shelter to protect her.
Comfortable Beds
Specially designed beds provide a comfortable resting spot for our cows. Each has her own individual space to lay down that is dry and clean. This is important because she spends at least 10 -12 hours resting.
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Stress Free
Cows do not like change and are very aware of their environment. We do our best to provide a comfortable place for them to rest, eat and drink at all times. Calm cows are healthier and produce more milk.
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Open Spaces
Our barns are designed to promote free movement throughout the space. At any time, our cows can find a place to lay down, to eat, or a spot to drink water without competing with another animal.
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Balanced Nutrition
Diets Formulated For Healthier Cows
Our main goal in developing a diet is to ensure our cows get the proper nutrients to be healthy cows. We formulate diets with the help of our specialized dairy nutritionist.
We have different diets depending on the cow’s age, milk production, and gestational period on our farm.
The modern dairy cow is an athlete.
Today, dairy cows are very different from cows from 50 years ago. Cows today naturally produce more milk, resulting in her need for a better diet. Our nutritionist will develop diets with the right mix of energy, protein, fat, and fibre to meet her needs. Too much or too little of one of these macros will have adverse effects on milk production or, more significantly, her health.
Energy is one of the most important components of the diet because milk production uses lots of her energy. Energy deficiencies in her diet will cause her to start to metabolize body fat to fulfill her energy requirements.
Our Grass-Fed diet
With our grass-fed diet, we are trying to balance the desire of consumers to have grass-fed products and our needs for a healthy cow. Our Grass-Fed Diet is 20% grain and 80% forages.
We need to feed some grain to maintain our cows’ health. Grain gives the cow the energy she requires to maintain her health. Without grain, she would be energy deficient, which causes her health to deteriorate. Forages do not have enough usable energy to meet her energy needs.
Calves, Our Future
Calves represent the farm’s future, so we provide the best care possible to ensure their health. The first couple weeks of a calf’s life are critical as they are vulnerable. Our team steps in to make sure each calf is eating and growing.
Some of the ways we make sure each calf thrives are providing a clean and warm place to live, fresh water, milk, and grain, as well as social interaction with its peers.
Promoting Health
Healthy cows are important. We use good nutrition as a preventive measure to keep our cows healthy. We work with a nutritionist to build diets that meet all the nutritional requirements a milking cow has.
Weekly veterinarian visits help verify that we are doing all we can to maintain good health. As stress is a deterrent to health, we ensure our cows are not living in a stressful environment.
Housing
We house all our cows to provide stress-free living conditions with our barns. Cows thrive in stability, so our barns make life stable and predictable. They don’t need to worry about the weather, places to lay, access to water or food, or predatory threats.
Modern dairy barns promote airflow with open sides and big doors. We want cool fresh air flowing through the barn so the air stays fresh. The majority of our barns have access to a patio where the cows can enjoy the weather as they please. And conversely, on very cold winter days, we can close all the doors and windows to
Together as a
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