“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is a popular song for this time of year. You must understand that this farm girl is NOT a cold weather fan of any sort! I love feeling the warmth of that big yellow ball in the sky on my face and if I go very long without feeling it, I begin to crave it. However, being a farm girl in Ohio means that there are many long, dark days of winter where the warmth of the sun is only a vague memory or a hopeful wish to long for in coming months.
Another thing you must understand is that cows, dairy cows in particular, are very efficient eating and heating machines. They can eat grass or hay all day and turn it into energy and that energy produces that wonderful white stuff we call milk. Actually, their bodies are so warm that in summer, they can actually experience heat distress and/or stoke on a sunny day when the temperature is only 70 degrees if they don’t have a place to get out of the sun or enough water to drink.
This morning the temperature application on my phone broke the devastating news that it was ZERO degrees with a wind chill factor of negative nine! But, just like the Dunkin’ Donut guy “has to make the donuts”, so the dairy farmer must milk the cows. “They won’t milk themselves” someone once said! HA! ‘Tis true! So I donned my four layers and then put on my heavy coat, warm hat, arctic Muck boots and two layers of pants and headed out to the barn with milk pails in hand.
One thing you must realize is that with four layers plus my Carhart barn coat, the range of movement of my arms is restricted, so I must take off my coat when my prep work is done and I am ready to milk. I began milking and it didn’t take long until all but my pinkies and ring fingers were stinging a little from the cold. Because of the warm of Mocha’s udder, all of the rest of my fingers were warm. I decided to try putting my cold fingers against her udder to get them warm, hoping she didn’t kick me for the attempt. Thankfully, she was accommodating and I was able to get them warm enough to finish milking.
Then it was Jersey’s turn. Jersey typically takes a little more preparation so that helped me and my hands get warm again. And it began all over again. Typically, my hands don’t get as cold milking Jersey as physically she is built a little easier to milk than Mocha and by the time I was finished milking I contemplated heading outside without my coat…UNTIL, we opened the barn door and was greeted with the absolutely frigid temperature that rushed in. I quickly put on my coat and headed to the house with the milk.
Tonight, I will do it all over again. Do I love my cows? ABSOLUTELY! Do I enjoy milking? Normally, yes! However, during cold, dark winter nights and brisk cold winter mornings trips to the barn are just something I must bravely endure until the first signs of spring encourage my heart! But I am so appreciative of the warmth of my cows so my rendition of the familiar saying that is also the title of this post is “Cold hands, warm udders”! Stay warm and join me again soon!
UPDATE BEFORE POSTING: This piece has been in the works for a couple of weeks now and I have to say that when it was first written, I had NO idea how cold it could get outside! During this arctic weather we have recently been experiencing, my ring and pinkie fingers have often felt like they were little blocks of ice while milking. I have taken advantage of the heat these girls produce and discovered that nestling my nose into their warm fur gives some relief from the cold! However, the WHERE I nestle my nose is extremely important! With the treacherous weather outside, they have been spending more time in the barn and that makes for messier cows, which in turn means longer clean up before milking. It also means that their coats that normally smell sweet to me, don’t always smell so nice, so being particular about where I put my nose is fairly important! Hope ya’ll stay warm and hang in there! Spring is just sixty-eight days away!
