Farm Lingo

The Girls: Thats what my family calls our milking cows.  So if I ever refer to The Girls, I'm talking about our hard working herd!

 

Heifer: A heifer is what we call a female calf.  A heifer is also a yearling ready for breeding.  Their all called heifers till they calve and join the milking herd.

 

Springer:  A cow that's close to calving.

 

Dry Cow:  A cow that has currently stopped milking.  She's on "maternity leave" for two months, in preperation to have her calf.

 

Fresh Cow: A cow that's just calved.

 

Parlour: This isn't the fancy tea room in ahouse like the old English version, it's where we milk our cows!

 

Pit: The "pit" is where the people in the parlour stand, it's lower that where the cows stand to make it easier for milking. 

 

A.I.: Atificial Insemination, is the breeding of a cow.  That's how we breed our cows, we don't have a bull anymore.

 

Milk House: The milk house is where we keep the milk.

 

Milk Tank: This is the holding tank where the milk stays cold, while its on the farm.

 

Holstein: Thats the breed of cows that my family milks.  They' re also the highest producing dairy breed in Canada.

 

Herd: Is a group of cows.

 

Free-martin: A free-martin is a heifer calf that has been born twin to a bull.  This is because of the testerone from her "brother", this affects her reproductive organs.  They still have ovaries and other female parts.  There is only 10% chance that she will be breedable.  They are also known to have masculinized behavior and actions.