As a veterinarian, I had this lifetime opportunity to work for dairy cows. I still ruminate over it. Just imagine a farm spread over the acres in the city centre. It housed 1500 healthy Holstein Friesians and cross breeds. I don't know about the farm area but it was only the expanse of the farm that one could see.
Generally it is the numbers that are used in the daires for cattle identification. Here, however, each and every cow has a name....I still remember some....shweta, swati, anu, sujata, smita, abhaya, sushma, manju, anju, suman, sridevi, madhuri........just name it.
The animals live in full discipline. They have a shower two times in a day. Every cow religiously goes for a bath. This really is a treat that gives them a respite from heat stress.
Then they have meal timings (grass, straw, cereals) , snack time (yummy mollases and maize) and on a lucky day even milk ......Yo! the neighbour just had a baby!
Milking is done thrice in 24 hours and the average yield is 30 litres from a cow in peak milch period. Milking time comes with a bonus of good music playing in the backdrop and the happy cows bask in the glory of these luxuries.
There is a lot of activity all day long. Calves being fed and groomed in the calf section, sick ones under treatment in the indoor wards, fodder processing, milk transportation etc. etc.
The best is, when in estrus (the fertile period) the wise beauties themselves throng the insemination shed waiting for their turn.
I can not really explain this amazing experience.......the only words I have are......"Holy Cow!!!!"
