Got milk.

Last week, the younger kids went on a field trip to tour a local dairy. I loved this trip. It was a small farm in the country about 40 min away from Hutton. It was beautiful with the rolling green hills and classic red barn. The dairy was a family run business. The wife gave us a tour of the farm/dairy and explained the process that the milk goes through. When we first pulled up we were greeted by donkeys. They have donkey instead of goats, because unlike goats, the donkeys ONLY eat the weeds. The kids had fun petting them.

Next, the kids were able to gather some eggs from the chicken coop. I found I was totally acting like my mom did when we were on field trips. I was asking the kids, “what did you feel, what did it smell like, what did you see?” They were excited to answer and explain to me what was going on. The farm also had some baby rabbits! All the kids sat in a circle and passed the rabbits around. I was really impressed at how laid back our “tour guide” was. She was super friendly and didn’t freak out or worry about the kids dropping the animals or doing the wrong thing.

Baby Rabbits!

Next, we learned about the milking process, which was explained in an engaging and kid friendly way. We saw the milk cows, tasted the food they ate, saw the milking and pasteurizing station, and saw where the milk was put into cartons. The cow food tasted like a high fiber cereal, except with more salt. Some kids loved it so much they took handfuls and just chowed down. Haha. I loved learning that the milk wasn’t homogenized and didn’t have antibiotics in it. The milk literally came from the cows, which were healthy and fed the best food, was heated to kill the bacteria, and went into the jugs. This is how milk should be. The farm also had little kittens which were probably only a few weeks old. The kids loved holding them and putting them in their pockets.

At the end of the tour we got cookies and the fresh milk. Yum. I definitely bought some of their milk that weekend at a local grocery store. So good.

Got Milk?