Woodhorn Farm is home to a 250 strong organic dairy herd. So what do our girls get up to every day? Here we take a peek at a day in the life of a Woodhorn Farm cow!
Our beautiful Woodhorn Farm cows have a very lovely life! Each day largely revolves around grazing, resting, and socialising with the rest of the herd. As an organic dairy cow there’s also plenty of time for enjoying life outside too!
In the morning our cows are up and about early – coming in for the first milking at 4:30am. We have an onsite milking parlour which can accommodate 32 cows, with 16 milked at a time. Our team move the cows through in batches – each cow takes around 5-10 minutes to milk and produces an average of 23 litres a day. By 9am milking is finished and our lovely fresh milk is ready to be pasteurised or collected by Organic Herd, who we supply.
The cows then begin their day grazing on the beautiful pastures which make up our 1500 acre Farm. Grazing is our cow’s main activity – they prefer to eat in the early morning when the grass is cool and covered with dew, which helps them hydrate and get the nutrients they need. Our girls typically graze in multiple sessions throughout the day – and have lots of opportunities to rest and cud too.
A restful life
Our cows spend a large part of their day in the fields chewing their cud – known as ruminating. After their morning grazing, they tend to lie down to digest. During rumination, they regurgitate partially digested food from their stomach, chew it again, and then swallow it. This process is vital for their digestion and usually takes several hours each day. In the winter our girls spend more time in barns because of the cold weather, enjoying the silage – all of which is grown here on the Farm – but otherwise enjoying the same day to day routine.
Staying social
Our herd is very social and spend lots of time grooming themselves with the brushes available to them and each other. We quite often see them rubbing against the fences or using their tongues to groom their bodies. They’re definitely a social bunch – they love licking each other or resting in close proximity to the rest of the herd.
In the afternoon it’s time for the second milking – usually around 2:30pm. We follow the same routine, which the cows are familiar with, and which helps maintain a steady supply of milk. At peak time, in around November after calving, our herd produce 250,000 litres a month!
At this time of year – from August through until around November – calving season is underway. Each year we welcome around 260 calves, so it’s lots of long hours and late nights for the team. The welfare of our herd is our first priority, and we keep a close eye on things with routine health checks to keep our girls healthy. Our team, and local vets, work together to check for signs of illness, lameness, or other health concerns. Our farm is antibiotic free (not all organic farms are) but here none of our cows has ever had antibiotics.
Shelter and sleep
At night, our cows return to the barns – although they don’t sleep for long periods (there are lots of chances for short naps through the day). They often sleep lightly while standing and then lie down for deeper sleep. After a final check at 9pm, it’s time to settle down for the night where they will spend the night sleeping, eating and cudding.