Fun Facts

• Fairvue Farms dairy cows are all Holsteins.
• A cow gives birth to her first calf at 2 years.
• The cow is pregnant for 9 months (average = 283 days, ranging from 273-291 days).
• To calculate when a cow will give birth, add 7 days and subtract 3 months from her most recent mating date. 
• The cow weighs around 1,200 pounds.
• The calf weighs about 90 pounds.
• Fairvue Farm's cows are all bred by artificial insemination.
• The newborn calf is fed 4 quarts of colostrum, which is the first milk from a cow. It must receive colostrum within hours of birth while it can still absorb the antibodies from its gut into its bloodstream. 
• The cow normally has 1 calf. 
• Twins occur about 10% of the time. Calving difficulties are more frequent with twins, and the calves are often weak at birth. When one twin is a heifer, and one is a bull calf, the heifer (known as a freemartin) is sterile more than 90% of the time. 
• A cow must give birth to produce milk.
• Cows usually have 1 calf per year.
• Cows make more milk than her calf will need. Average cows produce between 5 and 12 gallons of milk a day.
• Female calves are called heifers. Male calves are called bull calves when they are born. 
• A newborn calf can see, stand and walk.
• To ensure that the newborn calves receive the most nutritious feeding, they are fed immediately by bottle, and then they are placed in a well-bedded hutch after the calves are cleaned and dried. After this, they are fed two times a day for seven days on the bottle ,and then they are trained to drink from a pail until they are weaned at the age of seven weeks. 

• In 1975 there were 817 dairy farms producing milk in Connecticut. In 2018, there were barely 100 dairy farmers in our state, with herds number between 19,000 and 20,000 cows.
• Because of active support from the State of Connecticut and its citizens, the number of dairy farms in Connecticut has remained stable since 2010.
• Congressman Joe Courtney has been a tremendous supporter of the dairy industry. He was the first CT legislator appointed to the House Agriculture Committee in over 100 years.
• The Federal Government sets the price that dairy farmers receive for their milk. That price does not reflect the higher cost of doing business in the northeast.
• CT dairy farmers are facing exploding costs of production including feed, fuel and electricity.
• CT dairy farming generates $2 billion of economic activity annually, employing thousands of individuals on and off the farm.
• CT dairy farmers crop over half of all Connecticut farmland providing open space, wildlife habitat, scenic vistas and adding to the quality of life for all CT's citizens.
• (Source: cfba.org) 

• Cows drink a bathtub of water (about 40 gallons) and eat 120 pounds of feed a day.
• Cows have 32 teeth.
• The body temperature of a cow is 101.5 degrees F.
• Cows have one stomach with 4 digestive compartments.
• Cows chew their cuds up to 8 hours a day. 
• Female calves are called heifers. Male calves are called bull calves when they are born. 
• Size and age are used to determine when heifers should be bred. Typically this is when they are 12-15 months old. Holsteins are usually 14 months old, and weigh 700 pounds when bred (Source: 4-H manual.) 
• When a dairy cow gives birth, it is called calving or a freshening.
• Two months before a cow gives birth, she takes a rest from milking to grow her calf. At this time, she is called a dry cow.
• There are six breeds of dairy cows: Holstein, Ayrshire, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Milking Shorthorn and Guernsey. All of Fairvue Farms cows are Holsteins. About 80-90% of the mlk people drink comes from Holsteins. 
• All cows are born with horn nubs that are removed when they are a few months old.
• Dairy farmers and their families must milk and feed their cows 365 days a year. Cows are usually milked twice each day. Fairvue Farms' high-producing cows are milked three times a day. 
• Cows have pierced ears for identification.
• Dairy cows can produce 125 pounds of saliva a day.
• Cows have an acute sense of smell, and can smell something up to six miles away. 

All of Fairvue Farms' milk stays in Connecticut. It is the first milk of the day. Our milk is used in The Farmer's Cow milk. We choose not to use Bovine Growth Hormone (BST). 

Milk Composition 

• Milk composition depends on the breed, genes, the state of lactation and nutrition. On average, the composition of milk straight from the cow is shown in the table below. See more information about Nutrition, Dairy and You at the New England Dairy Promotion Board website. 
• Total Protein: 3.0 - 3.5% 
• Fat: 0% - 3.25%
• Lactose: 4.9%
• Ash (minerals): 0.75%
• Total solids: 12.6%
• Water: 87.4%

Source: Queensland Government, Dept. of Primary Industries and Fisheries 

• For thousands of years, cows have been providing people with food (milk and meat), clothing (leather), labor (plowing), and fuel and fertilizer (manure.) 
• In the old days, cows were probably somewhat neglected during the summer months when the farmer was busy with his crops. 
• In the 1850's nearly all families had a cow. In villages and cities, people might not be able to have their own cows because there wasn't any land to graze on, so centralized dairy farming developed. 
• Many dairy farms also grow their own feed such as alfafa, hay and corn, or own or lease pastures where the cows graze. 
• Up until the late 1800's, cows were milked by hand. Cows were brought into a barn, and tied up or held in place with stanchions. Cows were milked from the side, which was safer, cleaner, more comfortable, kept the tail out of the milk pail and the farmer's face, and made it harder for the cow to kick the farmer. 
• In 1862, pasteurization was first tested, and was adopted for milk in the early 1900s. The process uses heat to destroy harmful bacteria without significantly changing milk's nutritional value or flavor. In addition to killing disease-causing bacteria, pasteurization destroys bacteria that cause spoilage, extending the shelf life of milk. 
• Today, automatic suction milking machines are used. The first such machine was invented in 1878, but many cows were still milked by hand as late as the 1940's. (Source: 4-H manual). 
• To preserve milk, it must be kept cool. Before refrigeration, this was done by continuously pumping cold underground water around milk containers.
• Milk was sold directly by farmers, or delivered by the milkman in glass bottles. 
• In the 1950's, scientists discovered that sperm can be frozen and then thawed to fertilize eggs and develop normal, healthy calves (called artificial insemination.) Today, about 60% of U.S. dairy calves are from artificial insemination. (Source: 4-H manual) 
• Today there are dairy farms in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. 
• Today there are more than 9.2 million dairy cows in the U.S., on 60,000 farms, producing 21 billion gallons of milk each year. (Source: Dairy Farming Today) 
• About 99% of all U.S. dairy farms are family-owned and operated. The majority (77%) have less than 100 cows. (Source: Dairy Farming Today) 
• When a dairy farm spents money locally, the effect on the economy is 2.5x the original dollar spent (Source: Dairy Farming Today) 
• They are 150 licensed dairy farms in CT, and 19,000 cows in Connecticut. About ten of these dairy farms are located in Woodstock, CT. (National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA, 2008 ) 
• Pasteurization -prevents ecoli, salmonella, listeria, etc. 

[Diane and Lela lead Naomi from the Fairvue Farms trailer to cheer on school children raising money for Heifer International. 

Photo by Ellie Donahue.]

Each year the First Congregational Church of Woodstock church school children raise money for Heifer Project. Heifer Project began in 1944 as a project of the Church of the Brethren to alleviate hunger and poverty. Today it is an ecumenical, nonprofit organization with many member agencies. 

Heifer International helps struggling families become self-sufficient, by supplying them with farm animals, training and technical help. Recipients agree to share know-how they have gained with others and to pass on the offspring of their livestock to others in their community, thus multiplying the gift. 

ONE heifer can deliver up to 4 gallons of milk every day. Income earned by selling surplus milk pays for tuition, medicine, clothing and better housing. Cows are a natural fertilizer factory to help crops grow. A healthy cow can have a calf every year. A gift like this can eventually help an entire community move from poverty to self-reliance. 

The children focus on a different animal each year. Over the years, they have learned about water buffalo, sheep, bees, goats, and ducks. In 2008, they chose to learn about heifers (young female calves). They adopted “Naomi ” from Fairvue Farms as their heifer mascot. Lela and Ciri Miller, granddaughters of owners Paul and Diane Miller, selected Naomi because of the heart on her forehead. 

Naomi was born on July 31, 2007. Fairvue Farms transported Naomi to church in September 2007 to help kick off their Heifer fund raising project. Lela worked with Naomi for several weeks beforehand so Naomi would know how to behave in public! 

As of May 2008, they are about $100.00 away from reaching our goal of $1500.00 to purchase three heifers. During the month of May, the children will have one last fund raising effort gathering sponsors or money. Naomi will return to church on June 8th for their annual Children’s Sunday and picnic. The child who raises the most money in May will have the honor of “Kissing the Cow.”