Before I get to the cows, I have to report that our evaluation went great!    One thing we need to improve next year is our consistency in dating our work.  Not very hard to do, especially since I bought a perpetual date stamp (like the library stamps) so the boys need to JUST DO IT as the saying goes. 

Now, the happy cows... On Tuesday, we joined a group from our church to go on a tour of Hope Acres, which is an automated dairy farm in Pennsylania.  My kids got a chance to ride a yellow school bus, which is naturally not a common occurrence for them. 

Here are some of the pictures from the trip.  Part of the farm:

How do they keep the cows happy?  One way is by providing automated back scratchers!

Here's Kennady enjoying her visit:

The cows were very gentle (obviously they were happy!  ) so the kids were able to pet them:

One quarter section of the barn was not being used, so the kids were able to test out the "waterbeds" which also help keep the cows happy:

And here is the milking robot:

See the milk?

The "waterbeds" are to protect the cows' joints while they are lying down.  The barn also has all rubber flooring instead of cement for the same reason.  We also learned that the rubber is easier to clean, lasts longer, and smells less offensive.

The milking robot was the neatest thing.  The cows each wear an ID collar that contains a radio frequency.  The robot has instructions entered in its computer as to how many times (between 3 and 5) each individual cow is to be milked over a 24 hours period.  The cows learn to go to the robot milking station because 1) they get relief from a full udder there; and 2) they get "cow cookies" to eat while they are being milked.  Cow Cookies are a special feed that often includes something sweet - sometimes even chocolate!  The robot then uses the ID collar frequency to determine if the cow needs milking.  If she does, it cleans her udder and uses a laser light (looks a lot like the laser UPC scanners at the grocery store!) to accurately put the milking cups on the teats, then milks her.  We were able to watch the whole process a couple of times.  Amazing!  The tour guide told us that the cows will go to the milking station anywhere from 12-40 times a day, but that the robot will only milk the prescribed number of times per day for each cow.  The feed bin containing the cow cookies only opens if the cow is being milked.  New cows and heifers have to learn the system, usually by being manually led to the milking station for a couple of days, but apparently the cows are pretty quick studies and learn very quickly how it works!

So - how can you tell if a cow is happy?  Well, I don't have any experience, but we were told that happy cows are very quiet, lie down to chew cud, and are generally pretty sedentary.  I'd be happy with a life like that too - an automatic back scratcher, a waterbed, cookies and chocolate at least three times a day, and just relaxing 24/7.  Granted, I'd also weigh almost as much as a cow if I lived that way for more than a day or two!  I'll settle for being a happy homeschooler instead!