Welcome to the Keriel Dairy!
We are 3rd generation dairy farmers. We are actually the last remaining dairy farm in the largest county (Butler) in Kansas.
What does Keriel mean? It is the milkman’s and my name put together. My name is Kerry and his name is Daniel so we put the two together. Ker for Kerry and iel for Daniel = Keriel. It is pronounced Keri-el.
We have five kids – four girls and one boy – plus the milkman’s folks and we also have two hired guys that help to keep the farm running smoothly.
We milk about 100 cows twice a day at 4:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. 365 days a year, seven days a week. We don’t get days off very often. Around here we call the cows “the ladies” and we work really hard to keep the ladies healthy, comfortable and happy. The ladies have all kinds of things that you might not know. For example they have a nutritionist (someone who makes sure we are feeding our ladies a balanced diet), a veterinarian (a doctor for only animals), and a hoof trimmer (someone who makes sure that they get pedicures about a couple times a year).
On our farm we grow almost all of our own feed for our cows. This way we know exactly what they are eating and were it comes from. The nutritionist helps the milkman combine the crops (wheat, milo and corn to name a few) to give the ladies the best mixture to keep them healthy and happy. Our veterinarian can be called anytime during the day or night in case one of the ladies gets sick. The hoof trimmer is kind of like a pedicurist for us humans. They come twice a year to make sure that their feet stay healthy also.
As the ladies are milked their milk goes into a big bulk tank where the milk is tested to make sure the milk is the best quality before a tanker truck takes the milk to be bottled so that you or your family can pick it up in the stores.
The milk is tested and each sample has a number so we know which cow the sample came from.
This is what 8 gallons of milk looks like.
On an average a cow produces 8-10 gallons of milk each day. Did you know that one cup of milk contains the same amount of calcium as eight cups of spinach?
A cow eats a 100 pounds of feed per day and will drink 40 gallons of water per day. If you don’t know what 40 gallons looks like it is about a full bathtub of water. That is a lot of water!
We love our “ladies” and take care of them. In return they give us a yummy source of nutrition that helps us grow strong and healthy.
If you would like to keep up with what is going on here on the farm you can always check out my blog at www.imarriedamilkman.com or like us on facebook at Keriel Dairy.
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