This is our sick pen parlor.
When our girls get sick we treat them with antibiotics if necessary. There are various reasons for treatment.
We separate the girls on meds from the others because we have to hold out the milk from the bulk tank where the good milk goes. This is where we milk those cows. The milk goes down the drain.
When the milk in our bulk tanks is picked up it is collected and labeled at the farm and the tested several times at the dairy for antibiotics. If for some reason we would test hot, the milk would have to be dumped.
In order to keep the milk from entering the bulk tank we band the ankles of the sickies and put them in separate pens. Also, the girl's information is entered into the computer. We have technical and physical reminders as precautions.
There are guidelines for the length of time you need to hold out the milk before it can go back to market. Also, there are guidelines for medically treated cows that will be sold for meat. While most of our cows are milked we cull cows out and the cows must be drug free.
This is a sheet with the guidelines for safe selling of meat and milk. You can see how careful and cautious our herdsman/vet is. We extend the time for some of the drugs.
And, oh my, we are one of those nasty CAFO (factory) farms that are so horrible and care nothing about our animals or people. We just want to make that extra dollar or two. Please read this with total sarcasm.
Just to reinforce, we - a CAFO farm - care about the health and well being of our animals. We treat them medically when necessary just as we do ourselves. And, we - a CAFO farm - not only follow the guidelines for safe sell, we go above and beyond the time period on certain drugs to be sure we are shipping a safe and quality product.
