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« on: July 14, 2009, 08:10:14 PM »
Although the cows that Henry and Maryann saw don't belong to us, when we did have a milking herd we did dock their tails. Believe me, Paul agonized over that decision! He had one cow that always seemed to hit him right in the face, and one day he'd had enough and put a rubber band on her tail. The next calf that she had was born without a tail! We named the calf "Bob" (for bobtail I guess). As far as swatting flies, well, if you look at the length of a cow's tail and the size of her body, there's only a small part she can actually reach with her tail. We always sprayed our cows so the flies stayed away. Making sure your cows are comfortable is a huge part of being a dairy farmer - the happier and more comfortable your cows are, the more milk they give. And with today's milk prices, that's important!