A Visit to Shelburne Farms!

Despite the cool temperatures and rain, we had a wonderful day at Shelburne Farms on Wednesday.  Most of our day was spent visiting the Dairy Barn.  Our Shelburne Farms instructor, Margaret was wonderful in leading discussions, answering questions, and teaching us new things throughout our visit. We began our visit with the babies!  We were able to pet baby lambs and cows!  We learned that the baby cows have been separated from their mothers, so that the mother's milk can be used for cheese making.  These cows are kept in their own separate stalls, but near other baby cows and are being raised by a loving farmer now. 

After seeing the babies we then saw some mother cows that who are living all together in a "mothers community."   The milk from these mamas provides all the milk that is used to make yummy Shelburne Farms Cheese (which we all got to sample after lunch! Yum!).  We all learned how to milk a cow and most of the children were able to milk and brush one!
 




 We also saw some beef cows and discussed how these cows provide us with meat for hamburgers and steak.  These cows were busy eating and many were chewing their cud!  Margaret explained to everyone about how cows have 4 stomachs that their food passes through and in between goes back up to be chewed again.

 After our lunch in the education barn we visited more farm animals!  Many of your first graders are very calm and confident chicken handlers!  We also got to see goats, pigs, donkeys, and horses! What a great day we had!