Usually twice a day (around 5 a.m. and 5 p.m.), the dairy cows are brought to the "milking parlor" - a large room outfitted with stalls and special milking equipment. Dairy cows are rarely milked by hand anymore because that would take too long and today's modern milking systems are far gentler, more efficient and productive.

In the milking parlor, the cow's udder is carefully cleaned, the milking equipment is attached and turned on. It takes about 10 minutes or so to milk one cow and afterward, the cows feel much better because at 8.6 lbs a gallon, milk is pretty heavy for them to be carrying around all day! It's not uncommon for a dairy cow to produce 60 lbs., 70 lbs. of milk or more per day! After milking, the cows are again cleaned and sent out to pasture.

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