Needless to say, I'm not so good at this blogging thing. The program had been a whirlwind of sights, smells, adventure, beauty and humanity... everything considered, blogging is the last thing on my mind usually (sorry Dr. Wasser :)
Our last day in Hannover we visited a part of the veterinary school that housed the research dairy cattle. At first, the facilities seemed to be your run-of-the-mill barn, with-run-of-mill cows, eating their run-of-the-mill feed. Then we were introduced to "Robert".... or rather, the robot. This fantastic robotic machine that milked each cow perfectly to her exact needs. Everything about the milking process is automated with laser sensors, individual records of every cow and tracking mechanisms to determine how often each cow steps up to be milked. The human element, and the stress on the cow, is completely eliminated. When a cow wants to be milked, she steps up to the machine (the cows were literally waiting in line to visit the robot), it reads her tracking device and if it has been a sufficient amount of time since her last milking, it obliges her by lining up her udder with its ... milkers?... and goes to town. The robot can determine when a particular quarter is finished and will detach that milker while still working on the others until the cow is completely and comfortably milked. It is such a wonderful system that caters to the cows needs while decreasing stress.
I was exceedingly grateful for the warm welcome the students and professors at the veterinary school in Hannover gave us and enjoyed the time I spent there.
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