I remember making butter in kindergarten and being entranced at the magical appearance of the butter from the milk. It was a formative memory, perhaps why I live in dairy country today. Much of my diet, and most of my favorite foods, either is dairy, or I can not enjoy fully without dairy.
I did work on a commercial dairy, and I remember being absolutely gobsmacked when I learned that the best of the dairy cows could produce over 200 lbs of milk a day. I recall there are 8 or so of you in the household, but I am pretty sure that 200 lbs a day is more dairy than even 10 people could consume. That would be 20 lbs each! Even I do not consume half that much, LOL!
I am also familiar with some of the issues with cattle, the space they need, feeding them, the equipment and structures that are necessary, as well as that cows only produce milk ~2 years after birthing calves, and that requires the help of a bull somewhere along the line. I am very impressed and happy, even elated, that you manage all these for that beautiful blessing you have showed you gain from it.
Thanks!
Wow!! That is a lot of milk that the cows can produce! Our cow produces about 2 gallons a day which is perfect for us. We usually drink 1.5 gallons a day between the 8 of us and then use the rest for yogurt after a few days of it piling up. Ha! We have a few acres here in Panama and our cow is happy during rainy season. She does ok during dry season as well, but thankfully it doesn't last too long. We have the help of a local farmer if it is something beyond what we know about cows (which isn't much). My husband does all the milking and I do all the washing of the milker after and dealing with the milk. It works well! Ha! I tried in the US to have the kids shake a jar with cream in it, but it took forever. There were multiple sites online how to do it and each said a different thing - freezing cold cream or lukewarm cream. I think we finally ended up with some butter, but they never wanted to do it "by hand" again. ;)