Cow Share

Program
 

Our Milking Practices


When obtaining raw milk from someone else's farm it is important to understand the manner in which the milk is collected and stored to ensure your safety from contamination. Our family depends on our clean, fresh milk for optimum health and we feel confident that you can too.


We milk Claire in a clean barn with plenty of space and open ventilation. No livestock reside in that barn. It is used for storage and milking only. Claire is brought in for milking twice a day into an area covered with cedar chips, which are always prompty removed and replaced when soiled.

 

Before handling any milking equipment and before EVERY milking we wash our hands thoroughly with soap and water. We use a brush to brush off all dirt and hay that lay loose on Claire's coat. Then we use several clean rags with warm water to wipe down her udder and teats and more clean rags to dry them. Next we wipe eat teat individually again with a disposable sanitizing dairy wipe. To protect her teats from Colorado's harsh, dry weather we then apply an all-natural balm to each teat (currently we are using shea butter). Finally, we squirt milk from each teat onto the ground two times to clear the opening of any dirt or bacteria that may be resting there and proceed with milking.


Immediately after milking, while still in the barn, we filter the milk into a clean tote and cap the tote tightly. The milk is bottled in the house about 30 min later and rapidly cooled in the freezer for 1-2 hours before transferring it to the fridge. We use only 1/2 gallon glass mason jars to allow for faster cooling than gallon jars. Rapid cooling of the milk is important in preserving the naturally occuring lactic acid bacteria (the good guys) that help prevent the growth of potentially harmful bacteria. To ensure the best quality, milk must be cooled to 45 degrees within two hours of the end of milking.


All of our milking supplies are washed separately in a sink used only for that purpose to prevent any other food contamination and are allowed to air dry.


All of our cows are confirmed to TB and brucellosis free. As members of the Raw Milk Association of Colorado, we are also required to send a sample of our milk to a lab for testing of bacterial levels and possible contamination.


If any milk ever becomes contaminated by any means (like something falls in the pail or Claire kicks the bucket while milking), it will be immediately discarded. The shareholder will always be notified of any continued concern. If risk of contamination (like in the case of mastitis) creates a decrease in the milk supply and the need to withhold the shareholder's weekly milk, the shareholder will be notified and will not be charged the boarding fee for those weeks.
Document

Herd Share

Contract/Sale &

Boarding Agreement

What Is A Cow/Herd Share?

 

In the state of Colorado (as with many other states in the U.S.) it is illegal to sell raw milk. However, if a person owns his own dairy cow, naturally no one can stop him from drinking her milk. Thus, the Colorado Revised Statues 25-5-.5-117 were passed to legalize the distribution of raw milk through the cow/herd share programs.

The way that cow-share or herd-share (if more than one cow is being milked) programs work is that a consumer first purchases a share in a milk cow or dairy herd. The farmer and consumer enter into a contract whereby the consumer pays a fee to become part "owner" of a cow (or a herd of cows) while the farmer keeps the cow on his property, providing feed, shelter, care and the labor of milking her. Consumers do not buy milk from their cow(s). Instead, they pay a "boarding fee" to compensate the farmer for the expense and labor of keeping the cow(s). The consumer is then entitled to partake in the consumption of the raw milk that comes from their cow(s).

Our Cow Share Program


To buy a share of our dairy cow, "Claire", the consumer (or "shareholder") pays a one-time initial fee of $10 per share. With each share you receive one gallon of milk per week and continue to pay a $6 per week boarding fee.

If you want more than one gallon per week you can buy more shares in proportion to the amount of milk you would like. For instance, if a shareholder wanted to partake in 2 gallons of milk per week, he/she would pay an initial fee of $20 ($10 per share) and a weekly boarding fee of $12 ($6 per share). If a shareholder wanted 3 gallons of milk per week, he/she would pay $30 for the three shares and $18 per week, and so on.

We, the "Farmer", also provide all of the glass bottles and lids for your milk. To help cover our costs, there is an additional one-time initial fee of $5 per share for the use of the bottles and lids.

Weekly boarding fees are then billed once per month, due on the first day of your scheduled milk pick-up for that month. The amount of weeks you pay for depends on the amount of times your scheduled pick-up day falls in that month. For example if your pick-up day is Wednesday and there are five Wednesdays one month, you would pay $30 for that month's boarding fee per share ($6 per week for 5 weeks).

If you wish to terminate your contract and stop getting milk from us for any reason, you could do so with advanced notice and you would then simply return our bottles and stop paying the boarding fee.

**Please refer to the link above to review our entire Herd Share Agreement with all of its terms and conditions.

We do not do deliveries. All shareholders must come to our farm to pick up their milk each week on a sheduled pick-up day. We have a fridge outside in our garage in which we place all of our shareholders' milk for pick-up on their scheduled days. You are free to come by on that day at whatever time is most convenient for you, whether we are home or not.

Please keep in mind when you come that we have small children and animals often playing outside, so please take care when you are driving in.

You are welcome to stay a while and visit Claire if she is in from pasture. Bring her an organic carrot and she'll love you forever! Our dog and cats always love extra attention as well. You are also welcome to visit our chickens and American Guinea Hogs, however we would just ask that you have us accompany you into their pen if you would like to go in.


If you are interested in our cow share program for access to fresh, raw milk each week, please contact us and we will be happy to answer any additional questions you may have.