Moosic to Our Ears

  Day 3 of 4-H Biotech Day Camp, was utterly incredible.  We started mooving our herd earl this morning to get to the Randleigh Dairy at NCSU.  We split our group in half and toured the facility, inside and out.  Our campers learned everything from what goes in the cows mouth to how it is digested and yes, they now even know how the chips fall as they may.

  Even more importantly they got the inside scoop on how the milk goes from the cow, through the milker and finally makes it to Schaub Hall where Howling Cow Ice Cream is made.  So it might not be quite that fast, but it is faster than you probably realize and not a drop is touched by human hands.   Every two days the fresh milk is trucked out from storage vats and taken to be utilized on the NCSU Campus, used for Howling Cow Ice Cream and is donated to the state prison system.
   Our campers met the dairy cows up close and personal and saw what their day to day life is like.  The cows get milked every 12 hours and outside of their trips to the milking parlor they get to hang out, eat, drink, and have beds of sand to lay in.  Most of our campers were surprised by the size and smell of these large bovine.
  After the tour (and a quick hand wash) our campers got to experience Howling Cow Ice Cream and enjoy the hands on learning center.  There they learn how butter was once made, the digestive system of a cow, and actually meet the cows of NCSU based on their ear tag numbers.  It was a lot of fun for everyone.
  After lunch we headed to one of our favorite lunch spots, Fountain Dining Hall on NCSU's campus.  Our youth got to eat with real college students and enjoy milk from the farm we had just left.  They also got a chance to sample soft serve ice cream too.
  So if you are thinking that's a lot of sugar...not to worry our next stop took care of that.  We headed to Prairie Ridge Eco research Station.  This is a unique research center that is part of the NC Natural Science Museum.  The goal is to show an appreciation for the natural environment while exploring renewable and sustainable energy sources.  We had the chance to explore some really neat ecosystems before we heard and saw lightening which ran us back to our vans and encouraged us to head back to our counties.
  All in all it was a fun day, and we burned a little energy along the way.  Speaking of energy, we are going to get wild with research tomorrow.  Stay tuned for all the hairy details.