Column | Cuddle from cows

Milk, quark, cheese, yogurt, chocolate milk, whipped cream, butter. People from the city really know that all products in the dairy of the supermarket are made of cow’s milk. But such a cow, have they ever seen it up close? Do they know how they are milked? Have they petted her head? On top of that crown? Massaged the loose sheet between the front legs?

We throw dairy products in our supermarket cart and rarely come close to the animal that made them possible. Unless we go to a cow cuddling workshop on the dairy farm of farmer Sari Burggraaf-De Wit and her husband. It is just outside Zwammerdam, municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn, between vast meadows.

The workshop starts at the table in a room with a view of the stable with 110 dairy cows. They eat, bump around, are ruminating on rubber mats or they let themselves be milked by the milking robot when it is time for that. Five women will soon get to know the cows. Now they still look from a distance with a cup of coffee and homemade delicacies from Sari.

Sari rents out that place as a special meeting room, with or without a workshop. There is a lot of enthusiasm for cuddling, she says. Women are usually more enthusiastic than men. But recently she had a group with nineteen men. They all wanted to go into the stable.

Marianne van Teylingen guides the workshop. She knows the cows from calf. When she whistles, they string their ears. We hoist ourselves in bright green overalls and attract boots. We get a tour. We walk past young cows, the high pregnant. We stand still for a long time at the barn with calves. Thin legs, velvety skin. They are eagerly looking for fingers to suck. The cow licks the young clean after birth, then it will be removed. The mother is not yet attached to the young, Sari said earlier.

Marianne trains the cuddly cages. She strokes and brush them extra often from an early age. Almost every cow is suitable for it, she says. She has set four reliable cows separately. They are in the straw. Make yourself small, she says to her guests. Do not make unexpected movements. Make sure you are not pushed into a corner. A cow has no nasty intentions but weighs 600 kilos.

Most visitors never touched a cow before, says Marianne. Now they can pet and brush. After a while Marianne shows how you can lean against a cow. Moments later, three women flatter in the straw against a warm flank.

When we chat with cubes of cheese and the glass of raw milk (slightly sweet and full) two hours later, it turns out that Sari pins, especially the proximity of the well -known and at the same time so unknown large animal impressed.

« They are so zen. It also makes you calm. »

« That crown, those big eyes, those eyelashes. Fantastic! »

Sheila Kamerman Reports somewhere from the Netherlands every week. ([email protected])

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