Canadian cow breaks milk record
ISTANBUL
15 year-old Smurf is named world champion with 216,893 kilograms of milk.
Gillette E Smurf, as the Holstein is officially known, was recently named world champion for lifetime milk production, Canadian the Star reported. Her record-breaking 216,893 kilograms of frothy white liquid makes her the ultimate dairy queen.“The amazing part is that she’s done it for a long, long period,” says dairy farmer Louis Patenaude, one of four brothers who run La Ferme Gillette, about an hour southeast of Ottawa. The 15 year-old has lived more than twice as long as the average dairy cow, he says. And where others average about 35 litres of milk a day, Smurf fills 50. (A litre of milk weighs one kilogram.)
And she’s not done yet, adds Patenaude, noting the still-healthy, “very happy” momma is awaiting the birth of her 11th calf next month.
“She gives her milk but she’s not a cow that likes to be pampered,” he says. The 750-kg animal is content with regular meals of corn, alfalfa and protein supplement and the creature comforts of a roomy box stall.
In an act of bovine intervention, Patenaude moved her there to encourage output before she broke the existing record by about 2,000 kilograms.
He credits her success to good care and good genes. Four generations of dams all lived to age 10 or much older, he says. Smurf was named after a young farmworker called Murphy, who bought a share in her grandmother.
