Goldfinches

Hoofer was at the dairy today.  Lisa, the intern, had a list of cows who had an "appointment w/ the manicurist".  When they cam in to be milked, Lisa would mark the heads of those cows w/ a wax marker.  Mike, stationed at the end of the return alley, would watch for those marked cows, and change the gates to send them into a holding area to await their turn w/ the hoofer.  Lisa used a different color maker for each of the 4 groups of cows - pink for the first, green for the next, etc.  It's important that a cow goes back to the same group she came from.  Cows have a hierarchical society and a cow, placed in a new group, will have to spend a few days battling w/ the other cows before she has established her spot in the pecking order.  During that time, her milk production suffers and she isn't very happy.  It's similar to what we do when we are put in a new environment but w/o all the head butting.