Although it’s impolite to ask a woman’s age, Patriot the cow is 19 years old!
“Patriot is one of our most special cows here at the farm. A normal cow will live to be 9-10 years old, something like that, and now she’s 19, which is roughly 85 in human years,” said Jake Ledoux, Old McDonald’s Farm management assistant.
Patriot has been a hard worker at Old McDonald’s Farm. When she was 13, she was the second top milk-producing cow in the world!
“By the time she retired she produced over 400,000 pounds of milk, which equates to about 46,000 gallons of milk, which is an awesome number,” said Ledoux.
Patriot’s milking days are long behind her. Now, she’s living the retired celebrity life.
“She is at Old McDonald’s Farm in the summertime where she gets to see thousands and thousands of guests, adoring fans, and then she gets to live here in the dry cow barn in the wintertime,” said Ledoux.
At North Harbor Dairy, it’s not uncommon to see ear tag numbers well into the 7,000s. Patriot’s ear tag number on the other hand is 1035.
She’s been at Old McDonald’s her whole life and has lived to see her great, great, great granddaughters live and work there as well.
“She’s a great cow to have; she’s docile, she’s friendly, she contributed to the farm genetics-wise, milk-wise, and we’re returning the favor by giving her a great retirement life,” said Ledoux.
Patriot enjoys eating at her leisure, sleeping in her sand bed and, like any other grandma, she loves meeting children in the summer.
