The 3 A.M. Shift and the Barn Owl
A barn owl in my Dublin hay loft learns the 3 a.m. milking schedule and starts clocking in with the crew every single morning.
Our dairy runs a milking shift that starts at three in the morning, which is not a time for sensitive people. I have worked that shift for more than twenty years, and I will tell you it has a character all its own. The stars are bright, the coffee is strong, and nobody wants to talk until at least the second cow.
About three winters ago, I noticed a barn owl had moved into the hay loft above the parlor. She was a pale thing with a heart-shaped face, and she kept very regular hours. Every night, right at three, the first light would come on in the barn, and she would drop down to a rafter over the aisle and watch us work. We called her the Boss, since she never did a lick.
She was never a bother. She stayed on her rafter, looked down at us with those dark eyes, and occasionally made a low noise that sounded like a creaking gate. The newest hands on the crew took to saluting her as they came in. One of them, a quiet young hand named Wendell, started leaving her a small mouse in a coffee cup on the corner of the feed table, though I never could find out where he got them.
The funny part came in March, when the owner decided to move the shift to four. The next morning, at precisely three, the owl swooped down to the rafter and waited. By three-fifteen, she was making her gate noise. By three-thirty, she was staring at the empty aisle with an expression of great disappointment. The crew arrived at four to find her glaring at them, like a supervisor whose time had been wasted.
We moved the shift back. The owner said nobody should take orders from a bird, but he also said it was good for morale. If you are considering overnight work on a dairy, there are good notes on rest and safety from OSHA, and I mention the owl whenever someone asks about a nighttime schedule. I also tell it again at farm.FM for anyone who needs a laugh at three in the morning.