The objective of this study was to describe the high cow ration (HCR) recipe preparation and feeding times on 26 California dairies ranging in size from 1,100 to 6,900 cows. Consecutive records from a 12-mo period were extracted from the feeding management software FeedWatch 7.0. The variables included were data, recipe, recipe number, ingredient, loading sequence, start loading time and end loading time. A total of 33 ingredient types were used across dairies. Data set included information from 50,909 recipe loads (487,218 ingredient loads). Descriptive statistics were conducted with SAS 9.3. Across dairies, the median recipe preparation time was [median (range)] 15 min 0 s (9 min 18 s to 27 min 0 s). The interquartile range (IQR = Q₃-Q₁) per dairy was <13 min 30 s (Q₁) and >16 min 58 s (Q₃). At least 20% (up to 68%) of the time, recipe preparation was < 10 min in 5 dairies, and at least 10% (up to 70%) of the time it was >25 min in 4 dairies. Across dairies, the median elapsed time from recipe preparation to start feeding was [median (range)] 3 min 48 s (1 min 54 s to 9 min 0 s). The IQR per dairy was <2 min 30 s (Q₁) and >5 min 10 s (Q₃). On 6 dairies, at least 70% (up to 80%) of the time, recipe preparation to start feeding took <3 min in 6 dairies. On 6 dairies, at least 20% (up to 30%) of the time it took >10 min. Across dairies, the median feeding time was [median (range)] 4 min 12 s (1 min 30 s to 10 min 48 s). The IQR per dairy was <3 min 20 s (Q₁) and >6 min 30 s (Q₃). At least 20% (up to 75%) of the time, feeding took <2 min in 4 dairies; and between 20 to 55% of the time, it was >10 min in 4 dairies. Overall, from recipe preparation to feeding, 25% of the times (Q₁) it took <15 min (n = 10), 15 to 20 min (n = 12) and >20 min (n = 4); and 25% of the time (Q₃) it took <25 min (n = 5), 25 to 35 min (n = 16) and >35 min (n = 5). There were important differences within and across dairies on time elapsed from recipe preparation to feeding. This may have implication on mixing and processing of the HCR recipe.