Dairy Cow

[BirdBrain]

In my dreams I have a small farm with chickens, ducks geese and a dairy cow or two. Right now it is still a dream.

However, I am doing a lot of research and looking into where I might obtain a dairy cow (or heifer) when we do get that acreage we are hoping for. Do you know how hard it is to find anything on line about where to get a dairy cow in south Texas? You would think with a huge creamery near by that there would be something, but I can't come up with shmatz! Those of you who have gotten dairy cows, where did you get them and how did you find out where to get one? If I were in Wisconsin, this would be a lot easier.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Sometimes craigslist or the newpaper has a few ads on livestock

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Do you have a sale barn near by? If so, call them and see if they have a dairy sale.

You are right, it would be easier in WI-we have dairy cows all over!

 

[ksacres]

I know this wasn't the question, but for personal use, you might consider a couple dairy goats instead. A milk cow will produce much much more than you could probably ever use, and they are a very expensive animal to purchase. You can usually find dairy goats between $100 and $300.

 

[BirdBrain]

KSacres,

You are right about the goats, but my DH won't even hear about goats. For those of you with goats, is there a difference in taste between goats milk and cows milk? The goat's milk you can buy at the grocery store smells like goats and I can't quite get past it. My son loves goat's milk.

My folks run cattle on the family ranch, but they are all for beef. I guess I am just used to cows and love their personalities. My DH gets job transfers every now and then and I am not keen on the idea of raising a bottle calf in hopes of milk in 2 years when we might get another transfer and I would be out of luck...or milk as the case may be. So there you have it.

I like the idea of a sale barn, but I think I would have to go to a sale barn in another county as Houston isn't the best place to find a sale barn.

 

[BrahmaMama]

I would suggest checking with a local (probably smaller operation) dairy. We got our 8 calves this way. The one heifer calf that came out w/holstein characteristics was one that we didn't purchase, as they wanted $375 for her, as opposed to the $175 we are paying for the black bull/heifer calves. Of course, this doesn't do you any good if you are looking for a ready to milk cow, but they may also be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[ksacres]

Goats milk only tastes "goaty" if you don't keep it clean or if your does run with a buck. My husband won't drink it plain, so I put chocolate or strawberry flavor in it and he doesn't complain. It's all in his head though.

 

[MBLayfield]

I bought a jersey from a dairy here locally. They were glad to sale her because she was too old for them. She was six.... I milked her as long as I could then her go dry before she calved. She had a beautiful fawn heifer. I was getting almost 4 gallons a day before she calved!

Unless you are prepared to hand milk your cow you might want to consider a portable milker. I couldn't milk two gallons each milking without it. It took forever and my hands would ache! I paid $800.00 for my "old" show cow and she was the best. The only trouble I had was because she was a dairy cow she didn't want to stand forever to be milked. In addition to all the milk I got, out of the four gallons almost a gallon a day was cream. I had cream coming out my ears! I've since sold queenie do to the lack of time I had for milking and boy do I regret it. The milk is better, tastier and I know whats in my milk! If you have the time and energy I'd do it!

If you don't need a ton of milk a day you might consider a short horn or something smaller than a jersey or holstein. A good dual purpose cow that you could use for meat eventually if you wanted to.

 

[BirdBrain]

Actually, I would like to hand milk, but have had some problems with Carpal Tunnel syndrome in the past and wonder if a portable milker wouldn't be a better option.

By the way Brandy, can you check your Messages? I'm still wanting to try your recipe. Thanks.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I would say craigslist or your local paper first. Maybe go to the feedstore and ask someone there if they know any dairies. I worked at a jersey dairy milking about 135 cows and 2 times a year they thinned out the herd based on milk production. They sold them for about $1500.