Grass-fed Dairy Cow

[Farmerboy16]

Hey mississippifarmboy, do you remember what was the homemade sweetfeed was?
Thanks.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Quote:
Ours was ground at the local feed mill mostly from our ingredents. We would fill the bed of the old '49 GMC about two thirds or more full of corn then stack two layers of square hay bales on top of that and throw in a couple of big bags of cotton seeds. At the mill they would grind the hay, corn and cotton seed very fine and mix it together and add mollases and a mineral suppliment of some kind.
It was not pelletized, just loose. It would make a full truck load when loaded up in our own bags. We would take it and pour it all in a bin in the feed room of the barn made of wood and about 6' deep front to back and 8' wide. The front was a short wall about 3' tall that we could add more boards to if needed to raise it taller. The other three walls were about 7' tall I guess.

Not much by modern standards, but it worked for us.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Quote:
Ours was ground at the local feed mill mostly from our ingredents. We would fill the bed of the old '49 GMC about two thirds or more full of corn then stack two layers of square hay bales on top of that and throw in a couple of big bags of cotton seeds. At the mill they would grind the hay, corn and cotton seed very fine and mix it together and add mollases and a mineral suppliment of some kind.
It was not pelletized, just loose. It would make a full truck load when loaded up in our own bags. We would take it and pour it all in a bin in the feed room of the barn made of wood and about 6' deep front to back and 8' wide. The front was a short wall about 3' tall that we could add more boards to if needed to raise it taller. The other three walls were about 7' tall I guess.

Not much by modern standards, but it worked for us.

Thanks!!

 

[Farmerboy16]

I am wondering how much hay would a grass fed cow would eat in a week, in the winter, and what kind of hay? I know where I can get any kind of hay, just what to make sure I am getting the right kind, if we are going to get a cow for sure. I found a Jersey cow, three years old, bred, due in February or March on Craigslist. Just need to see of my parents are ok with that, and get the shed built. I am thinking of a 12x12 shed facing south, plus around 5 acres. Would that be good size to hold a cow, her calf, and 2 steers?

 

[GrassfedNetwork.com]

Hi Farmboy16,

For winter time you will want to use a dairy quality hay, usually an alfalfa hay. We would also sometimes use alfalfa cubes as a supplement. The 5 acre track could be enough, it entirely depends on the quality and abundance of the forage available on that 5 acres. If you can irrigate the 5 acres with a pod irrigation system (k-line or something similar), that will help but for any livestock of any kind you want to build your forage base first, BEFORE you get any animals. Don't get the cow before the grass (cart before the horse) or you will have troubles all the way along. The other issue is, be EXTREMELY cautious if buying an animal from craigslist! You need to know the animals history and it's parents history. What was the animal and it's mother used for and who by. If this is a dairy reject then why was it rejected. Not all animals are good for hand milking! You need a very calm and low key animal or milking will not be a fun or profitable experience. You also need to know if this animal has had a calf before and what was done with her and the calf. If she was not milked or had the calf at her side until weaning, she will not be a good producer. The first lactation is crucial to all future lactation's for dairy animals. This is not a look in the paper and just buy an animal project unless you are ready for a lot of headaches and hard lessons. Taking the time to buy the right animal will be worth every second you spend finding that animal. Making sure you have proper forage in place before you buy the animal is another crucial part. The 12 x 12 sounds fine, where are you going to milk this animal? Typically when you just have one animal you use a stanchion to milk in. I built the one we used when we were just milking one animal and had a milking barn when we milked 64 animals. I understand that you want a milk cow but it seems to me that you have a lot more preparation to do before you are ready for a milk cow, you may need that whole 5 acres or more just for your 2 steers unless you are going to supplement them a lot. Until you know what your forage capacity is, you don't really know. It is not my intention to burst your bubble but I do have much experience and understanding about what it is going to take for you to do what you are wanting to do. Build your shed close to the house and see what kind of forage production you have come spring to determine the size of your paddock and then start shopping for a cow, not before. I hope you take my advice as what it is, a desire to keep you from the struggles and headaches that you will most certainly have with out some redesigning and structuring of your plan. Your plan is great, just get all the pieces in the right order.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Thanks for taking the time to help a novice.

We get enough rain here, so we do not have to irrigate anything. I did not water our garden at all last summer, and the vegetables did fine. This is the land that we will raise the steers on-
Facing North

Facing North on our land looking at the bush that is on the neighbor's land.

Facing West

Facing East

Facing East on our land, in front is the garden, behind the garden is the corn field. This will be the cattle's winter pasture.

This is part of the garden where the cow shed will be built, I am downsizing the garden to make it more manageable. It will be right behind the chicken coop.

I had called the cow's owner, and he said that she is having her second calf, and was machine milked for 8 months before drying up for her second calf. She was used for the dairy, but the owner is wanting to raise beef cattle instead. He says that she is easy going, and can be hand milked well. I will see her first before buying her.

I am thinking of a lean-to type to the cow shed for the milking area. How big of an area do I need for the milking shed? I am going to make a 20x30 pen with a gate leading to the pasture. The shed will be inside the pen.

This is where I will be putting the hay for the cows in the chicken coop. Do I need to make a wooden floor, or the dirt floor is fine?

This the chicken coop, facing the back of the coop. I will be making a back door, so I can access the cow shed.

Please let me know if there is any that I made have missed. Thanks.

 

[GrassfedNetwork.com]

Farmerboy16,

I have a few observations from looking at your pictures. You will have a risk of the milk cow eating weeds that may affect the milks flavor. I notice a fair amount of weeds, which I don't have a problem with for beef cows, it is all forage but we have had our milk taste "off" because of something in the pasture before. Cattle can be a great weed killer if you teach them to eat the weeds. Unless it was raining when you took the photo's, your ground has pour absorption, that should be greatly improved by grazing cattle on the ground. Depending on what grasses are in the pasture, you may want to over seed with clovers and warm season grasses. You can learn a ton about raising cattle on grass from the Grassfed Network experts that do the trainings every month. Make sure that where you keep the hay the chickens can't get to because they will poop all over your hay if you allow them access.

The smaller the cow the easier it will be to get good production from her on grass. The cow you have described is going to be used to grain and probably used to getting fed on the milk stand. We have used a combination of alfalfa pellets (make sure they are not mixed with grain if your goal is grass only), sunflower seeds and beet pulp. This is the mix that we used for our goats and cow because this feed will increase butter fat in the milk. More than likely this cow will not milk past 8 months ever since that was her first lactation. If she was for a dairy she should be a heavy milker which requires more feed, the more milk the more feed and water required. What you can do is make your pen so that you can separate the cow and calf at night (if you are going to leave the calf on her) and milk her in the morning and put her back in with the calf for the rest of the day. The calf will do fine like that and you should get all the milk you need. If you intend to separate the calf then you will need separate pens and you will need to milk twice a day. Your milking parlor needs to be at least 8' x 12' so you and the cow have plenty of room. You do not need a floor for your hay but the hay will last longer if it has air flow underneath. I did make a wood floor for my stanchion so that I could get the cow good and clean before milking. A water facet close to or in the milk parlor will be really helpful. You can get a one cow milking machine new for $1500 or so. The benefit is not just your hands but the cleanliness of the milk. Once you start milking, getting your milk cold as fast as possible and super clean are the keys to the best flavor and longevity of your milk.

You are on the right track but my guess is, if you stay on the track you are on, you will find all the potholes along the way, I am trying to help you avoid the potholes but you seem rather determined no matter the potholes. I am stubborn and have learned much the hard way. Now as an adult I prefer to learn from others and not the hard way. I have certainly been where you are with a lot less advice.

 

[they'reHISchickens]

I handmilked one of our 4H raised jerseys for 2 lactations a decade ago. Here is my experience:
The tamer the cow, the better. I think you may even be better off buying a young heifer and getting her used to everyone and everything, then breeding her to calve when you want her to calve. March is recommended. That means breeding her in May/June .
Each breed has specific idiosyncrasies you need to know about. Jerseys, for instance, should be bred at a year of age. If you wait til 15 months, you may never get them bred. Modern dairy cows also have been bred for short teat length which is wonderful for milking machines and bad for hand milking. Shorthorns often have longer teats as do Brown Swiss. Swiss calves often refuse to nurse from anything other than mom. Ayrshires will either lay on top of you or run far away from you.
Calves must be fed appropriate food at each stage of life to grow properly. The first 6 months are the most expensive and they should be eating up to 5 lbs of grain per day plus really good hay. The next stage is to feed them enough high protein to keep them growing but not enough to get them fat in any way. A fat heifer may not breed. Lush young grass on a range can often be too much protein. Learn to judge a cow's condition to adjust their diet.
A milking cow ( your original question) can milk adequately for a family on just grass. However, I liked giving a few pounds of grain at each milking for a number of reasons. It gave her something nice to associate with milking. It gave her something to think about during milking. It kept weight on her. It made me a wonderful person in her eyes-- and this is important when the deer bring the fence down and she wanders. Our Jersey milked a max of 40 lbs per day when fresh on a grass diet with a few pounds of grain. Our grass was 1 1/2 acres of plain pasture grass. She held that production for about 7 months and then decreased to about 20 lbs/ day when we dried her off. If you are lucky, she will calve every 12 months. Figure on a 60 day dry period.
Again, you need to study her body to ensure you are feeding her enough to maintain her condition and have reserves to breed back. She should not be fat but not boney, either. Study the breed you get so you know what to look for and also study her dam if at all possible so you know what her lineage looks like in a mature stage.
For comparisons sake, when we had to put our cow into a small commercial herd where she was fed for production, she produced 80 lbs a day. That 40 lbs difference was the feed intake.
Also, with 5 acres, I would heartily recommend you investigate rotational grazing practices. They do work and provide better feed more consistently for your cattle.
AS far as actual milking, I only had a lean-to shed. It was cold in the winter, but the cow was warm. It took me about 15-20 minutes to milk her and another 5-10 minutes to strain the milk, and wash everything. I decided not to use a machine because it would take that much longer to wash it up because of all the parts.
The hardest part of it all was chilling the milk as rapidly as possible. We used Ice water baths for gallon jars. Wish it could have been faster, but I didn't have a spring house with spring-running water BTW.. milk is 8.6 lbs/gallon so 40 # is about 4 gallons a day. 2 gallons a milking.

Hope this gives you more to think about!

 

[GrassfedNetwork.com]

One comment to this last post.

Calves must be fed appropriate food at each stage of life to grow properly. The first 6 months are the most expensive and they should be eating up to 5 lbs of grain per day plus really good hay. The next stage is to feed them enough high protein to keep them growing but not enough to get them fat in any way.

A calf does not need any supplemental feed if they are still nursing. The above directions would apply to a show calf but not a calf for the pasture.

The calf will learn from to graze from Mama when appropriate. You can wean a calf from nursing or bottle feeding at 9 weeks if you want to separate the calf from the dam.​