Horse Talk

[abigalerose]

Nice! Those are both supposed to be good for milk right? Like the flavors best? Maybe production too? Is the Angus to make dual purpose cows?

Yep, great for both! Jerseys milk is creamier and richer (which some people don’t like because they’re use to watery store milk) but it’s what i want, and i bred her to an angus because i only need one milk cow for myself, so if she has a bull calf he’ll get the ole snip snip and when he’s big enough he’ll be butchered, and if she has a heifer I’ll keep her back for breeding

 

[Bunnylady]

I knew a farmer once who did that. He had a couple of Jersey cows and a Charolais bull, and a few cows that were the results of breeding the two. When one of his cows had a calf, he'd buy another calf at auction, and put it on the cow as well. The cows were used to it; even the crossbreds had enough milk to easily raise two calves.

 

[abigalerose]

I knew a farmer once who did that. He had a couple of Jersey cows and a Charolais bull, and a few cows that were the results of breeding the two. When one of his cows had a calf, he'd buy another calf at auction, and put it on the cow as well. The cows were used to it; even the crossbreds had enough milk to easily raise two calves.

I was considering doing that as well, but then if she rejects it i don’t wanna have to bottle feed it. So i haven’t decided yet

 

[Bunnylady]

On a first calving, it may be best not to mess with her too much. There's a lot of stress involved with auction calves, and a real risk of disease, etc. Probably better for you, too, to get some experience under your belt before trying something like that.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Jersey's have a high fat/cream content to their milk, so really good milk from them, Holsteins are the ones that the big dairys use because they are mass producers, not the best quality but a ton of it, they are the record holders for most milk produced.

Thanks for the info!

Yep, great for both! Jerseys milk is creamier and richer (which some people don’t like because they’re use to watery store milk) but it’s what i want, and i bred her to an angus because i only need one milk cow for myself, so if she has a bull calf he’ll get the ole snip snip and when he’s big enough he’ll be butchered, and if she has a heifer I’ll keep her back for breeding

Yeah, I've only ever had store milk hah but i do want to try actual milk. Might start by buying whole at the store.

But that sounds like a good plan! Why snip him? Won't it not grow as much?

I knew a farmer once who did that. He had a couple of Jersey cows and a Charolais bull, and a few cows that were the results of breeding the two. When one of his cows had a calf, he'd buy another calf at auction, and put it on the cow as well. The cows were used to it; even the crossbreds had enough milk to easily raise two calves.

That's so interesting!!

 

[Kusanar]

Yeah, I've only ever had store milk hah but i do want to try actual milk. Might start by buying whole at the store.

But that sounds like a good plan! Why snip him? Won't it not grow as much?

Remember, milk at the store has been homogenized which means that it won't separate when it sits, real milk straight from a cow does, you either have to shake it before pouring or you will get all cream from the top and then all skim milk from the bottom.

Castrating a male calf makes him easier to deal with for 1, and 2, a steer only has one goal in life and that is eating, so they gain weight a lot faster than a bull who chases the ladies around and runs the weight back off of himself. You rarely see a FAT bull due to the fact that they use up a lot of energy breeding and pacing the fence if not allowed in with the ladies. Steers basically just wander around and eat which results in more fat marbling in the meat and better quality meat due to it being soft muscles from being lightly used rather than hard muscles from a fit bull.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Remember, milk at the store has been homogenized which means that it won't separate when it sits, real milk straight from a cow does, you either have to shake it before pouring or you will get all cream from the top and then all skim milk from the bottom.

Castrating a male calf makes him easier to deal with for 1, and 2, a steer only has one goal in life and that is eating, so they gain weight a lot faster than a bull who chases the ladies around and runs the weight back off of himself. You rarely see a FAT bull due to the fact that they use up a lot of energy breeding and pacing the fence if not allowed in with the ladies. Steers basically just wander around and eat which results in more fat marbling in the meat and better quality meat due to it being soft muscles from being lightly used rather than hard muscles from a fit bull.

Thanks, I didn't realize that. Store milk is pasteurized too, right? My parents seem to think unpasteurized is unsafe..

And I hadn't realized castrating the males was a thing but that makes a lot of sense. I actually have heard steer before but I guess I forgot what it was hah that makes sense.

 

[ShrekDawg]

And this is slightly random but what are your thoughts on bull riding? It's been on TV a lot lately so I've been watching it, though I've watched it before. It seems kind of mean to me though now but then again, idk. Also wouldn't the bulls be really mean? Or do they calm down once they get that thing off? I just don't get how you'd handle a bull like that

 

[Kusanar]

Thanks, I didn't realize that. Store milk is pasteurized too, right? My parents seem to think unpasteurized is unsafe..

And I hadn't realized castrating the males was a thing but that makes a lot of sense. I actually have heard steer before but I guess I forgot what it was hah that makes sense.

Yes, store milk is pasteurized. It is actually illegal to sell unpasteurized milk (I believe country wide but could be wrong, I know it is here and think it's a federal thing). I would not buy unpasteurized milk from a mass producer but from a home raised cow that you know is healthy it's no problem. When you are milking hundreds to thousands of cows 2 times a day, one can get mastitis in one quarter (a cow's udder is devided into 4 parts that do not mix) and then the milking machine milks her out and puts all of that puss into the milk tank. Pasturizing kills anything like that in the milk and makes it safe. If you are hand milking, you take the first few squirts from each quarter and milk them into a small cup where you swirl it around and check for strange colors or chunks, if you see anything like that in 1 quarter, you milk out the other 3 quarters into your bucket and the suspicious one onto the floor or into a different bucket that will be dumped. It's just a lot harder to have the personal touch with every quarter of every cow in the herd when you're using machines and just hooking them up and running.

And this is slightly random but what are your thoughts on bull riding? It's been on TV a lot lately so I've been watching it, though I've watched it before. It seems kind of mean to me though now but then again, idk. Also wouldn't the bulls be really mean? Or do they calm down once they get that thing off? I just don't get how you'd handle a bull like that

Bucking bulls are bred to buck like that, they actually love doing it. Most of them are perfectly safe to handle and usually the really mean ones are removed from the program because they are just too dangerous to be in the ring with. Every now and then you'll get a really rank bull that tries to chase people down and kill them, but most of them once the rider is off, they just head back out of the ring.

The only thing making the bulls buck is the rider on their back, the flank string is just irritating, it doesn't hurt them, doesn't touch or damage any of their male parts (common misconception) and really isn't tied all that tight. The worst thing for them is the riders spurs, but a cow's hide is TOUGH and these big boys aren't damaged in any way by the spurs, it probably hurts like a fly bite, but it's not PAINFUL or damaging.

Most bucking bulls can be rubbed on and almost cuddled, they are treated like royalty and a good bucking bull is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and their stud fees are worth millions sometimes... They really aren't going to do anything to hurt those bulls.

I don't particularly like calf roping or saddle bronk, but those are the only rodeo events I think are at all mean.

 

[abigalerose]

Remember, milk at the store has been homogenized which means that it won't separate when it sits, real milk straight from a cow does, you either have to shake it before pouring or you will get all cream from the top and then all skim milk from the bottom.

Castrating a male calf makes him easier to deal with for 1, and 2, a steer only has one goal in life and that is eating, so they gain weight a lot faster than a bull who chases the ladies around and runs the weight back off of himself. You rarely see a FAT bull due to the fact that they use up a lot of energy breeding and pacing the fence if not allowed in with the ladies. Steers basically just wander around and eat which results in more fat marbling in the meat and better quality meat due to it being soft muscles from being lightly used rather than hard muscles from a fit bull.

Ahh. The cream is the best part. I can’t wait lol.
And yep, second that, steers = fat, bulls = muscle

Thanks, I didn't realize that. Store milk is pasteurized too, right? My parents seem to think unpasteurized is unsafe..

And I hadn't realized castrating the males was a thing but that makes a lot of sense. I actually have heard steer before but I guess I forgot what it was hah that makes sense.

If you wanna get technical we shouldn’t be drinking milk at all lol it’s pretty bad for ya, but it tastes good. And it makes cheese. Ya win some ya lose some.
But yeah if you’re just buying from an individual with a nice healthy family milk cow, unpasteurized isn’t anything to worry about