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A dairy/beef cross will have high butterfat, just not give as much milk as a pure dairy. Please keep in mind that "not as much milk" is a relative term. When I worked in a dairy (just a couple of years ago) anything giving less then 30 pounds a day was an automatic cull. That's a little over 3 gallons a day. Every day.
That's a lot of milk.
Also, a beef cross may not have as long a lactation. Though she might. You're looking at an 8 month lactation rather then a 10 month lactation. Though generally cows are "dried off" 2 months before their next calf. If you don't want to breed every year - and you probably don't seeing as how you don't want to use the calf for meat - then you could try "milking through" which basically means seeing just how long you can milk before production drops. And then you breed again, maybe you'll have to breed every year, I've heard of people milking for 3 years between breedings.
With a beef/dairy cross you're not going to have to pump feed into her like a pure dairy. Not that you can throw her out on grass and forget her, but the cows that are giving 4, 5, 8 gallons a day - that has to come from somewhere and that's grain. With a lower production cow, she's not as expensive to feed.
So there are pros and cons to anything. It sounds like she would do fine for what you want, as you want a calf to raise, only need 4 gallons a week (you should get more then 4 gallons a week with a good goat!) But I'd be pretty excited about having a nice calf to feed out for 8 kids! LOL, have you seen the price of beef lately - my parents could just get over it!
But I'm already "mean" for raising chickens and rabbits. My mother doesn't know "how you can DO that" and my sister wants to believe her meat grows on trees. LOL, but my kids are just fine with it.
A dairy/beef cross will have high butterfat, just not give as much milk as a pure dairy. Please keep in mind that "not as much milk" is a relative term. When I worked in a dairy (just a couple of years ago) anything giving less then 30 pounds a day was an automatic cull. That's a little over 3 gallons a day. Every day.
That's a lot of milk.
Also, a beef cross may not have as long a lactation. Though she might. You're looking at an 8 month lactation rather then a 10 month lactation. Though generally cows are "dried off" 2 months before their next calf. If you don't want to breed every year - and you probably don't seeing as how you don't want to use the calf for meat - then you could try "milking through" which basically means seeing just how long you can milk before production drops. And then you breed again, maybe you'll have to breed every year, I've heard of people milking for 3 years between breedings.
With a beef/dairy cross you're not going to have to pump feed into her like a pure dairy. Not that you can throw her out on grass and forget her, but the cows that are giving 4, 5, 8 gallons a day - that has to come from somewhere and that's grain. With a lower production cow, she's not as expensive to feed.
So there are pros and cons to anything. It sounds like she would do fine for what you want, as you want a calf to raise, only need 4 gallons a week (you should get more then 4 gallons a week with a good goat!) But I'd be pretty excited about having a nice calf to feed out for 8 kids! LOL, have you seen the price of beef lately - my parents could just get over it!
