Lots of dairy cow questions *Update*

[Celtic Hill]

im bias and like Holstein... lol

 

[Hound]

Quote:
That's a lot more reasonable than I would have thought. I'd imagine the large dairies have it down to a few dollars/cow.

Do you think it would be feasible to buy an older cow with the intentions of AIing with sexed semen and keeping a heifer as a replacement?

I like the look of some of the more unusual breeds, but the chances of finding a good one within a reasonable distance and in the right price range are slim to none.

 

[prairiehen74369]

If you,re new at this milking a cow business an older broke to milk cow would be the way to start to make it easy on yourself. When we had our jersey cowand had her AI I don't think the semen was sexed is there really such a thing?? Our sweet little Jersey never had a bull calf she was my daughters 4-H project Sooo it really didn't take long to have more pruebred jerseys for her to milk before she went to school than we needed. A young well broke to milk cow is a high dollar investment (no problem to sell) and we finally turned her out with the beef bull. She continued to have heifer calves and they could be milked just not as much milk and of course the cream wasn't as thick. And by the way so nice of your husband to buy you a cow for christmas is he prepared to help with the milking chores twice a day and if she's a good one you could mess up her udder by being a lazy milker. I get the bug every once in a while when I see a sweet little Jersey cow It comes back how much we loved ours. I don't need the extra milk or work. Good Luck.

 

[Hound]

The prices i've seen in this region are varied. The cheapest seems to be around $600 for a cull dairy Holstein or a heifer, middle range is $1000-1500 for a decent cow in milk with a calf or two, all the way up to $2700 for a Jersey in milk. I can see the sense in a quality cow as she will pay for herself raising or feeding calves, but $2500+ is ludicrous for our requirements. She wasn't even registered.

To me it makes sense to go the AI/sexed semen route as a Jersey heifer sells for $400+ whereas a bull calf is under $50.

 

[amity3520]

I think it's definitely a good idea for you to go with a cull cow! They're usually better trained and used to milking, HOWEVER may cows that are cull cows have cystic ovaries or cannot be bred for some other reason. It might be best to go with a 1-2 year old heifer who might be culled for more conformational issues than anything. Just try to find out if the cow can be bred or not before you buy it. Good luck!

And personally, I like Jerseys... very rich milk, and just think of how cute those calves will be!

 

[prairiehen74369]

speaking of cream I got a making butter with the blender recipe if anyone is interested.


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[Hound]

Quote:
LOL No she will be mine to milk, but that's fine. I've been milking the goats for a few years now and have a milking machine.

I'm sure he'll help me with any doctoring, he isn't too familiar with dairy cattle but to a certain extent a cow is a cow.

 

[Cowgirl71]

I would highly recommend Jerseys! Don't get a Holstein... Did NOT like them at all! I've never had Guernseys. I've read that Brown Swiss milk is much less creamy than Jersey or Guernsey. We've only had Holsteins and Jerseys because they are the most common in my area, and so are the cheapest.

Jerseys are one of the very best calving ease breeds!

For a beginner cow milker, I'd highly recommend an older cow in milk with all four quarters. You should be able to find one cheaper. They run around $1000 round here. We've found that a cow with a dead quadrant gets mastitis MUCH easier than a four cylinder cow. If you want a good experience, do not buy a dry pregnant cow or a bred heifer.

As far as getting the milk cow bred, the cheapest option is to buy a dairy bull, hold on to him for a month or two, and then sell him again. AI can be tricky. You have a small window to successfully AI her. Sexed semen has been through the lab and is not very good quality, making your chances of success even lower. You could breed her to one of your beef bulls. We've been breeding ours to our Black Angus bull until this year when we finally got Jersey for keeping replacement heifers. We're expecting two full dairy calves next spring!!! We have two Black Angus x Jersey heifers (Lizzy's 12 months and Stella's 2 months), and am looking forward to see what kind of milk cows they make. We're thinking that they should fit in somewhere, whether it be a milk cow or a momma cow.

 

[greathorse]

I had several Jersey's at one time I liked them a lot. I had no calving issues. The bulls make very good meat. The Clay center in Nebraska did some tenderness studies on many breeds some years ago and the Jersey ranked very high. It of course does not put on weight effeciently enough to interest big meat producers.

I kept calves on mine and if I needed to milk one I would lock the calves off for half a day and had all the milk I needed. they are lovely animals.

 

[seymore0626]

Two of my jersey girls were dairy culls due to low production. They came with papers, and both had been show heifers. We paid $600./cow and they were bred back. They are so easy to deal with, and once we left the calves on them their production went way up and even though the calves are weaned now (at 5 months) their production has stayed way up. I think being able to raise their calves rather than have them pulled away immediately helped their production. We milked only in the a.m., and left the claves on throughout the day, and seperated them at night. We still milk once a day, and have had no problems after about a year on this schedule. We use a surge milker. I'm getting about 7.5 gallons/day from them. The jersey/guernsey gives about three gallons, if she's in a good mood!!!! It's alot of milk!!!

Anyone considering a milk cow, should visit Keeping the Family Cow. It's the best and teaches me daily. Great forum for milk and cheese recipes as well.