The Farming Thread!

[Madhouse Pullet]

It took us quite a while to get where we wanted to be, but with sacrifice and determination we got there in the end. You will too.

I love just watching our girls graze - it's so relaxing.

I can only imagine that peacefulness
I really hope you're right! Reading about other people's success is inspiring and motivating.

How much space/ many acres would be enough for one cow?

 

[JaeG]

I can only imagine that peacefulness
I really hope you're right! Reading about other people's success is inspiring and motivating.

How much space/ many acres would be enough for one cow?

You need at least 2 cows for company, even if it's initially a steer who will be dinner, then the calf from your cow would be the replacement company for her.

As to how much land it depends on how your grass grows. We are in a temperate climate so the grass grows well all year. Our girls are a little over a year old and we have 7 on 11.6 acres with grass to spare, but once they are full grown we'll probably have to cut down to 4-5 cows and their babies.

Once we can afford an irrigation system to use our dam water so the grass gets watered even in the height of a dry summer (we are lucky with the amount of ground water we have here) we could perhaps stretch to 6 cows. That's with moving them to a fresh area of grass every 1-3 days which also maximises the pasture growth and stops them being reinfected by parasites. Cross grazing with sheep or goats or a horse also does this.

 

[docteurshepherd]

Beautiful. We have a very small farm, the plan is to continue growing it naturally to have a nice little shetland flock with some goats. We've had just about every farm animal you could think of on the farm except cows, llamas, and alpacas. (they're different right? lol) Cows are great but too small of acreage to have many.

 

[aart]

They get milked twice a day, morning and evening. We have a milk man that drives a semi that picks up our milk every other day. The milk is meanwhile stored in a stainless steel bulk tank (milk cooler) in the milk house.

Cool!
What is your role in the operation?
What kind of cows do you have there....Jersey?

 

[Madhouse Pullet]

You need at least 2 cows for company, even if it's initially a steer who will be dinner, then the calf from your cow would be the replacement company for her.

As to how much land it depends on how your grass grows. We are in a temperate climate so the grass grows well all year. Our girls are a little over a year old and we have 7 on 11.6 acres with grass to spare, but once they are full grown we'll probably have to cut down to 4-5 cows and their babies.

Once we can afford an irrigation system to use our dam water so the grass gets watered even in the height of a dry summer (we are lucky with the amount of ground water we have here) we could perhaps stretch to 6 cows. That's with moving them to a fresh area of grass every 1-3 days which also maximises the pasture growth and stops them being reinfected by parasites. Cross grazing with sheep or goats or a horse also does this.

Thank you for the information!
So interesting... I hope to learn a lot over the years. Maybe I will be more than ready when I finally can have some cows.

 

[Madhouse Pullet]

Cool!
What is your role in the operation?
What kind of cows do you have there....Jersey?

Very good question.

Also, very interested in types of breeds and their purpose.

 

[HappyDuckie]

You’re cows are so cute! I only have two right now, and they are still young. But I’m planning on getting 3 or 4 more heifer calves in the spring.

 

[Madhouse Pullet]

You’re cows are so cute! I only have two right now, and they are still young. But I’m planning on getting 3 or 4 more heifer calves in the spring.
View attachment 2480743
View attachment 2480742

Oh my goodness very good photos, they look like they're modeling

 

[HappyDuckie]

Oh my goodness very good photos, they look like they're modeling

Thank you! They definitely are, they love the camera! Lol.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Cool!
What is your role in the operation?
What kind of cows do you have there....Jersey?

I am a prepper. I clean cow's teats before they get milked. I also help with milking the cows some too. I do some heifer chores (feeding and watering) and bottle feed newborn calves- a couple of my brothers feed them when they learn how to drink. We have primarily Jerseys. A wonderful breed of cow. We have one pure Ayrshire left in the herd. We also have some Ayrshire/Jersey mixes. We have one heifer who is a Swedish Red/Jersey mix.