want our own milk and butter

[cassie]

I'm thinking I might get sheep for milk, does any one have advice opinions on sheep? Would cows or goats be better?

Either cows or goats would be better for a family milk supply than sheep. Sheep's milk is very very rich and is used primarily for cheese. You can't beat a Jersey cow for milk flavor, but some goats give very good milk. A Nubian would be your best bet for good goat milk. Keep in mind that if you want a milk goat you need two. Goats don't do well alone.

 

[jbschickens]

Either cows or goats would be better for a family milk supply than sheep. Sheep's milk is very very rich and is used primarily for cheese. You can't beat a Jersey cow for milk flavor, but some goats give very good milk. A Nubian would be your best bet for good goat milk. Keep in mind that if you want a milk goat you need two. Goats don't do well alone.

Thanks for the information! Definitely gives me things to think about.

 

[HSerChickLady]

We found out there's an organic dairy not too far from us who'd be willing to sell us a few cow's. They have an all Jersey farm.

So i need to chat with them and go visit the farm and ask a ton of questions. We've been talking about possibly getting a few goat's as well. I'll remember Nubian's is the breed if we want goat's milk.

 

[Farmerboy16]

That is great that you found a farm to get cows from!

We wanted a cow to provide milk, and make our own butter too, and a dual propose breed to keep the calves for beef. I had found her on Craigslist-


She is an Angus/Guernsey cross. She is due in a month for her first calf.

We named her Bella, she is very sweet girl, and lets me "milk" her anywhere.
I have been spoiling her, by giving her an apple everyday, and lots of back scratches.



I was weed wracking the weeds under the fence, and Bella saw what I was doing, and came running to find out what I was doing.

 

[learycow]

As a dairy farmer, I would recommend a dairy cow for the purposes you listed.
I have holsteins, jerseys and normandes.
The holsteins are one of my favorites and have very sweet temperments. But if you are only going through a few gallons per week, then they will give WAY more than you will use!
The jerseys are great, much smaller, VERY friendly, but tend to be more bossy. Some of the ones I have kick like a mother too! So if you go the jersey route, I would suggest working with her a lot to get her used to being touched (if she's not already a milker). And they do have a noticably higher butterfat, but with the amount you say you'll be using (for butter) you will have plenty of fat with a holstein as well. The jerseys will also give less milk, but they can still produce much more than what you need!
The normades are right in the middle. I have some that produce as well as my holsteins, and some with butterfat as high as the jerseys! And they are a shorter, more stocky built cow that is EXCELLENT for beef too. If raised properly, they will have nice marbling. You can eat the jerseys and holsteins, but you will find them to be more lean.

My recommendation would be to visit a local dairy farm and talk to them about the cows they have. And raising cows in general. A lot of people don't realize how much work/feed/etc goes into a cow until they get one and see for themselves. And cows are not seasonal like goats and sheep. They need to be milked at least 2 times a day until they aren't producing much (they can be high producers for up to a year). And then you might decide a few goats are better for your needs! So it is always best to research and find out as much as possible before you make a decision.

 

[HSerChickLady]

As a dairy farmer, I would recommend a dairy cow for the purposes you listed.
I have holsteins, jerseys and normandes.
The holsteins are one of my favorites and have very sweet temperments. But if you are only going through a few gallons per week, then they will give WAY more than you will use!
The jerseys are great, much smaller, VERY friendly, but tend to be more bossy. Some of the ones I have kick like a mother too! So if you go the jersey route, I would suggest working with her a lot to get her used to being touched (if she's not already a milker). And they do have a noticably higher butterfat, but with the amount you say you'll be using (for butter) you will have plenty of fat with a holstein as well. The jerseys will also give less milk, but they can still produce much more than what you need!
The normades are right in the middle. I have some that produce as well as my holsteins, and some with butterfat as high as the jerseys! And they are a shorter, more stocky built cow that is EXCELLENT for beef too. If raised properly, they will have nice marbling. You can eat the jerseys and holsteins, but you will find them to be more lean.

My recommendation would be to visit a local dairy farm and talk to them about the cows they have. And raising cows in general. A lot of people don't realize how much work/feed/etc goes into a cow until they get one and see for themselves. And cows are not seasonal like goats and sheep. They need to be milked at least 2 times a day until they aren't producing much (they can be high producers for up to a year). And then you might decide a few goats are better for your needs! So it is always best to research and find out as much as possible before you make a decision.

Thanks. I'l be doing some more snooping for sure. I thought i liked the sound of Mini Jersey's and found a farm about 3 hours from us but they get $2,500 a piece for them plus would charge another $400 for me to have them stay there and be bred each year (we didn't think we wanted a bull). While i don't want to be dumping milk if we have more than we can handle i also know that much money is more than likely out of our price range at this time. I just want a nice sweet cow for our milk and butter and have her steer calves for the freezer.

My DH thinks he wants Brown Swiss cows. They are a nice looking cow but they're BIG! I can't imagine how much milk one would give either. Yikes!