What type of cow?

[roocrazy]

shorthorn.

 

[Katy]

I'd skip buying a calf and raising it for your milk cow. You'd be better off to get one that's being handmilked and is already trained.

A cow really needs to be bred every year. The last 3 months or so of her gestation you'll need to let her dry up and get ready to calve again....then once she calves you can start in milking her again.

 

[inohio]

Quote:
If you don't mind, what do you do with all that milk?

I'm also looking at dairy cows. I started wanting a Jersey, but the thought of even 4gal/day is enormous! I looked at getting a hog to feed it to, but can't quite get on board with a hog yet...

Now, I'm looking at Dexters because of their feed efficiency and good pasture ability w/'almost' Jersey quality millk.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
Why does a milk cow need to be bred every year? (no disrespect meant, just curious what your reasoning is)

I just didn't want the OP thinking the cow needed to be bred every year or else the cow would quit producing milk. That was what somebody told us early on and it kinda discouraged us because at the time we weren't planning to keep beef cattle, so the idea of keeping a bull or artificially insemenating the cow every year was kinda daunting.

For us, we aim to have the milk cows calve every 12-18 months, but we've had them go as long as 30 months between calvings and they still kept on giving plenty of milk until they were 2nd stage.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
If you don't mind, what do you do with all that milk?

I'm also looking at dairy cows. I started wanting a Jersey, but the thought of even 4gal/day is enormous! I looked at getting a hog to feed it to, but can't quite get on board with a hog yet...

Now, I'm looking at Dexters because of their feed efficiency and good pasture ability w/'almost' Jersey quality millk.

You'd be amazed how much milk you would use if you had access to all the "free" milk you wanted! (and cheese, butter, ice cream, yogurt, and whipped cream)

All me and my family really drinks is milk, so we'll drink a couple gallons a day. We used to drink a lot of Kool-Aid, but not anymore. We also love to make yogurt smoothies during the summer time.

Currently we are milking Jenny and Olga and getting about 7 gallons a day. Half of it is for our own consumption and the other half goes to feed Olga's heifer calf, "Ellie Mae," and the Jersey bull calf that we'll use for breeding next year, "Forrest." They'd drink more milk if we let them! Whenever we're really deluged in milk we'll give some to the barn cats, dogs, and chickens. They love it and it's very healthy for them. For chickens it's kinda perfect, it's protein and calcium! But if you're trying to figure out a way to use up milk, a bottle calf will work real well. They'll start out at about 1-1.5 gallons a day, but by the time they're three months old or so they'll take up to 4-5 gallons a day (but they really only need about 2 gallons a day). Bottle calves do best with a friend, we've found. They are healthier and grow better. So you can get a pair of calves. That would rid you of some milk!

Back when we had 5 cows we did get some hogs. Boy were they handy! They'd eat anything you'd give them. We got them because we were having to literally dump the milk on the ground, all of the animals were full and our fridge was full. So we went to the sale barn and brought back 8 hogs and a bottle calf. Problem solved!

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Why does a milk cow need to be bred every year? (no disrespect meant, just curious what your reasoning is)

I just didn't want the OP thinking the cow needed to be bred every year or else the cow would quit producing milk. That was what somebody told us early on and it kinda discouraged us because at the time we weren't planning to keep beef cattle, so the idea of keeping a bull or artificially insemenating the cow every year was kinda daunting.

For us, we aim to have the milk cows calve every 12-18 months, but we've had them go as long as 30 months between calvings and they still kept on giving plenty of milk until they were 2nd stage.

You must have a super cow that will keep producing milk for 30 months after calving.

Sure they don't automatically dry up 9 months after calving and it doesn't have to be exactly 12 months between calving, but the amount of milk they would be producing would be less and less over time.....unless you have a super cow that is. Their bodies also need time to recooperate and get ready for another milking cycle.

If it worked consistantly to not have a milk cow calve every year or so then a lot of dairymen have it wrong.

Course what do I know.....I've only been around cattle for 50+ years.

 

[mandelyn]

Jersey or Dexter is on my "want" list. You'd want to avoid bargain shopping for a heifer calf because she could be a "free martin" which is a twin born with a male calf, making her infertile. You also want nice udders, proven production... you don't want to be saddled with a cow that can't do her job very well. So buy one that is in milk, has already calved successfully, and make friends with her.

I saw some calves on CL recently, twins, boy and a girl, $150 each, didn't say anything about the female being a free martin. Wonder if anyone bought her with dairy in mind, since they were jersey. They'll be very disappointed.

Bottle rearing calves bred by someone else... takes a lot of trust in the seller. Did the calf get enough colostrum? Did the calf come from a clean environment? Did the calf get exposed to any sick cattle? Some times the babies at the auction can turn out to be tragic. Other times not, but it's best to be aware of what you're buying and that's difficult at auctions or through private sales from strangers. There's a lot of things they can have issues with that are easy for the experienced but potentially tragic to a beginner.

Look into milking lessons and gaining some cow handling practice. Anyone you know with one? Will you hand milk? Machine? If by hand, you need to know the kick range, and not have your head there. There's an art to getting a lot of milk per squeeze, I've seen people try and try and only get a little out, then someone else comes over and fills the bucket. Courtesy of a learning farm thing where you could learn about where your food comes from.

Pasture and feeding is important, what the cow eats affects the milk flavor. I don't know the details on that, but looking it up and making sure you're ready to go would be good.

I was thinking about Saanen goats, high milk output, small goat. Well, a BIG goat, but smaller than a cow. I know how to wrangle a goat, but a cow I don't have a whole lot of hands on experience with.

 

[Lothiriel]

I vote you get a Jersey. Our cow is about 5 years old and when we got her last year she'd been milking for a year and we were getting about a gallon and a half a day, but if we were doing twice a day milking we would have gotten more (we switched to OAD because we didn't know what to do with all the milk). The guy we bought her from did not know she was pregnant, and so he did not dry her off (he was using her as a nurse cow). So she just got done with 2 years straight of being in milk. She calved last June (#3 or 4) and is now giving us anywheres from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 gal/day handmilking, with her bull calf on her days, separated nights.

She's what folks call a midi-Jersey. She's not as big as regular ones but not a mini. Dexters are another breed you could consider, but in my own experience (and bias) they're rather temperamental and not as nice as Jerseys usually are. I know so many people with Dexters as family milk cows and they have so many problems with them. But it's totally up to you. I doon't want to make you prejudiced against them per say, but I'm just sharing my humble opinion.

I'd go with trying to find a cow that's already milking and has been handmilked if you're not experienced with training a first-calf heifer. Our Daisy we found on CL for a really good price ($900), so it's not impossible. She's a real gem and everyone who sees her says she's gorgeous -- she has her horns.

I'll say one more thing... Daisy was rather upset when we sold the first calf -- the one she came with -- and had a year long temper tantrum. In other words, she was lonely and decided we were fellow cattle, and thought we should play with her. Not fun when she has horns. Even when she was 7, 8, 9 months pregnant she'd run around like a wild horse! However, as soon as she calved she became a perfect angel. We've decided that we are probably going to try keeping a calf with her at all times.

 

[Lothiriel]

My sister suggested a photo, so you can see how big Daisy is. For perspective, my sister (on the left) is 5'6, and I'm about 5'2.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
I do realize that you are VERY experienced and know a LOT about cattle, a lot more than me since you've been doing it all your life. (lucky you!

)

But my limited experience with 6 different milk cows, and a few hundred beef cows has been that the beef cows will dry up/wean their calves at around 7-10 months old. A milk cow however will just keep on giving milk until she's really pregnant and the hormones kick in (this has been my experience anyway). Assuming you feed her well. Jenny calved 11 months ago and is currently giving about 3.5 gallons daily. She went down to 2.75 gallons daily during that awful heat we had, but went right back up to 3.5 gallons daily now that it's cooler. Dear old sweat Buttercup (RIP

) went 30 months between calvings and kept on giving milk. Olga went 23 months between calvings and also kept on giving milk. Jenny went 18 months between calvings and also kept on giving milk. Jenny and Olga would have both probably gone longer if they weren't pregnant. Bessie, Gurdy, and Patty we didn't milk much at all. Gurdy and Patty had attitude problems and Bessie had tiny teats, just little nubs, impossible to hand milk. So we put calves on them. After the calves were weaned we got rid of them. Bessie and Patty had been lactating for 7 months when we got rid of them, and Gurdy for about a year.

As far as it being better for the cow to be bred every year so that she has 2-3 months to rest and recuperate every year, I don't know about that. It takes a lot out of a milk cow every time she calves. Sure she gets that rest, but she's got to grow a calf inside her, calve it out, go through the stress of having the calf taken away a couple days later, and then produce a LOT of milk for the next few months (which stretches out and shortens the life of the udder and takes a lot of calcium out of her bones). Compared to breeding her every two years, where she just keeps producing a moderate amount of milk over a long period of time. I wouldn't consider either one better than the other. They both have their positives and negatives.

Commercial dairymen are in it for the money. Sure it makes financial sense to breed a cow every year. She gives you a calf you can sell or keep for replacement and also will give a LOT of milk over the next few months that can be sold. The commercial dairymen don't want cows only producing 3 gallons a day when they can be producing 10 gallons a day or more (Holstein). But for the small hobby farmer, you don't need that much milk. 3 gallons a day is more than enough for the average family. Also, the average lifespan of a commercial dairy cow is only 6 years. Many of them end up dieing before that. That is an extremely short life span for a cow. So I wouldn't say that the commercial dairymen have it figured out, they're just after the money.

Just my 2 cents, feel free to ignore it.