a family dairy cow?

[vermontmomma]

how do we start? i keep seeing wonderful jerseys looking for homes in the ads online that are pretty good deals because of the unfortunate milk crisis going on. we've been planning on dairy as a future plan...but with all these great cows available it's tempting to jump in. we're looking to know more about:

feeding:how much hay and feed do you go through in a month/winter?

housing:how big is your cow's barn?

typical vet costs?

breeding, how often and how do you arrange?

what else should we consider?

[StrongBeliever]

Weeeellll... It all depends on what route you choose to take in care of your cow. Conventional or Natural? I have a Jersey, and through trial and error we've taken her from commercial dairy producer to family milk cow, and she is now as "natural" as we can manage to keep her. This is taking tinto consideration first and foremost the health of the cow. Second, though barely less important, the health of the products she produces is a very big deal.

I grew up raising dairy, first with goats then to cows(hopefully back to/adding goats again someday) so there are a lot of things about starting up that I take for granted... I've had years to develop my knack for it. As far as costs go... If you choose to go the "natural" route(I can hardly recommend "conventional")... If you have a few acres of good land, feed costs should be nominal, except for the winter. I live in the Midwest, and have around eight acres that are graze-able. With only two cows on that, I go through very little hay in a winter, as I have a lot of "standing hay" when winter rolls around. Last year I used one "round bale"(the big ones) which set me back $25. This year I'll probably go through two(my calf grew up ).

Grain is only required during lactation(some might argue that point, in either direction). Grain, actually, is VERY optional. It is a tricky thing and not fab for a ruminant animal to be ingesting. We only use it because it is cost effective... The best we can do with our budget. We avoid corn like the plague, as well as soy. We give our cow oats(high fiber=better for cow belly), which costs us about $30 a month. There is a whole gamut of great supplements(expensive) that you can add to that, which I tend to do in winter when her diet is less fresh. I wish I could afford to all year.

Our barn? Well, or cows bed down in an old garden shed we got with the property... 15x15ft maybe? It has a dirt floor we bed down with cheap sawdust from the local sawmill each winter. It works fine. We milk on an open-air concrete patio of a cinder-block building we have. We use a homemade stanchion my mom built for me. Labor was free(love my mom ), materials abut $120. That's optional, depending on your cow. My childhood cow stood happily, her head loosely tied to a pole.

Vet costs... Ack. Conventional vets are like conventional doctors. There are good as well as bad. Wring you dry types, as well as do you right types. I prefer to doctor my own cow, when I can. If you have your cow on a great diet, in a safe environment, vet fees will be few and far between... Just like people, I suppose. There are some really great books out there on natural cattle care, I would suggest purchasing as many as you can afford. Cross referencing is great.

Breeding... A cow's gestation is nine months. If you want a constant stream of calves, you can breed two months after her calf is born. You might have a friendly neighbor with suitable bull, in which case you walk her down the road(like I did as a kid). these days, you can call an AI(artificial insemination)tech and pick the stuff from your dream bull, and even get it sorted so you can pick the sex of your calf. Very nifty. I have no idea what that would cost in your neck of the woods. $50 and up around here. I chose bot to breed my cow right away for a few different reasons(ask if you care to, just trying to wrap this one up), and she is still milking 14 months later. I'm getting her bred next month... My step-dad has a stock trailer and is taking her to his neighbor's(where I bought her) to get bred by his Jersey bull.

There are tons of other things to consider. But the MOST IMPORTANT THING is will stress HUGELY is that you get a GOOD, HEALTHY, FRIENDLY, WELL TEMPERED cow. If you plan on hand milking then ask to see a demonstration of how well she behaves while it happens. If she isn't a perfectly sweet doll-baby cow, don't buy it for your first cow ever. They can be "fixed" sometimes, but it's hard work for somebody that knows how to do it. Ask a bazillion questions about her history. Take into account her age. Check her feet!!! If she had "big" rear feet, and the nail/toe has lots of horizontal ridging, chances are she has been overfed(BAD) her whole life, and they're trying to get rid of a liability. I don't suggest buying from a commercial dairy, not on your first cow. I bought my current cow such, and while I love her, I'll never do it again. Commercial dairies are NOT healthy places for cows, generally speaking. Check her udder. Acquaint yourselves with pictures of good Jersey udders on-line, and don't settle for anything less that marvelous. Ask about the diet they have had her on... How much grain they give her a day will be telling of her health. Based on my knowledge, anything over 10-15lbs a day is going to be detrimental to a cows health. Of course, YOU can feed her less, but she might have chronic issues due to daily foundering.

Boy, I can go on, on and on... But I have kids to tuck in. I'll be back, though.

[vermontmomma]

thanks for all the great info! it's still an ongoing debate in the house whether or not to jump in. i know as prepared as we think we are there will always be things were not prepared for (a lot like parenting). it seems to be a small family run organic dairy from what i can tell that's going under because of the milk crisis but doesn't want their dozen cows to go to big farms or slaughter.
we're lacking on ready pasture right now, about an acre and a half grassed, but will be clearing more as the woods are logged. we 're probibly in a goat/sheep situation really but i just love jerseys and deep in my heart want one more than anything so it's very, very tempting!

[Alyantavid]

First, I don't have Jersey's and don't milk our cow, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

feeding:how much hay and feed do you go through in a month/winter? depends on your climate and how much land you have. We have 3.5 acres in just pasture, so we only feed hay in the winter. We have a big Holstein cross so she eats alot. We go through a ton-ish every winter, depending on who's out there with her. Right now we have her calf, who is 9 months old and eats a ton so we'll probably use more this winter.

housing:how big is your cow's barn? We have a couple smaller sheds they go in when they feel like it, not huge, probably 20x20?

typical vet costs? Nothing. We do have a vet we love, but rarely use him for our cow. She's healthy and happy and really doesn't need much in the way of doc visits. Her calf does need some, castrating, etc, but those are pretty small fees.

breeding, how often and how do you arrange? We breed once a year, in the late summer/early fall. That gives us a spring calf that can nurse for several months before we try to get her pregnant again. Dh has a friend who AI's cows for a conventional dairy who comes out and does it for us. It's nice because he has his favorite bulls and can (usually) recommend one that will work well for us. I say usually because last year, he bred her with a low birth weight bull and the calf was born about 120 pounds.

what else should we consider? I agree with the pp, don't get a cow from a conventional dairy. They won't be healthy. We got our cow as a calf and raised her (she's now 3 years old). She's incredibly tame, and very very spoiled. Some calves from conventional dairies are extremely unhealthy, but you can get some that aren't. Ours is half Holstein/half Angus, which alot of dairies are starting to use in this area. The Holstein makes tons of milk and the Angus makes them a little more durable.

If you do get a full grown cow, make sure of how old she is. Older cows are broken-mouthed so that's a pretty obvious sign.

[ScarletBegonias]

i don't know a thing about cows, but have you looked at the mini-cows? dh wants a milk cow and i was against it (cows are big and they scare me, lame, i know), but now that i've learned a little about the mini-cows, i think getting a milk cow is a goal for our homestead now.

thanks strongbeliever and alyantavid- that was awesome!

[AJP]

Great replies!

We have a Jersey, and almost no grass in the pasture to speak of except in the spring (March/April/May is the main grass growth time here). When there's no grass, she eats about 40-45 lbs. of very good hay per day, plus a few pounds of alfalfa pellets and grain pellets at milking time. She stays in good condition with that. It ends up costing us $40-$50 per week to feed our cow and her yearling calf when there's nothing in the pasture to eat (that's for organic, purchased in bulk, like a semi-truckload of hay at a time). You'd have to check prices in your area for feed, it's probably different than our area. Our winters are wet and mild, in a frigid climate more hay might be needed in winter, but if you have land that wants to grow grass (unlike ours) and summer rain or irrigation water, then pasture will cut down on the yearly feed bill.

If you're in an area with dairy farms, finding an AI tech to breed your cow shouldn't be that difficult or expensive. We had a hard time finding someone to travel to our area for that, ended up costing $190.

Our cows have simple pipe corral shelters in the pasture, roofed only, no walls, but like I said, our winters are mild.

[Sasha_girl]

We have three Jerseys (two milk cows and a brand new calf). We have them on several acres of pasture but we still put out hay--how much of it depends on the time of year and weather. During the summer they don't eat much hay, during the winter we put out a round bale every other week or so. Round bales here are about $25-50 depending on quality of hay.

We do feed grain. We give a sweet feed and add a dairy cow supplement, alfalfa, and kelp.

Our cows have access to a large barn but could get by on a smaller space. They prefer the milking shed, a converted chicken coop that's maybe 20 by 20. Keep in mind that it's the hay the cows eat that makes them generate heat, so having a never-ending supply of free choice hay is more important in cold weather than a shelter (it's obviously preferable to have both). You would be shocked at how warm your cow is when you stand next to her in the frigid cold--I generally have to dress in layers to milk, even in the winter, as I get too hot when I'm all bundled up.

Vet costs are very minimal. We've only needed to call a vet to our place one time and we've had animals for six years. Even then--and it was a life or death situation--the bill was only $125. Considering the value of a dairy cow that's certainly an acceptable amount of money. Around here, though, it's expected that you will do the normal cow-care things like castrating, polling (getting rid of horns), and so on.

Jerseys need to be bred once a year, as they are prone to ovarian cysts that will affect their fertility. They are pregnant for nine months, let them stand 'open' for three months, then get them rebred. We use AI as a bull can injure the cow, plus dairy bulls are just dangerous and best avoided. This costs us about $25 a pop; we've never had to try more than once. After that the only related cost is for Biotracking, which confirms pregnancy. I think this costs us around $5.

[Hedgehog Mtn]

We have a Jersey in milk, a heifer not yet bred and a 6 month old bull calf. AI breeding here is very difficult and my cow has silent heats so knowing when to get her bred is also difficult. We bought the bull to breed both the heifer and cow when he is old enough then he will be dinner after a lot of debating we decided this was the best solution to our particular situation. If you can get an AI guy/girl I'd go that way. An AI visit here would be about 200.00 and it's not a sure thing - he may have to come back a few times so we just can't afford it.

I also have 2 sheep, and a few dwarf goats and we go through about 2 bales of hay a day. The goats and sheep share maybe 1/2 bale per day. We also feed a little to the pigs when it's cold. This goes up a bit during cold New Hampshire winters.

We built a 12x12 shed that stays open all the time so the cows go in and out when they please. We clean it regularly and put either sawdust from a lumberyard (usually free or 20ish for a truckload - we haul) or shavings from the farm store at 5.00 per bag/bale. We do have

Vets are almost unavailable so I read, read, read and try to keep a very close eye on everything going on. I have to assume that if I need help I can't get it so I try and be prepared and educated to handle most situations. I do have a couple farmers that I can call but they can only help if they have experience with my specific problem.

I feed free choice (meaning the containers are always full and they take what they need) salt and minerals along with kelp and some other supplements that probably costs 200.00 a year for all my animals.

I hand milk, I'm really lucky to have a very calm happy cow. For milking I carry a wash water pail and milk pail down with me, open her fence and she steps out 2 or 3 body lengths, I sit on a bucket and milk her right there. The only time I dislike this is in the rain but I can do it in her building then. When she is done she goes back in her fence. I'm not sure how to pick another cow that is so easy going with milking.....I think we were just lucky.

We bought her from our organic raw milk farm. While her milk was sold she was far from a commercial cow. Since they fed mostly grass we didn't have to change her from a high grain diet. We do feed a little grain daily to keep her production up where we need it for our family but we don't push her hard at all. We knew the owners well since we'd bought our milk there every Saturday for over 5 years.

If you don't know much about cows and common problems I would highly suggest finding someone who does to help you find the right cow. Sometimes (not all the time) people will offload a problem cow to an unsuspecting buyer and knowing what to look for and the right questions to ask can save you time, heartache and money down the road. Even if you have to pay someone for their time it can be a great investment if it keeps you from buying a cow that costs you tons in vet bills later.

Sara

[AJP]

I forgot to say in my reply above, the book Keeping A Family Cow is excellent, you can buy it directly from the author at www.keepingafamilycow.com and also get some great info from very experienced family cow people, with a wide range of management techniques in different climates and with different philosophies, at the discussion forum at that site.

[Hedgehog Mtn]

Somewhat OT but just out of pure nosy-ness....is this farm you are speaking of in the St Albans / Georgia area?

Sara

[dharmama]

just bumping this up to say thank you.

i came here to post a similar thread (we're about to start milking three jerseys -- due in the next couple of weeks -- at a friend's farm).

we've been reading everything we can get our hands on and last week we visited a raw milk dairy in the next state and had a little milking lesson.

[I Fly]

We are thinking about adding a cow to our farm, too. I have a friend selling a Jersey with calf that she's been hand-milking. I also found out today that other neighbors have Milking Devon bull calves available. My dh has been concerned that a Jersey is too milk-centric. What do you guys do with your bull-calves? Are Jerseys ever used for meat? The thing I like about the Milking Devons is that they seem to be dual-/multi-purpose. However, for our first cow, I am wanting a really docile sweet family cow. We are not ready for milking right now, but need some grass-eaters! Both types would fit that bill for the season.