Questions about raising dairy animals, esp goats or mini cows

[ihugtrees]

I'd really like to have some sort of milk animal for my family. We spend a lot of money on milk & I'd rather know exactly what the animal is being fed and how its being treated. I've considered both goats and miniature dairy cows. I've seen threads comparing regular cows with goats, but not miniature cows. I am wondering how they compare as far as milk production, feed needs, etc.

Another question: I really don't want to take a baby animal from its mama...is it possible to leave the baby with her and just boost her milk production by milking her more? (I am going purely off my own experience pumping )

And finally, what do you do with the babies? I am a recent vegetarian to meat eating convert, and the idea of selling baby animals to a butcher is depressing. I know it's the circle of life and everything, but its hard enough for me to stomach meat these days...let alone think of it being killed. Is there a way to do it cruelty free?

[MamaMonica]

You can milk share with the calf. One way is to pull the calf off for the night (kept next to her in a pen) and milk in the morning, then let the calf back for the day. A good book is Keeping a Family Cow by Joann Grohman.

As far as sending the babies off for meat- if you have male calves, there really is no other option unless you want a lot of pet steers.

[by-the-lake]

I can speak to goats to answer this.
You can do the same as a cow, separate the baby and mom at night, then milk her out in the morning. Her supply will accomidate. You should wait one week after kids are born to do this. Also, as far as what to do with the babies, I will say, mini goats are cute and appealling as pets, thus, easier to rehome. They are easy keepers, easy to transport, don't cost a fortune to feed, and so on. This is why our family raises them. Also, mini goats put out the right amount of milk for a family, a quart to a half gallon per day, some even up to a gallon, depending on the doe. Hope that helps!

[PenelopeJune]

My answer is purely from research, as I am exploring the same questions. (Except for what to do with the steers. We eat meat.)

Look into a Dexter. It's a legitimate small cow breed, not a miniturized one. They give about 1-2 gallons of milk a day, which, IMO, is about perfect for a family's dairy needs. This is the kind of cow I want to get.

[ihugtrees]

Thanks for the help. We do eat meat (me, moreso than my DH) but I just can't fathom raising an animal and killing it. I get attached easily, and as I said, I'm a recent convert to meat eating, so its still hard for me to get used to the thought. I should probably face the reality but it's definitely not easy for me.

Thanks for the advice and feel free to keep it coming if anyone else has any

[mtn.mama]

I think part of your answer is "milking through". Where most dairy producers automatically breed their stock every year (sometimes twice), I find it works best for our lifestyle to milk the goat as long as she produces reasonable amounts of milk. We had one doe that milked for 4.5 years straight, and I firmly believe that she would have produced at that level of milk (80 ounces a day) for the rest of her life. But I bred her and interrupted the cycle, because I was at a point where I wanted another doe, and I liked her milking genes alot.

When you milk through, you aren't producing unnecessary kids that have to be dealt with one way or another.

[1jooj]

I think if you can find a good quality milking doe, you have a good chance of doing what mtn mama describes, especially if you keep her well fed and happy. I have a friend who let the kids nurse exclusively for two months before she started taking milk, and she was happy with the arrangement. I know people with a family cow in the developing world who share milk as soon as the colostrum's cleared pretty well.

And I know at first reading this may sound just awful, but there is something very deep about the experience of raising your own meat animals, if you do eat meat. I know it can be a very difficult thing, for me there is always a little guilt and sadness in slaughtering, but when I compare it to the treatment animals get on their way to grocery shelves...well, I've come to terms.

Give yourself the time you need, and know that you'll have months of lactation to make decisions.

[blessedmum]

For the meat part of the question. It is hard to raise meat animals, but The question I ask myself is" IF I am going to eat meat would I rather eat something that comes from an unknown source that I don't know if it was raised and killed humanely. Or something that I raised and know that it was treated with kindness while it was here? Just try not to give it a cute pet name.
I know that this was not part of your question, but make sure you learn a lot before you get the animals ie.. diseases, testing, feeding, fencing, breeding. Make sure that you get them from reputable breeders and have them tested for TB, Johnes, brucellosis, CAE for goats. The right management can make all the difference in having a happy experience when taking care of animals.
Good luck!