Jersey - What do you think of her? Opinions please...

A Jersey cow will also tether nicely - its partly what they were bred for originally.

hoggie

She doesn't look young to me, but that could make her the perfect beginners cow.

One strand of electric is enough for a docile, well fed cow.

They said that she is 9. How old can a cow be bred/milked?

What do you do with one that is "retired"?

Thanks for all advice - you guys are amazing. I guess I may soon be a member of this group - one way or another ;-) Raw Jersey milk out here is $10 a gallon!!! W/ 6 kids, a cow would pay her way pretty quickly.

The fencing prospect scares me. Would really bit if she ended up in the neighbors landscaping.....

Are cows much messier/stinkier then horses? We only have 5.5 acres and there are times that you can definitely smell the horses !

oh - hay is around $15 per bale where they live right now and they dont want to pay for it anymore. They only have 4 acres and can't sustain her on it.

Ask them about milk fever, if she's ever had it....you'll need to be extra cautious when she has her calf. And don't feed her alfalfa hay about 2 - 3 months before calving.

They can be docile as well as stubborn. We have one that we nicknamed Houdini because she can get over or under just about any of the fencing. I'll tell you, our cow practioner told us they can be one of the highest maintenance cows he knows of.... But they give good milk and are, for the most part, easy to tame and raise up. We love ours and wouldn't trade her, in spite of her!

Good luck with your decision and your jersey!

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With a little luck a cow can go into her teens, especially if she isn't fed and milked for top production. Hot wire fencing is cheap and easy. Just have good corner posts. Ad as many wires as you want. Cows are messy in confinement but in a pasture setting they are not too bad. They will lay down in their own crap though. I rather like the smell of cow.

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cjb your pm box is full

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Rachel K
(and sometimes Matt)

Parents to Danial, Jacob, Isaac, Clara, Sarah Jo, and twins Emma and Anna born 12/18/2009!

http://www.jerseyknoll.com

I just deleted some. PM away please!!

Is 5.5 acres all pasture for your livestock or does your house/outbuildings/ gardens share some if the land. If less than 5.5 total, it may not be enough to sustain one Jersey when she is sharing it with her growing calf and two horses if the rain doesn't help the grass grow well. Not a major problem though cause you probably want to supplement anyway to get the butterfat content up.

Jerseys are easy to keep in an electric fence, calves are trickier once they reach a few months and start exploring. Make sure the calf can't get to the road. My calves have no trouble getting in and out of electric tape fencing and they are great at finding all the holes in the fenceline

Your idea of getting a family Jersey is wonderful and I hope you are able to find one that works out in your situation. The milk will be healthier whether you drink raw or pasteurize for your family and as time passes you will see that a family milk cow is really not rocket science. There are tense moments at first and one must always watch around calving time but the biggest challenge to finding a good home milker is a cow that is tame to milk and healthy. The biggest challenges to keep are the space one needs and the commitment to milking. Other than that, imo a Jersey cow is a delight to have around. Jerseys are very personable, generally speaking. They are hardy, forgiving, and smart. I have two of them that came out of dairies and I love them both and would like a few more (also have a Guernsey heifer that is just a personable , smart, and loving as the Jerseys.)

Get a bill of sale and a health guarantee in writing. Familiarize yourself with what a healthy Jersey should look like. Ask about her vaccinations and find out what she should be vaccinated for in your area. Lookl her over carefully, ask questions, handle her, including her udder, give her scratches, etc. Best wishes

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

The Jersey pictured is not a cow I would buy. However, the entire package with the milking equipment probably makes it an equitable deal. If you can get a live calf on the ground and maybe get another year or two milking cow you will have done well indeed.
Your question " What do you do with a retired cow?"...Two options as I see it. One is to have her butchered and prepared into 100% ground beef for family use. Maybe keep a few roasts and cook them a long time be ok too. Second option is send her to cattle market as a "cull or slaughter cow" and accept salvage value to put towards her replacement.
But yes, I endorse your overall concept of having your own family cow .

The pictures of the cow show that her udder isn't as high and well attached as it could be....but for an 8 year old cow, strutted right before she calves, its pretty good. If that udder was on a young cow, I'd be worrying about what she'd look like at 9-10. But that udder on a productive 8 year old?? Not bad at all.
You know, if you do buy this cow, you can sell the milker and make back a decent bit of your investment. I personally, would rather hand milk unless I have more than 3 cows milking. Milking is relaxing and calming once you get into the swing of things.
As Up North said, if she gets beyond her productive years, you can always make lots of good hamburger out of her. We can't butcher our milk cows ourselves, we're too attached. But we do have a guy who comes out, shoots the cow in her pasture(0% stress on the cow with this method), and hauls her to the locker. We get her back in neat little packages and thats ok by us.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

It looks like the couple that was first in line bought this cow.

We looked at a heifer that's 7 months old yesterday and are thinking about getting her. She is very, very sweet, halter broke and her mom is very easy to handle as well.

So this one sold to someone else and we're back looking around. I started a couple of threads so trying to keep up with them ;-)

Another local farm has a 7 month old heifer that is beautiful and very, very tame. They have her Mom too and she is also very, very sweet. They want $1000 for the calf and we are very tempted. Does that sound like a decent deal? We are absolutle neophytes when it comes to cattle so are somewhat at their mercy here.

I like the suggestion of a bill of health - what would that include?

Cliff

btw: the other night, a friend said "don't buy a jersey - they are the meanest cows that exist".

I guess everyone has an opinion, right? ;-)

btw: if we buy the heifer, we will prob AI with a dexter of mini jersey to get a smaller progeny and easier first birth. Opinions?

Calving difficulty is not generally a concern with Jersey cows. They are known for there ability to have calves with little to no human assistance.

As for breeding a purebred Jersey to a smaller line, my thought would be if the purebred Jersey cattle command such strong prices as indicated, why would you want to dilute the value of their offspring? .

I tried very hard to find Ai for my two Jerseys and was unable to find it. Hence I bred them back to my Angus bull. A Jersey x Angus steer commands the same price as a beef steer at auction but a Jersey steer brings less than half the price. Of course the Jersey heifer will bring a much higher price than any other combination if you are lucky to get a heifer calf Look ahead to the marketto help you decide the sire. In my situation UpNorth's advice is best.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

We prob will AI with a Jersey bull. There's a jersey dairy close by and the guy does it for $75 total. It would cost over $300 to get the straws from a mini, however, we might be able to get more from the mini - they're stinking expensive and hard to find here. Of course, progeny might not be within the bounds of a mini in size.

I asked for pics of the heifer in question as well as one from her mom. Her mom was very sweet but has a bizarre looking milkbag to me. It is HUGE and saggy and the teats are places in a very random manner. Does that matter?

YES. Next to health and calving ability, it is the number one concern in dairy animals in my opinion. An udder like that will only get worse as the cow ages...and it is very genetic.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence