Will one Jersey do all this?
 

Hi, we are planning to get a house cow after the big move and I was wondering if one Jersey would give enough milk to supply her own calf, a fosterling and a family of five, only three of whom actually drink milk?

A tall order I know but as pounds of milk per week doesnt mean anything at all to me doing it this way will be information that my brain might understand lol

Thanks

Im on over flow of milk for my family of 5 with just a goat, i have cheese coming out my ears and havnt had her a month, granted she doesnt have any kids but that gallon a day she gives adds up fast

Oh, and how long will she give milk for?

All cows produce different amounts.
Mine easily gave us a gallon a day plus feeding her calf and a foster.

Not all cows accept foster calves easily either.
You have to feed the gal plenty to keep her condition up or else will loose too much weight to breed back, along with other health issues.

Ideally, we like to rebreed within a couple months of calving. You can milk up to 60 days before she is due again.

I suggest getting an older cow who has "been there done that" if you have limited experience. Training a heifer isn't easy when you aren't sure if you are doing things correctly in the first place. (Harder to figure out if it is her, you, or both!)

Thank you both, thats really helpfull. I was planning on an older cow if I can get my hands on one, as I have never had a cow so it will all be new to us so it shouldnt be new to her as well lol

I do know how things add up though, we are only getting three eggs every two days now that half my flock have gone broody but the fridge is overflowing with eggs even so. With a gallon of milk a day it sounds like it will be enough to give my entire family, the neibors, my inlaws, the local school adn the list goes on lol

Much better to shorten the that list and add a couple of feeder pigs. Pigs raised on milk make teriffic pork. Chickens also love clabbered milk.

How do you go about making and feeding chickens clabbered milk?

I usually give my oldest milk to the chickens, sometimes I pour it straight out to them, sometimes I heat it and add a bit o vinegar to make cheese and sometimes I just let it sit on the counter overnight and then give it to 'em. They like it any which way lol.

LOL, as I have promised Mr GBov to only get one kind of animal at a time and wait for a bit before getting another it might be hard to slip a couple of pigs into the mix LOL

Its not imposable though, "Oh, look dear, arnt they sweet? they followed me home today"

I wonder if that will work LOL

That's the way my Mom did it. She was always bringing something home.

Sometimes its easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

Which rule number is that one? ROFLOL

It might work though!

We have about 22 to 24 people using milk off our 1 Jersey just now, as we did earlier in her lactation, while she was yet feeding her calf, and still we have extra milk or milk bi-products to feed our chickens. Our chickens will consume milk at all stages from fresh to nearly solid, much as a pig might.

Extra fresh milk, whey from cheese making, and buttermilk from butter making are all relished by our hens.

Tulip has increased a wee bit (about a quart a day) to three gallons a day at her once a day milking, this since we turned her out on the paddocks to graze.

WOW, thats a lot of milk!

I was telling my mum about the yelds and the different ways of using it all up and she said that once I tasted "proper" milk I would find nooooo problems drinking it up adn she would certainly help me LOL

I would guess a healthy, quality Jersey should give at least 8 gallons daily in a dairy. And with “good” genetics, you have to feed and manage them right or they’ll have problems.

If you have a choice, I’d get a beef/dairy cross cow to cut down the milk production and improve the beef production.

I just sold a cow that was3/4 beef breeds (Hereford/angus) and just 1/4 Jersey and she gave a gallon after just 10 hours since calf and I last cleaned her out. And she was nearly a miniature at only 44” tall. And on mediocre hay with only two handfuls of grain (fed to get mineral in her).

So if a standard size purebred Jersey can’t give you several gallons a day after feeding a calf or two, she’s got problems.

We have owned several Jerseys in our thirty some years on the farm and never had one that gave close the eight gallons per day, about half that maybe. Guess we had the wrong kind of Jerseys.:lookout: My advice is to get two Dexters and then you can breed them to have milk all year 'round and not be flooded with milk at one time.

I do like the look of Dexters, but have always wanted a Jersey, we might get a dexter as well.

"Oh, look dear, it followed me home with the pigs" LOL

If you do get a Dexter (or a couple of them), be sure at least one of them is long legged. You will also have to search to find if they are from a milk line or beef line. Then try to find a bull (or semen to AI them.)

We were torn between a Jersey or Dexter. We went with the Jersey because they are a well established milking breed. They're a lot easier to come by (in our part of the country). We have a choice of either AI or bull. Heifer calves sell very well and are money in the bank. Bull calves are wonderful for the freezer, IMHO tastes better than Angus.

We do keep pigs and chickens in addition of having milk customers (and I do make cheese & butter). We only milk once a day and get 2+ gallons of milk - plenty for all around.

Our experience here at Wolf Cairn Moor as well.

I'll put a third on MullersLane and Haggis's vote for the Jersey. It's heifers will always be easy to sell and it's been around a long time. If you get a Dexter that's not from a milking line, you'll have a novelty mini that's good for beef but not quite enough to take care of the family's milk deman . If you get a jersey or other major dairy breed, you are at some point going to have milk running out of your ears. This is the major emphasis on having other farm animals to take care of the surplus milk.
My family goes for the jersey and then gets a foster calf to put on.

Linn, I thought I've heard you say your Angus/Jersey cross gave 4 gallons a day. But your pure Jerseys didn't give any more than that?

I also stated 8 gallons in a dairy, which feeds for maximum production, and I'm also talking peak production.

Not sure where homesteaders get their Jerseys. I got one from a dairy, later found out she had chronic mastitis which lowered her production, but she still freshened at 6 gallons daily. And I wasn't feeding her anywhere near a dairy ration.

Since I wasn't interested in growing hogs or whatever, I got rid of her.

Maybe there are more poor producing Jerseys than I thought - guess I should have looked harder.

We have two jerseys in milk right now and they each give between 3.5 and 4 gallons/day. I guess they would be considered lower to moderate producers but it is still plenty of milk to go around.

Rachel

I know of a pedigree jersey here who produced 45 litres of milk at her peak production, which (if my math is right) equals 11.8 gallons.

That's right, my Jersey/Red Angus cross did give four gallons per day at her peak, and if you look back I specified it was at her peak production. We have never owned any Jerseys that came close to eight gallons a day. I have never heard of any family Jersey milk cows that give eight gallons a day. Maybe a Jersey that is in a dariy herd and is fed to push production would give that much. If you have a Jersey that gives eight gallons or more a day, better AI her to a good bull and sell the heifer calves for lots of money. Dairy farmers are always looking for high producing cows.

I went back to make sure of what I posted, here is a direct copy of the post:

"When I milked my Red Angus/Jersey cross she gave four gallons a day at her peak. That was twenty eight gallons per week. She also produced a nice beef calf when bred to a beef bull. It does cost to... "

Yes, you know of one cow that gives over 11 gallons per day; but that doesn't mean that is the average. I never said it wasn't possible for a Jersey to give that much, I just said that none of ours ever came close. I don't think it is reasonable to expect the average Jersey family cow to give that much milk. If you are fortunate enough to find one go for it.

Chill out guys! It's just a cow's production we're talking about here.........I'd hate to see this turn into a cat fight over the amount of milk a jersey can give.

Fight Fight LOL

Goodness, I really didnt mean to start something, I thought one gallon a day was PLENTY and four gallons a day frankly daunting. But the thought of eight gallons of milk a day to sort out would make me rethink getting a cow all to gether, I dont need that kind of stress ROFLOL

One other big factor in milk production is milk removal!!!

I am sure that if I didnt get so tired out there, leg cramps from squatting, arm cramps from milking..etc... that I could get nearly a gallon a morning from my Dexter,... but I give up when Im tired and let the calf take the rest, so I only get around 1/2-2/3 gallon.

I used to only get 2 cups a day, and as I got better at milking, I got more and more milk.

No fight, no worries. :banana02:

As linn said, no fight no worries.
This is an exceptional cow from an exceptional herd. This lady won the title of top milk producer in the Sth Island. The owner is very proud of her and I was very impressed.:cool:

Two years ago a homesteading friend of mine gave me a Jersey cow in milk. She gives 4 gallon a day at peak and 2 gallons a day even up to the end of her lactation. Her milk feeds our family of 5, her calf and sometimes another orphan calf, many chickens, the cats, the dogs, a few neighbors and extended family members, and there is even enough left for cheesemaking and canning. My dream is to raise milkers and sell them. It is so hard to find family milkers in this area.

homersgoatlady
(yep, we milk goats too!)

I wouldn't call this a fight - just trying to figure things out. People ask in general how much to expect from a Jersey, and it's probably good to give them some idea. Maybe the answer is, it depends - wide variation.

Linn, I knew you were talking peak production. I'm assuming that is what people are always talking about - too hard to figure out the average over a lactation. I also assume we're talking total production, including what the calf gets.

Learning that most family cow Jerseys only give 4 gallons daily at peak is making me feel pretty good about my little Lowline Angus/Jersey cow who gives 3 gallons. Small cow, half beef breed. Nice to have that much milk production from a small cow who eats less and being half beef, get a beefier calf for eating.

DJ, I didn't have a calf on my Jersey/Red Angus cross when I was milking her and getting four gallons. We put her calf on milking shorthorn cow that had a calf the same age. This year my little Jersey cross raised two nice calves for us, while I milked my Dexter.