Animal I can milk every 2 days?

[volleypc]

I have a small homestead and I am trying to set it up with animals that I can feed/water every other day. (I make sure they have plenty of food and water), Currently I raise rabbits and will be adding quail this year, but I would like to have an animal that would provide milk but can be milked every other day while remaining healthy. Does anything exist? I only want to do it if it is healthy for the animal though. Let me know if any of you have any ideas.

[Callieslamb]

You would have to keep a baby on it the times you weren't milking. Most likely your milk supply would be reduced. You would need a laid back animal that doesn't get to upset with routine changes.

[julieq]

We check on our dairy goats three times a day, filling up hay feeders and/or water buckets as necessary and making sure everyone is doing well. I'm sure if we dropped back to milking just once a day (from twice) our does would pretty much dry up. We have friends with a huge cow dairy who milk three times a day and we've been known to do that to get production up on a doe. The less you milk, the less milk a dairy animal is going to give, to the point where it probably wouldn't be worth it.

[TxMex]

I'd say it just isn't practical. Also, IMO animals need to be checked on at a minimum of once a day. I enjoy mine and they are kind of therapeutic for me, so I check on them many times during the day.

Have you considered making almond or soy milk? It is easy, and if you can find somewhere to buy the materials in bulk, very economical.

[SFM in KY]

The last dairy cow I had was real laid back about things and if I didn't need milk, I just turned her out with the calf. When I needed milk I shut the calf up in the corral at night and milked in the morning. I didn't need a lot of milk and she wasn't bothered by the lack of scheduling so it worked fine for me. I could be gone for a day or two ... or busy with other things ... and milking or not milking wasn't an issue.

[DWH Farm]

I have a neighbor that has a jersey that she keeps a calf on and a couple of times a week puts up in the barn (away form the calf) for the night and milks out in the morning. The rest of the time the cow is out with the beef herd with free choice hay (in winter) and a creek for water. As others have pointed out I am sure that the cow does not milk to her full potential but it provides them with all of the milk that they need for their personal use and works well for them.. I personally have dairy goats and milk them once a day, leaving the kids on them. Again, they would give more milk if I pulled the kids and milked twice daily but this is what works for me..I would not recommend having either a goat or cow in milk without a baby and milking less than once a day at least.

[springvalley]

I`m not this rough most of the time but you only want to be a part time farmer/homesteader/animal keeper ? Not a good move, let someone else keep them and buy from a neighbor, animals need to be checked everyday, be it bunnies,chicken,cows,horses,or pigs. If they happen to get sick you will catch it quicker, and keep alot of them from kicking the bucket. Sorry for being blunt, but thats my advice. > Marc

[Trisha in WA]

I agree with Marc.

The question should not necessarily be can you, but should you. Just because something is possible doesn't always make it the best thing to do.
Find a neighbor who has the products you want and buy or barter from them.
Being a homesteader (with animals) is not a part time deal.

[springvalley]

I forgot one thing, I have had a few people want to buy cows to milk for the family. I let them come in look over the operation and ask them a few questions and then sit them down next to my tamest cow, on a stool and give them a bucket and see how they like milking. Most all of them say, oh, I thought it would be easier. And then I tell them that this is an everyday job, rain or shine, snow or heat, mud or snow drifts, and most of them say, I think I`ll just buy milk from you for now. If you have a place to buy your products at a fair price, and you feel is safe for you, then buy from them. They are the ones that have to put up with the sick cows, the chickens that won`t lay, the pigs that get out, and the horse that ate something it shouldn`t have. We do this all the time and if you don`t have the time to put into keeping animals full time , don`t get them, they will be the ones that suffer for it. > Marc

[watcher]

My BiL would do something like this. He raised cattle and he had one which was tame enough he could milk her. When ever he needed milk he'd go out and milk her. Because she had a calf she'd have plenty of milk and the little he took from her from time to time was never missed by the calf.

[oregon woodsmok]

Put me down as another vote that if you only have time to care for your animals once every other day, you should not have animals.

Grow some nice fruit and veg and barter with your neighbors who do have time to properly care for their livestock.

My stock always has plenty of food and water available full time, but that doesn't mean they don't need to be looked at at least twice a day (and I do it more often). Food and water is not their only requirement.

[olivehill]

I tend to agree with Marc too. I'm not outside with my stock nearly as much this time of year because I despise the cold, but even in the worst conditions they're checked on twice daily. And during the warm months countless times daily.

Just something to think about, there needs to be an economy of trade -- trade for money, trade for services, trade for material things -- trade and the relationships with other human beings is what weaves us all together as a society. It's what creates, bonds and maintains communities. Could you be 100% self-sufficient, I'll never say never because that's when someone will come in and prove me wrong, but perhaps that's another case of just because you can, doesn't mean you should. We need trade, we need communities, relationships, an economy. Maybe you could consider looking for a dairy share program in your area. Support a local farmer who has dedicated their day to milking two or three times and providing good, healthy products to local families. Sometime in the future maybe you'll want your own cow or goat when you have the time to dedicate to milking, in the meantime you can still get wholesome dairy and feel good about where it comes from.

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by oregon woodsmok

Put me down as another vote that if you only have time to care for your animals once every other day, you should not have animals.

Grow some nice fruit and veg and barter with your neighbors who do have time to properly care for their livestock.

My stock always has plenty of food and water available full time, but that doesn't mean they don't need to be looked at at least twice a day (and I do it more often). Food and water is not their only requirement.

Good post.

[Lizza]

I (try) to not be harsh but I agree with Marc. Every now and again folks post things along these lines on the boards. Animals are not vegetable gardens that if not attended will just turn to weeds and bolt. Animals are living and breathing and need constant care. Expecting an animal to just let you milk every other day is just not practical on many levels, animals get mastitis, calves get sick (you have no idea how fast animals can go down hill, especially baby animals!), they get stuck in fences, they get attacked by predators. If it isn't practical for you to care for animals, do what Marc suggests and just buy from local farmer's.

We raise both dairy goats and dairy cows. My dairy cow would never put up with milking every other day, for one thing she gives way too much milk for such things, and another she can get peevy. My dairy goats if forced I suppose would but there are problems. The first being they can just feed babies if you don't milk BUT many start weaning their babies pretty early so if you want milk past a matter of weeks YOU are going to have to keep up the milk supply. If you go to milking literally just once every other day, you would effectively be drying them off, so you would be just defeating your entire purpose.

[SFM in KY]

Looks like I may be the "lone voice" here but it does depend on the kind of livestock and time of year to a great extent. I've raised horses, cows, chickens and rabbits myself, personally and of course grew up on a cattle ranch in Montana.

Chickens and rabbits need tending daily, if not twice a day. Milk cows, unless the calves are turned out with them if you're not milking for a day or to or a week, need milking twice a day. Horses and cattle, in the winters in Montana, have to be fed daily and the water kept open.

However, in the summer, when horses and cattle were out on 'summer pasture' were not checked every day. Horses, if not being ridden were turned out on pasture with water available and were 'checked' when they came up to the corrals or were needed. We checked on cattle probably once a week, checked to make sure the fences were up, water tanks full and springs running, salt available and nothing sick.

If you have livestock in small pastures, in areas where they are likely to get into 'trouble', animals that aren't able to maintain themselves on adequate pasture/water then you do need to check more often. But in the area where I grew up, except for livestock kept up around the house ... milk cows, chickens, hogs, etc. ... once a week was average ... once every two weeks was common during haying season.

Not saying it's a good idea or bad idea in your specific situation ... livestock being unattended, regardless of species, is sometimes not possible, depending on your area and the climate ... and, of course, the neighbors.

[rambler]

Not a good idea.

Critters typically ned milking every 12 hours. No way nothing out there that can go 48 hours.

You could keep it with it's offspring, and milk now & then, but that is not nearly as easy as it sounds, you will not be happy with the deal and neither will 'mom' as you compete now & then with it's kids.

As a part time farmer, work on plants, and leave the animals alone until you have time to be there and care for them. What you are doing with every other day is very difficult unless you have a large ranch with many acres, flowing water, and a herd of critters more wild than tame.

I don't think the critters will go well for you until you are there more often for them.

--->Paul

[ErinP]

Originally Posted by SFM in KY

Looks like I may be the "lone voice" here but it does depend on the kind of livestock and time of year to a great extent. I've raised horses, cows, chickens and rabbits myself, personally and of course grew up on a cattle ranch in Montana.

I'll agree with you. (Probably for the same reasons, really. lol)

We had a milk cow for a while and basically just milked her when we were in the mood to, otherwise the calf was with her full time.
And we check feed and water daily this time of year, but in the summer, it's every few days... I don't know where volley is at, but if it's somewhere fairly temperate, there's really no reason one has to tend livestock daily.

[Callieslamb]

Easy, guys. Volley doesn't say he isn't there- just that he doesn't want to milk every day. I have left my animals in the care of someone that just stopped in 2x a day to be sure water was still flowing, no one was caught in the fence, feed was available etc. If not, the mother of the bride/groow would have been absent at my kids' weddings. Being gone depends on the set up and situation/animals involved, location, etc. I think he/she makes it pretty clear that they want the animals to be safe and well cared for.

[TxMex]

I wanted to add. Some animals, if their young are with them most of the time, will refuse to let their milk down for a human milker. My last milk cow did that. I had to take the calf away immediately and milk her to feed the calf or she would not let down her milk. I tried to let the calf run with her during the day and then separate them at night. With her is was all or nothing.

[volleypc]

Originally Posted by springvalley

I`m not this rough most of the time but you only want to be a part time farmer/homesteader/animal keeper ? Not a good move, let someone else keep them and buy from a neighbor, animals need to be checked everyday, be it bunnies,chicken,cows,horses,or pigs. If they happen to get sick you will catch it quicker, and keep alot of them from kicking the bucket. Sorry for being blunt, but thats my advice. > Marc

I think I was pretty clear when I said I only wanted to do this if it was healthy. Next time find out a little bit more about me before you assume I do not care for my animals (and the strays I pick up to find homes for).