Goats/cows for millk and meat

[Janis R]

Which do you prefer? And why.
Which is more cost effective? Easier to care for, less disease or problems.
I have 40 acres fenced for cows and only 1.5 acres fenced for goats right now.
I presently have 4 goats, 10 pigs and no cows, would like to eventually get some Dexter cattle when I can afford them.
Thanking you in advance for your input.

[Callieslamb]

I prefer cows because I was raised on beef. Habits can be hard to break. Cost effective has a lot to do with your property. Do you have enough land open that you can bale your own hay? If so and you already have the equipment, then you can be pretty cost effective no matter what you raise. I say please yourself. I'd rather have 2 cows than 10 goats to take care of. But if I lost 1 cow, I'd be in trouble. 1 goat lost might not be a happy time, but you could still produce milk and meat with the other 9. But then, you have 9 possible disease carriers too.

I never had a cow get a disease. Calves- yes, but not cows. Neither did any of my sheep get any diseases so I'm not sure which would be hardier for you.

[jwal10]

I think a cow is easier to keep, all around. I have to have goat milk though, can't digest cows milk. 2 goats will give me enough milk 365, would need 2 cows to do it too. I have 3 and stagger their breeding date so 2 milk at all times. I don't push my goats, feed lower protein feed, oats, grass and clover hay and browse. High bred goats can be very high maintenance....James

[FarmboyBill]

Ive had cows and goats. Cows I couldn't keep in cause of working and trying to keep up water gates. Goats I could keep in, but I couldn't keep them out of wherever they wanted to go on the place I didn't want them to go

If that makes sense. Everything said, Id rather have cows. AT LEAST, as long as the water gates held, and it didn't rain, the cows stayed in.

[geo in mi]

Cows. I hate goats. Of course there's no logical reason for that, but most of our farm life centered around cows and calves and milk(real milk).

geo

[collegeboundgal]

I have both. The cows to make money, the goats to keep me humble. lol. Our cows can be fenced in with one strand of hot wire (rotational grazing). The goats require something much more substantial... I have goats and cows for meat only. Did the milking thing and didn't like the "no getting away, for even a few days" part. Also, our work hours weren't compatible to milking 12 hr/shift, with an hour drive each way. I am in the process of turning a majority of the farm into multi species grazing with a grant from our local soil and water guys. (NCRS). We'll see how it goes. I might be having to add a lot more wires than they are allowing... lol.

[motdaugrnds]

I prefer goats for several reasons:

1. The goat milk leaves an "alkaline ash" in the human body; whereas the cow's milk leaves an "acidic ash".

2. When breeding times roll around, I can handle a buck and cannot handle a bull due to the size/strength.

3. Goats leave "berries" in the pasture I don't need to do anything with; whereas cows leave large turds that need some tending to.

4. Goat "meat" tastes like venison except that it is BETTER.

5. Come slaughtering time, goats are easier to dress out than cows.

[Pony]

I'm with motdaugrnds for all her reasons, plus one: Goats have more personality.

[geo in mi]

Goats have horns, just like the Devil.

geo

[FarmboyBill]

So did cows, when I delt with them.

[LoonyK]

Neither have horns if you don't want them to.

[Jupiter]

We have cows & goats. Cows for milk & meat & goats for meat. Our cows are pretty easy to keep in, but so are our goats. However, we have had goats that were terrible to keep fenced in.

[Ziptie]

We are milking one cow and one goat right now. Cow will be leaving to auction soon as she is dried up.

Pro on cow
1-only one animal to milk to get all the milk your family of 20 would ever need..
2-Seems to handle the cold weather better than the goats
3 one strand wire that looks like hot wire but not even hot keeps her in
4-has no interest in being you friend
5-don't have to worry too much about coyotes and dogs

Con on cow
1-if you don't have more than 20 people in the family..your swimming in milk
2-big wet mucky cow pies..keeping them in stalls bites
3-she likes to lay in those warm mucky piles in the winter
4-dried cow poop is like cement
5-too dangerous for small kids to milk
6-too dangerous to have a bull (plus they would eat so much food) and only having one cow and trying to AI is not easy
7-If she does step on your pinky toe she will break it.
8-In our cows case her teats are so small and skinny they are near impossible to hand milk

pro on goats
1-small kids can help milk
2-if your on a small acreage you can have more than one, so all your eggs are not in one basket
3-way way easier cleaning up dirty stalls
4-don't have to ground oats for the goats like we do the cow
5-can handle a buck
6-If the goat refuses to go somewhere you just can pick them up to move them
7-So much easier to hand milk, they can be up on a stand and the teats are nice and fleshy so lots to grab a hold of.

Con
1-might not be has hardy in the really cold weather as cows
2-more animals to milk and take care of
3-cream does not separate as easily nor is their as much cream as a cows
4-Easy snack for the coyotes
5-They are the Houdini of the animal world.

Now I know some might have different experiences..these are just our pro and con list.

Two main factors for us for not keeping the cow is ..

DH actually likes the goat milk better then the cows.

All attempts to get her pregnant again have failed. There is nothing wrong with her. We have been milking the cow strait for I think it has been over two years and this morning she gave us 1 1/2 gallons. The problem I think is she is such a heavy milker she needs to have a higher energy diet of corn and soy to get pregnant while she is milking and we don't have the room to feed a dried up cow for nine months..

[geo in mi]

Goats make you cuss like a preacher; cows make you give away your milk in friendship.

geo

[Pony]

Originally Posted by geo in mi

Goats make you cuss like a preacher; cows make you give away your milk in friendship.

geo

Huh. I've cussed more at a cow (nasty mean Holstein) than goats.

Come to think of it, the only goat I've cussed at is the meat on the hoof Boer wether in the pasture right now. Dirty little brat always tries to stick his head in the feed bucket - when the bucket is on my arm.

[Rosepath]

We've had both goats and cows, for milk & beef, but I got rid of the dairy goats because they seemed to need so much more to keep them healthy. Spent $$$ on supplements, etc and just when I thought they'd be doing well again, they'd find something else to get puny about (Nubians once, Oberhasli's another time). I liked them, but I love my cow, and missed having a nice big cream line, so returned to a cow. Plus the beef from the yearly calf fills the freezer nicely.

[FarmboyBill]

When I was home we had 2 cows to milk for the 4 of us. Had all the milk and cream we wanted, and for the cats and dog too.

I started milking when I was 8. My kids started when they was 9 and 10. We had 2 here for us 4

[FarmboyBill]

Up home we had a Holstein and a gurnsey. Here I had 2 Jerseys

[am1too]

You all sure make it hard to make up my mind.

[Homesteader1]

Great answers. Beef cattle are bringing good prices now. Goats at certain times of the year. Sounds like you need to look at what you have for equipment, equipment is expensive to buy and repair. Why not have both? No Bulls you'll need at least 7 cows to keep him happy. But a couple nice heifers would be good, just have them bred, bring the bull calf's to auction sell the heifers.