My thoughts on goats vs cows ....
 

When we bought our farm in January I was so excited ! Especially excited because it came with a 2 year old Jersey cow , due to calve in April .....

"Daisy" is sweet ..... Pretty bossy and had no respect for a human's space but she's getting better ....

UNTIL we started to milk her last week ! Oih .... goodness . We were obviously lied to . She is not good at being hand milked . She fights it all the way . Kicks , bashes her head around , pees ,poops , whatever she can do .

We hobble her now , she hates that so now she is a pain in the rear to even get to the milking stantion.

So anyways ,all this to say ,I love goats so much more than cows !!!!!

For someone who has to do all this by myself , I would choose goats any day . Even naughty ones like my Saanan who loves to put up a fight and then lay on the bucket :indif:

When a cow doesn't want to go somewhere , even my 6' husband cannot get one to move without useing a hot shot .

Goats you can just man handle and pull right along , all by my little ol' self . :D

Cows kick and it'll about smash your face in when milking .

Goats kick ? Just tie that little leg back , easy peasy .

Cows poop ? All liquidy and splattering everywhere ...

Well , we all know goats poop comes in neat little marble packages ! Easy cleanup too vs cows slop....

And then what is up with the smell of cows milk ? What is wrong with me ? I loved raw cows milk a few years ago when we bought it but since I've had my goats (which I've never noticed a smell from ,even the first time we milked them, I always wondered what folks were talking about ...) cows milk just smells funny . Cows just smell funny ,I can't smell the goats unless one burps in my face.... hahaha I think I'm loosing it . I think I will be known as the crazy goat lady soon .
I would much rather milk 10 goats then one cow .....

haha I know how blessed I am to have all this extra milk now but this Jersey ain't nothing compared to my sweet goats , who , after being milked will actually stick around for lovin' instead of getting the heck out of there like Daisy does .....

Thanks for reading til the end .... haha Probably preaching to the choir here .:rock:

Oh ,forgot to ad that I love goats because my children can all help in the care of them and the milking process .

Too dangerous with Daisy .....

I'm with ya! I lived with my folks for a while, and in exchange did all the animal care. They had one Jersey/Holstein cow that stood well, but her teats were so small it took forever to milk her. The other, a full-blooded Jersey, fought constantly and finally threw herself down on the ground, barely missing me. I told my step-dad that he could milk her or she would dry up. I wasn't messing with her anymore.

At the same time, I was milking 3 does. I made up my mind right then and there that when I had my own place, I would have goats. The only bovine critters that touch my land are only stopping over before a trip to freezer camp. Goats are so much easier to handle. Besides that, I really don't need 4-5 gallons of milk a day.

I chose goats because I was a city girl and was equally frightened of goats and cows. But goats were smaller, cows were humungous. When a cow gets angry, you run. When a goat gets angry, you can manhandle her/him yourself. It's hard to roll a cow and lay on them to show them who's boss. It's all theoretical with cows to me, but their size is not. I think I chose wisely for myself :)

I never noticed a funny smell with fresh cow's milk myself, but found goats milk a lot "lighter" in taste and the whiteness of it is appealing to me.

For me the poo would do it. I raise a steer every year for beef and i can not imagine that while I am milking. I even hate the thought of the young calf in the barn with my neat little girls.

I have to agree with the poop things. I have my beef steer and my milker and she is so much cleaner. even when my friends had a cow dairy and i would go see them the cows always seem so much dirtier then my girl.

I always remember raw cows milk smelling like their breath, sweet and grassy...I couldn't drink it after that! Lol I agree goats are cleaner and I think much more personable!

It's not just the consistency of the poo, but the fact that goats aren't COVERED in their own poo, as well. Folks will say "but goats stink"... yeah, only smelly rutty bucks! And even then, it is not the 24/7 stink of a cow.

One more just literaly hit me ......

Goats can't smack you in the face with their tails!!!!!

More thoughts:

A cow is a BIG investment and expense.
Three-four goats, enought milk+ for a family
Although you do get a calf every year (AI expense and hassle), hopefully (and cow is OK), goats give usually more than one baby. Keep a buckling every year and breed your goats back then buckling in freezer. If for your own use to eat, inbreeding is fine.
If you do lose a goat, not as big a deal as losing the cow.
Less pasture, hay, water with goats.
You do need GREAT fences with goats!

Our friend who raises Highland cattle was over for dinner last night. we just covered this topic last night! * how funny*

Even if you have a sweet cow, their size alone adds some risks.

I also agree cow's milk smells funny. and on a foot note, my goats don't stink either! I enjoy the smells of the warm milk with a hint of udder butter on my skin after milking. *sighs* goats are better than cows hands down.

Buyer Beware, when buying a cow or goat that has been milked before.... if the animal was a great milker, the owner would've kept them. It's a time honored tradition, to be rid of troublemakers, and foist them upon others.

Not as likely with goats as it is with cows.

Goat breeders care about their reputation. They aren't going to "dump" a bad milker on someone.

Furthermore, cows are just plain more expensive and a pain in the patoot.

If a goat has milking issues, you can train them out of her. Or, you can easily replace her when her doelings mature, usually in the first 6-8 months. Even then, she's meat in the freezer.

A goat is seldom a liability. A cow that can't/won't be milked? Expensive and dangerous. Can't replace her with her own offspring for 2 years.

As always, however, buyers should practice due diligence. If you're buying a milker, milk her before you buy. If the owner won't let you milk her, you do NOT want that gal.

Plus I wouldn't buy anything else from that seller.

Although I miss my Dexters now that they are gone, it certainly is a whole lot easier to handle and care for my Nigerians. Even when my daughter was 5 yrs old she could catch and hold our buck.

Not always. Sometimes you have too many and need to sell down. Like after giving up a Grade A license...the cows gotta go somewhere and sometimes you want them to go into family cow situations...in which case they are great cows.

I'd probably take a cow over a goat because I prefer cows milk. Milking Machines are a great friend.

The 2 year old cow is likely a first freshener so there was no way of knowing how she would act with her first lactation. This is the biggest reason we don't like to sell bred heifers.
A hot shot is not the way to work a dairy cow.

We love our Jersey heifer. . .but she is just 9 months old. I'll talk to you later on. . .after we've tried to milk her on down the road - lol!

Oh, Deineria, I'm sure your little heifer will be just fine. She has the goats to teach her. :bouncy:

Well ,the previous owners sold her with the place along with 6 other cows as they moved many states away .

This is her 2nd freshening . We have her previous calf who is super sweet (for now ! haha)

I really shouldn't say the previous owners lied . Maybe she was awesome with them , just not with US ! No matter how much sucking up we do .

And for the record ,we have not used a hot shot on her .I was just talking about cows in general as we do have others including a bull :angel:

Ouch. She's already a second freshener as a two year old!
Have you been to http://familycow.proboards.com ?
It is a very good group and there would be lots of helpful advice on how to help your girl come around.

Most cows do not poop and pee while being milked, unless they are naughty or stressed. Ours aren't even fed while being milek. They eat before milking and then stand while being milked.
We don't even own a hot shot. But we are usually working cattle we have hand raised. Except for the stray beef cow, the 1/2 beef, 1/2 dairy bull and their heifer calf. But even the beef cow will go into the holding pen. We simply haven't successfully put a halter on her yet. She was a runaway from the local sale barn though, so it isn't surprising..lol

I suppose she probably is 3 by now ..... She was 2 when we first put the offer on the place back in October of last year ....

I am just so far behind , life is going to fast I can't remember everything , oih ! LOL All their records are still in a box somewhere....

Thankyou for the link ,I will check it out tonight ! :goodjob:

Wow, I`m going out on a limb here on the goat forum. I milk cows, and have milked goats, would much rather milk one cow to 10 goats. I have a nice cow barn with gutters so the pooh is not an issue for me, and most don`t pooh till their done milking. And alot of the time they don`t poop or pee in the barn at all. And cows don`t smell bad, they smell purty. And cows that don`t behave are not fun, I will give you that, and the tail in the face ain`t all roses. But I will take a good cow anyday.> Thanks Marc

i have had both, and i am staying with goats. big reason is if something goes wrong with the cow, you are out of milk at the least, maybe out of a whole cow and/or calf too. with goats, since generally you have a few, at least you'll have another to fill your milk pail. the poop and flies, oh yeah, that's a big issue!

i do however sorely miss my fresh made butter!! i know, you can make it with goat milk, but it is way easier with cow's. but its really great knowing that i can send my kids out to chores, and no worries on them being hurt by the goats. i love those smaller buckets, smaller feed bill, smaller equipment, smaller everything! for a small homestead, goats are wonderful--'poor man's cow'.

If a cow poops, you get the hose. A goat poops, and you get the dustpan. Not to mention, goats NEVER poop on the milkstand.

Ah, you should never say, "Never."

My doe and the kids all LOVE to poop on the milk stand.

Granted, not when I'm milking, but they've been known to hop up there and leave some berries behind.

No biggie, I just flick them away, but still... They do poo on the stand! :gaptooth:

Definitely never say never. The berries on our milkstand beg to differ.

They do when they are nervous, and sometimes if you don't milk them they'll do it. But generally they don't do anything.

I've never had a goat poo while she was being milked. She might do it right after I'm done, but even that is rare.

I like cows. We had a dairy farm when I was a kid, and after that was sold we had a 'house cow' for a while (not a cow in the house, a cow for milk for the house, rather than for milk to sell). I like their smell and -- for the most part -- their phlegmatic personality. But at this point in my life, while I WOULD like to be able to make butter, I'd rather buy, and clean, a cream separator than buy and deal with a cow. We don't need that much milk. We only have one acre of land. I can't afford a cow, at four times or more the price of a decent goat. I couldn't afford to lose a cow, and certainly couldn't afford to dispose of the carcass if she dropped dead of unknown causes one night (normally you would butcher an old cow, but sometimes critters do get sick and die of some cause that makes the meat not fit for human consumption).

And, after having to buy cow milk for the last couple of months while my goats were dry, I can tell you that the cow milk smelled 'funny,' off somehow, to me. Now this was store-bought pasteurized milk (whole), but still, I don't remember cow milk smelling like that before. My does have both freshened, and their milk smells good (and makes wonderful kefir, which is how we normally drink our milk). I'm so glad the goats are milking again!

Kathleen

I don't agree. I have a LaMancha that is a great milker-the breeder was reducing her herd.

Now I have an Ober that is a good milker, sweet as can be & very well trained to the milk stand (got her tail smacked twice for poor milk stand manners & hasn't done that again). I am thinking about selling her because I need to reduce my herd & prefer LaManchas....

Buyers should exercise caution but not all milkers are troublemakers

Ahem. We have hand milked Jerseys since I was 7 years old. So you know, I won't be silent on this topic.:angel:

Cows do NOT stink. Cows forced to live in their excrement stink, of course. No animal I know of has wonderful smelling poop. Pastured cows have a slightly sweetish grassy/earthy/animal smell, very simliar to goats actually. I love the smell of pastured cows.

Cows are not always easy to handle, no. But neither are goats *always* easy to handle. But milking a properly trained cow is not a task, its a pleasure. I love being able to lean my whole body into that nice big warm sweet-smelling side and I love the rythm of hand-milking.

Fresh raw cows milk is AWESOME. I prefer it to goat milk anyday, because its what I grew up on. Cows milk from the store? Blech!

The average cow doesn't poop while being milked either, unless the milker takes forever. Its logic, its going in one end, if you take too long milking, its got to come out the other end.

Of course goats are smaller so easier for the average person(especially women) to handle. They are easier for small acreages. They give a turn-around faster.

Cows don't need a shed in most climates, are easy to keep fenced, don't need hooves trimmed, etc.

And if I had to choose between goats or cows, I prefer goats. But thankfully, I do not have to choose.

These negative comments on cows here are very similiar to the negative comments on goats that pop up on the cow board.:smiley-laughing013:

There are pros and cons to both animals, of course. And there are always people who will take one experience and make up their mind about a whole species.

And in goats and cows, always milk an animal before buying!! Of course there are culls being shuffled off on inexperienced buyers. But there are also perfectly good cows and goats out there being sold because the breeder has too many to keep. I do it every year. If its a trouble goat or cow, I EAT IT.

If you're starting off with a young gal (goat or heifer), put a halter on her, put her in the milking stand/stanchion and mess with her under side. This way it's not all new to her once she's ready to be in there for real.

Also, we noticed a difference between our goats' milk. One of them had the sweetest, most wonderful milk; the other was so putrid tasting. It wasn't due to difference in feed or when they freshened as they were in the same pastures, fed the same and freshened within a week of each other. Needless to say, we didn't keep the nasty tasting one or any of her offspring. Note, even the kids didn't like that milk!!

Although we have some testy heifers, I wouldn't trade our cows for goats. I've struggled with more goats than I have with the cows and the goats were always getting out. Just my opinion.

-Catherine

I really wasn't trying to be rude or offend any "cow" people , which is why I put this post on the goat forum :baby04:

We made butter today and now have buttermilk as well (from the cow) ,I am very blessed !

I think I will always be a goat person is all :happy:

Daisy the Jersey was great before she calved . I could mess with her udder all I wanted ,even out in the pasture . She's just being rotten .

But we did pick up a halter for her yesterday and she is leading in much better ! Think we'll always have to hobble her in the stand .

She must tell her calf how aweful we are because he comes right in the barn and pees all over the place ,then leaves . Naughty boy . Think I'll call him"Tinkle" ....

Not offended at all.;)
I just got finished milking our dairy herd of 65 head of Holstien, Jersey and crossbred cows. Most of them I like, a few I detest for their mannerisms and those will be culled out as I can afford to. There will always be cows and goats who simply have nasty attitudes.
Attitude should be culled for.:baby04:
FYI, if any of my hand-milked home Jerseys are going to give me snotty attitude, it is *always* when they are raising a calf and being milked. Something about having the calf, means they don't think they need me.......so yeah, I might get attitude then for a while.
But I'm the boss and I will handle attitude if thats what they hand me. If it continues for long......yum, all that beef on the hoof.LOL!!

You really do milk 65 cows? Sheesh, that's a lot of cattle!
I've heard a lot of people say that cows stink, but Emily says theirs don't... I'm seeing definite advantages in grass-fed, Hmm, not to mention the milk barn is clean enough to live in LOL!

It feels like a lot to me, but we are actually quite a small dairy. We can only handle so much milk with the equipment we have right now. Since it is all made into cheese right here.....

My oat would poop on the stand everytime... In the middle of milking!!! She had small orfices so it did take me a while. Are you all saying that this is not normal? All this time of watching and waiting for the tail to go up so I can get my bucket out of the way!!! Sometimes it would be more then one in a milking..... Oooh that brat...

Yes, that's rather unusual... If it takes longer than 3 minutes to milk her, she might just be impatient.

Unless you have too many great milkers and can't afford to keep and milk them all! Unlikely with cattle due to their slower reproductive rate, but quite common with goats.

3 minuts??? I took at least 10. I felt like she had really small orfices. I hope my next gal is a 3 minuts girl.

I wanted to get a mini jersey when I first started thinking about a home dairy. The problems I saw with them was initial investment, breeding (I don't have a trailer), and I just don't have the space. I really wasn't excited about getting goats at all. All the horror stories of not being able to fence them in made me put off getting any for years. But lucky dog me my does seem to be perfectly content to stay in the barn, they hardly even go out into the pasture. Bunch of couch potatoes really. I still like the idea of a mini jersey though. When I can afford a bigger place I might be able to afford a cow. :)