Goat vs cow, the age old question..

You can, only make sure you buy an animal that can handle not having grain. Either a cross or dual purpose sounds like it would do best for you. Do you know the nutritional value of your grass/pasture?

I am completely biased, dairy animals are my true love on the farm. They are a big under taking, they aren't something you just toss in a field and hope for the best. Every animal is different, not just every breed, but every animal. Certain animals get pregnancy ketosis or milk fever and certain animals can not keep in good condition without extra calories. I understand you don't need a lot of milk, that is fine, but remember your animal has needs too! She has to be fertile for you, provide milk for you, and provide for her offspring, it's a big job, just be kind to her and watch her. It really bothers me when I see stick thin milk animals that are sickly and not looking well. We should respect them and treat them well, they do a lot for us.

If you are going to be shopping for a dairy cow, this is a body condition chart to help you know whether or not they are really in good shape. If someone says, oh, I keep her fine on this scrub grass here and then you see she is a body condition of 1, rethink whether this animal is a good candidate for a grass only milking herd. Keep in mind this chart is for dairy cows, beef cows have a different chart. I am not familiar with what a dairy/beef cross should look like but I would think towards the higher end of the body scores. http://www.uaex.edu/other_Areas/Publ...F/FSA-4008.pdf

I love dairy animals, I can't imagine myself being without at least one dairy animal. You have to really like dealing with dairy animals though to keep one. They are probably the hardest thing to have on the farm.

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Thanks I will use that chart. Of course the well being of any of my animals is very important to me. At heart, I like all animals. I even dislike slaughtering and it takes me awhile to build up to it even with chickens. If I thought my conditions were bad for an animals health I'd rather sell it.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say you would!! I only meant watch her

I really hate seeing body condition 1 animals, not that you would do that! My oldest daughter had one of her AG classes have a speaker that his entire business plan was buying body condition 1 and 2 animals (beef) at sale barns and then raising them on grass only (he had a great rotational grazing pasture program going) and then finishing them on grass only, he was able to get all their body conditions up. I am really bad at knowing rotational grazing and grass growing since we've never had enough to rotate. I do have a family in my dairy cattle group (4-H) that has 400 acres and says they are mostly grass farmers (they raise pasture pork, beef, and chickens), their dairy herd still gets grain though but they are all commercial milking Jersey's.

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I hope it is ok to post another forum link? If you are leaning towards a cow, there is a lot of knowledge at the Keeping a Family Cow boards. She wrote a wonderful book and this is her forum: Keeping A Family Cow - The Family Cow

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I cant Imagine why you would want either. I think SHEEP might be what your looking for.

Ok you didn't say you lived in VT. Where are you going to get grass from October - May? You will have to put up a LOT of hay, how much can you put up each year?

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Really? Sheep. Hm. I hadn't thought of sheep. Can they be productive without grain?

ETA; Just read that the milk is 18% butter fat. Sounds too rich for drinking. Maybe best for cheese and butter(?)

Same as everyone else around here, I guess

I know a cow will consume roughly 3% of its body weight of dry feed daily. My neighbor cuts about 200 small square bales ( 70lb ) off of a 4 acre field a stones throw from mine. I'd be cutting 3 acres so lets say 150 bales, at a bit more than half a bail per day for feed. Should be plenty...but of course that gives the advantage to goats. I can probably feed two or three goats with alot less feed.

Dad fed a 1/2 bale of hay to the cows when we milked, PLUS a gallon of ground corn. If they wernt finished when we were, they got run out anyway. If the winter was rough, or it was deeply snowed over so they couldnt get nothing of the stalk field, hed feed them more hay in a round top that had come off of a cistern near the house. They sheared it off at ground level and filled in the cistern and hauled the top out to the cow lot for a feeder. All done before my time. One reason they done that was, Grandma had a thing that fit inside a well or cistern that had trays on it and had a windless. You put food on the trays in containers and lowered it into the cistern above the water to cool. For whatever reason, too many times stuff tipped into the cistern fouling it up I guess.

Yes there is such a thing. Dexter cows do great on grass/hay, will give you probably on average a half gallon to one gallon of milk per day and they make good meat on grass alone. They tend to be long lived and healthy.

"So there is no such a thing anymore as a cow or goat that can give some milk and only eat grass/hay/forage? You cannot keep a productive animal without buying grain?" You are welcome to come see us do it. You must have good grass however (or good hay). Our Guernsey gives us 4-5 gal a day on 1/2 coffee can of feed that keeps her busy while milking.

I dont remember the exact amount of grain we fed. That was, for me 44yrs ago

If you go with a cow.....look for a dairy that is already doing "grass-based dairying," and you will already have an animal that is doing pretty much what you want. Around here, the few farners that I know who are doing "grass-based" are using Jerseys, Dutch Belted, and and one has a couple Normandie cows that he really likes.

The other alternative would be a Dexter, but I would recomend that you buy from someone that is actually milking them. A lot of Dexter breeders do not actually mlk them, so they have no idea what their production is like over a 10 month lactation. (At one point I considered a Dexter, but I could not find a breeder nearby that actually milked them.)

In the next year or 2 I plan to raise some mangels, and see if I can reduce the grain bill....

On the other hand, I have Alpine dairy goats. I have noticed a difference in different bloodlines. Some will spend more time actually grazing than others. And some seem to need more "attention" to stay in good condition. Mine give 1/2-1 gallon of milk on once-a-day milkings.

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Do goats like mangles, OTHER than those in the old country. Ive never heard of US goats eating them. AND Goats are EXTREAMLY picky about the grain theyl eat. They like wheat, but dont like oats. They love corn, but wont eat anything that is over 6hrs in the pan old. I feed left over grain to the chickens who cackle at the ignorance of the goats and eat it themselves.

Goats will eat whatever they are used to eating/tastes good to them it seems.

We have a new goat that turns her nose up at honeysuckle,the others will almost climb a tree to get it.

People feed beet pulp to goats,don't see why mangels wouldn't work.

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Originally Posted by SFM in KY View Post
I grew up on a ranch (beef cattle) in the 50s so I don't know about dairy cow practices, but all of the beef producers I knew had cattle on pasture in the summer and fed hay in the winter. Nothing else.

The cow/calf operations like ours calved in the early spring and the goal was to wean 400# calves in the fall.

The only time I remember any ranchers feeding supplemental feed was if they had a particularly hard winter and were running short of hay. Then what most of them fed was something called "cottonseed cake" about the size of a Fig Newton cookie as I remember it.

I've also talked to ranchers in the SW that fed this in dry summers when they ran out of grass ... but the only time I know of supplements being fed in beef cattle operations were when grass or hay was in short supply.


I think there is a need to differentiate here. Most beef cows and caves are still raised on grass and hay today. The calves are not fed grain until they are 500lbs or more and moved into feedlots (usually at a place that does nothing but feed out) this gives them more meat faster, and it is more tender. ie. this method gives the most profit to the farmers, who each specialize: 1) raising cows and calves to feed-lot size on hay and pasture in areas not profitable to row crop. 2) growing corn and soybeans in the grain belt 3) Feed lots buying form 1 and 2 and fattening up the animals for market

"Feed-out" size steers and heifers can be raised as well on grass, but the meat will be tougher, take longer and take a lot more room. For the homesteader, beef can be raised just fine with grass and hay, but it will likely not be as tender as what one would get at the supermarket. It will however, have a lot less questionable chemicals fed to it.

Yes sheep are the best suited of the common domestic animals to be raised entirely on farm raised feed. They will browse brush about the same as a goat and will do fine on hay and other forages.
Best yet they can be bred year round and will lamb two or more lambs every 8 months.

Meat goats browse,meat goats can be bred year round,and the gestation period is 5 months,twins are also common.

You won't get a lot of milk off a meat goat however.

But you can eat them.

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I think the only question is which do you like better? Cow's milk or goat's milk?

Other things can be grown on the farm besides grass to feed to the livestock: Field peas, alfalfa, mangels, lots of things available that have good feed value.

Well that's true. I like em about the same I guess. A few years ago my neighbor had a goat and would give me alot of milk. I liked it alot but after a while I couldn't even tell the difference. Then I went back to cows milk and it tasted...like cow! ( not a bad thing ).

The thing is, I already have grass so thats easier than cultivating. I've heard from people who have their goats on nothing but pasture too. Maybe people with goats are more likely to think of them as pets, and more likely to think they need extra 'goodies'? IDK.

I'm torn, truly. The goat eats less and produced less, but may (?) have greater dietary needs. I have four food plots tilled over right now. They've been going for 3 years. After this year I will seed them heavy with alfalfa and let them rest, while tilling up four new ones. If I do that I can mow that alfalfa and have something extra for the goats or cows in milk.