Not One But Two

[Tango]

Both the buyer I asked and the dairy I purchased my Jersey from can deliver a bottle Jersey heifer for $300 in the next 4 to 6 weeks. It might be sooner from the buyer. I am very excited and happy and will be getting both. Just wanted to share my good news with ya'll. This will be the beginning of what may be the backbone for "Dragonfly's Lair." My Jersey cow's milk when she calves will be divided by halves toward these heifers and her calf (and my morning coffee!) but I will raise them on a bottle. Tomorrow I will have the heartache of saying goodbye to my herd of mainly dairy goats. They've gotten a good pasture home with a job of cleaning out thorny bushes. They will even keep the wethers. Im letting go and looking forward to the new task ahead.

[Up North]

Congradulations on finding some calves. That's not always easy to find what you are looking for. I'm sorry that you have to sell your goats. I tend to have the "I wanna do it all" mentality so that would be hard for me to settle on one critter.

Heather

[Tango]

I sympathize! The "I want to do it all" approach has been my obstacle since I started 4 years ago on self-reliance. I love my goats but they can only make money in the meat industry and I won't go that way. This decision may, after the heartache of tomorrow morning when loading them, bring me peace and direction finally and set me on a way to self-sustainability.

[dezeeuwgoats]

Congratulations! It is exciting to start a 'new' venture! I sympathize with you on selling the goats. One thing I am learning/have learned is that you can't farm on feelings. There are some hard decisions to be made. I don't even 'farm', but working on the self-sufficiency thing too. I can totally relate to the 'I want to do it all' thing!

One question - what do you expect to do with the bull calves that are born? Won't they end up going for meat? I'd be surprised to find a cow/goat dairy business where at least some of the males born don't end up being used for meat.

Good luck and congratulations on your new heifers!

[Tango]

Yes, the bull calves will be going for meat. That seems to be the inevitable part of livestock regardless of how much one tries to avoid it. But a steer can have two years on pasture and a somewhat normal life. for that time. When I take them to auction they don't necessarily go to a kill buyer right then, like a wether or buck kid. There is also the attraction of fewer numbers-I may try to go the route of AI'ing for heifers as someone on this board mentioned not too long ago. Maybe by the time these heifers are bred, the science will be more worked out.

[dezeeuwgoats]

Yes, I suppose the goats tend to be butchered much younger than the calves, for meat purposes. Cows definately have fewer offspring than the goats. I've got a son and husband who seem to lean towards cows.....I'm thinking about getting a jersey cow, and ai'ing to angus, keep the females, sell the males. I'll have to sell a couple horses first, though, which I was planning on doing anyway.

You make some interesting points - ones I hadn't really thought of. Hhmmmmm. Can you sell milk off the farm in Tenn.?

Niki

[Tango]

You can't even give milk away in Tennessee Can you sell it in AZ? I checked the grade A certification here and it is not feasible to do in what I would call a small humane dairy. At any rate I never could get my Alpines to agree to milk, except for one. A herd of 16 and growing for a gallon of milk a day??? Only at my place. In the end, I am seeking a working relationship with my livestock that I can live with and this land can support.

[dosthouhavemilk]

Will you be growing out the steers yourself then or selling them yourself?
Jersey bull calves that go through sale barns aren't generally sent to veal farms, they are generally slaughtered after going through the sale. So generally less than a week of life depending on the farm.
Or are you going to go the Angus route?

[Tango]

Good point. My Jersey, Karma, is bred to an Angus right now. I doubt I'll go in just one direction since I have a bull. Kash, my bull, is on loan at a neighbor with his cows. Incidentally, I've met a few people who love Jersey beef. They say it is the best beef in the world I will probably do a little of both with my bull and Ai'ing for Jersey heifers on alternate years. In either case they will stay here with their mother until weaning age at 6 months. No veal farm, no separation at birth. Better than at a dairy. I will also try to keep a steer all the time to raise out for my dogs and family, if I can find a butcher that will take care of it all. Since my family has informed me that they would rather go to the supermarket for a butterball than kill a turkey and if they want steak they know what aisle it can be found in what is wrong with that picture

[dezeeuwgoats]

You can sell it in Arizona, but not legally. Ten dollars a gallon - but I won't sell it. I milk four and get four gallons a day....if I was getting one gallon for sixteen goats - I'd quit too! With three growing, homeschooled boys, and a husband - we go through a lot of milk. I'd rather it be that way - with us consuming more of what we have available, that we've grown ourselves. As far as extended family - I'm working on those converts! We make cheese, and feed the extra milk, whey to the pigs we grow for ourselves each year, the lgd, and the chickens LOVE milk.

Store bought turkey makes me sick - literally. I had my first pastured turkey last year for Thanksgiving, it was the first time in many years - and I didn't get sick!
Niki

[Tango]

You might be very sensitive to some of the chemicals used in the solutions tehy inject those birds with. My family knows good food. And as long as I was raising and butchering, all was great for them. I've grown out more than 3 dozen heritage turkeys. They just won't kill anything I understand the hurdle; all of us have to get over it and I think it is more humane as well as healthier to raise and butcher at home. But I went back to being a vegetarian again after about 5 years butchering our own food. I don't want to kill anymore. None of them ever wanted to butcher but they eat meat anyway.

[JulieLou42]

What, I'm not the only one who gets ill on storebought turkeys? I thought there was something wrong with me?!?

We have lotsa wild turkeys in our area, but I didn't like the taste of the one I had a couple of years back...raise my own?...I can't even get chickens on our place...DH even objects to having the one cow, but won't drink market milk...

[dezeeuwgoats]

Yeah, at first the lady who raised the pastured turkeys told me it could be a tryptophan allergy - said if I still got sick on hers - that is what it would be. She had heard of a few people having that. But I didn't get sick, so Tango, it MUST be whatever they raise them on/or add to the store-bought ones. I can't wait to add cream, via the jersey cow to our home-produced products. (I know there's cream in goat's milk, but my separator is the spawn of satan).

I meet all types of people with this raising your own food thing. Some people are horrified, some are interested, some are 'self-righteous' vegetarians, and the list goes on. I HATE supporting any type of agribusiness involving animals due to humane treatment issues. I probably would be a vegetarian if my only other choice was store-bought meat. Also, the health issues - the meat/eggs/dairy being better quality, more sanitary, etc, etc. I'm sure YOU guys know, lol.

I live in a rural area rapidly being devoured by developement. What I do is considered very......strange. It is nice to come here to HT. People want me to raise things for them, but I do it only rarely as I have other priorities at this time. Plus, it is expensive, and I find that people aren't willing to pay me what the health food stores get for theirs, which isn't even pastured. I figure - too bad, your loss! These people have acreage also, so they could do it if it was a priority.

Niki

[brierpatch1974]

Well I think I am lucky to have just enough space to keep a few goats, cattle <herefords>, and chickens. I don't milk any cattle but my 3 Sanaan goats are giving me a little over 3 gallons a day and thats to much for the family. We have 3 herefords and sell 2 offspring a year and butcher one.

BP