Cow milk cheese question and more...

[Ark]

Dont know if this is the right forum...

... but I dont like to make small batches of cheese - no less milk than will fill my hugest pot. So, I want to make cottage cheese tomorrow and dont have enough goat milk or cow milk.

What would happen if I mix the milk??

I probably shouldnt even consider it, because I have NEVER made cheese with cow milk. I have made tonnes of cheese with goat milk.

Also, is there anything wrong with feeding alfalfa pellets and whole oats to a milk cow? She loves it, and pushes the cattle cubes OUT of the feeder.

[tinknal]

For the feed question, go for it. There is a dairy products forum that would be a better place to ask the cheese question.

[sammyd]

Oats are generally rolled before feeding to a cow. They can digest them better and recieve all the nutrients easier. However whole oats won't hurt them if fed within a proper balanced ration.

[Up North]

Whole Oats will raise your Butterfat Content. But, at today's prices, who can afford to feed Oats?...

[Ark]

Good point! Oats and alfalfa pellets are both over $9/50 lb bag...

I will keep feeding her this while I am on the lookout for a cheaper way to feed her. I prefer to feed NO additives, etc, so I'm limited on what I can use.

Tractor Supply sells a feed called "All Stock" for $6/bag. So, I need to go read the label and see what's in it. It's only 12% protein though.

What do yall feed your dairy cows when they are producing milk for your family?
THANKS!!

[jerzeygurl]

I have the mill special mix a grain only plus molasas dairy mix

corn oats cottonseedmeal and soymeal and molassas

[jerzeygurl]

oats were actually cheeper than corna few months ago

there is about a dollars dif now at the mill

[Ark]

YUK! The ALL STOCK has animal fat in it.

I dont know if it would be economical to have them do a special mix for me with just one cow.... maybe if I could come up with something the cow AND the goats could all eat?

[jerzeygurl]

everything on the farm eats this

cows goats sheep chickens chicks geese ducks pigeons

ive even caught the dogs and cats eating it

the min. they will mix is one ton tho

perhaps you can get the grains and mix your own

it doesnt take a lot of soy or cottonseed meal for the protein,

[Ark]

Originally Posted by jerzeygurl

everything on the farm eats this

cows goats sheep chickens chicks geese ducks pigeons

ive even caught the dogs and cats eating it

the min. they will mix is one ton tho

perhaps you can get the grains and mix your own

it doesnt take a lot of soy or cottonseed meal for the protein,

How much are you paying compared to buying by the 50 lb bag?
Does it come in bags, or do they deliver and put it in your "container"? Sorry, I am clueless! How does it work?

We've got:
chickens
guineas
cats
dog
deer
horse
pig
one lone sheep
lotsa goats
2 cows

I would love to save time, effort, and most of all MONEY on feed! BUT, I have to have it in bags because there is no where else to put it.

[Up North]

Ark - You will realize a considerable savings if you devise a way to buy feed in bulk instead of bags.
Some low-cost ideas I have seen used:
Plasic barrels or trash cans. Some folks take these to feed mill and have them filled.
Old chest freezers with a good lid can be used for bulk feed storage. keeps pests and critters, birds out of feed.
Take 4 x 8 sheets of Plywood and build a bulk storage bin in the corner of a barn or garage with a cement floor.
A grain wagon gravity box on 4 wheels can work if you tarp roof or build a plywood/metal roof with a hatch in it for filling it. Has advantage of being portable ;

Anyhoo, here's our dairy cow grain mix at present:
Rolled/Cracked Corn
Soybean Meal
Calcium/mineral Mix
Molasses
Salt

Delivered in bulk at $ 189 per ton

[francismilker]

I'm feeding a custom mix very similar to UpNorth. I'm picking it up in bulk in a trailer I made with a three hundred gallon polytank I retrofitted onto an old trailer axle with a sliding gate on the back to get the feed out. I just put a five gallon bucket under the hatch and fill it up. It costs me $190 per ton at the feed mill because I'm only able to get 1200 lbs. at a time. If I could get a bigger container to haul it in, it would be cheaper.

[jerzeygurl]

we bought an auger wagon at auction for apx $200 bucks we haul it down there and they fill it up, usually 2 tons, right now we store the grain in that untill it gets low then we put it in trash cans w/ lids we also got at auction.

this time the price was about $4.30 ish for 50# and it has NO animal protiens

if we opted for the protien pellets instead of soy/cottonseed it would be about half price. if you went with out oats it would save some but right now at the mill there is not that much difference and the oats help milk production.

when we get storage built we will also have the truck bed filled with plain cracked corn.