Want dairy cow, no experience with cattle

[LesleyS]

Would you kind people give me advice and suggestions on raising one cow for milk? and a bull for obvious reasons? I have lots of land but no experience with cattle. What breed is best, shelter, feed, immunizations (if any) required,anything else I haven't thought of. I sure will appreciate it!
Lesley

[Tam319]

Hi Lesley,

Good for you! A family cow is so rewarding!

I would recommend going with Jerseys. They are excellent milkers, a smaller size and good natured. If I were you I would try to find an older, experienced cow. Something that is quiet, halter broke and will be patient with you as you learn the ropes. I wouldn't suggest keeping a bull if I were you. Its much less expensive, less of a pain-in-the-butt and safer to use AI. You will also have access to top quality genetics that way. I would suggest getting the book "Keeping the Family Cow" and checking out this really nifty family cow website: http://www.real-food.com Here we feed free choice good quality alfalfa year round plus 16% dairy ration during lactation. Free choice dairy mineral is a must. We vaccinate with an 8-way vaccine once/year and deworm with a pour-on product specifically for dairy animals. A 3-sided shelter with lots of straw will suffice for shelter and a set up for water. A garden hose and watering trough work well. You can buy a floatable trough de-icer if it freezes up (in which case you'll be stuck packing buckets by hand to fill up the trough in winter). If you can spring for an automatic trough you'll be happy Fencing can be as simple as a couple of acres with barbed wire or electric fence.

You'll also need a clean place to milk. Last year I managed with a very "rustic" setup of milking outdoors with my cow tied to a tree in the pasture. This year I have a little shed and it will be nice to have a roof over my head. If you just want a bit of milk for your table you can share with a calf. ie. Milk in the morning and let the calf suck the rest of the time. If the cow doesn't have enough milk for you first thing in the morning you can lock the calf up at night and just let them be together during the day after you've taken the milk you need for your family. There are lots of ways to make it work and it doesn't have to be expensive or complex.

[smpooh1]

IMO Tam just gave you some very good advice. There are many things to learn (many as you go) about a family cow, but so much fun to have your own milk, cheese, butter, etc. I too will recommend the www.real-food.com site. We have Joannes book "The Family Cow" and would recommend it to anyone that wants or already has a family cow.

The hard part is finding a nice gentle quality cow.