milk from cattle things that make me say hhmmm

[LesleyS]

OK, as I have admitted in the past, I know not much about cattle. Lets say you have Daisey a Jersey cow, milk cow. We know she gives milk. Then there's Bessie, a Herford with a calf and obviously nursing it. After Bessies calf is weaned why can't I continue to milk her for milk?

[linn]

We milked a Hereford for a short time, until we gave her an adopted calf. She was very gentle though.

[Rockytopsis]

Well you most likely could if she would allow it but since a Herford is a meat breed I would not expect her milk to be as rich as Daisey's milk would be. However it would be milk.

[Jan in CO]

You can, if she will let you milk her. There is just a difference in the amount of milk given and the amount of butterfat in the milk. I plan to do just that with my black baldy cow after she freshens, but I know the quality won't be as good as say, a Jersey's milk. Jan in Co

[Karin L]

Originally Posted by LesleyS

OK, as I have admitted in the past, I know not much about cattle. Lets say you have Daisey a Jersey cow, milk cow. We know she gives milk. Then there's Bessie, a Herford with a calf and obviously nursing it. After Bessies calf is weaned why can't I continue to milk her for milk?

To me, you seem to be missing out on a few details, and this is way too general. First off, sure Daisy gives milk, but is she in the same lactation period as Bessie? And, could Daisy have a calf on her as well?

Now, lets just assume that the answer to both questions is yes, even though, technically in a dairy-business situation, the answer would be no. But lets just stick with the two "yesses".

A Hereford and a Jersey arte different. Mainly because the Hereford is a beef bred, and the Jersey is a dairy breed. So, since the average daily milk production for a Hereford is around 10 lb/day, and a Jersey produces twice that, then that means that you won't get as much milk from a Hereford as you would from a Jersey. But that don't mean you can't continue to milk ol' Bessie after she's weaned her calf.

Just so long as you keep pumping milk from her, she'll keep producing, only thing, like I said and others have said, the quality, butterfat and quantity will be less; or, if not less, then different, from that of Daisy.

There's my two cents.

[TulleyJohnMyers]

After Bessies calf is weaned why can't I continue to milk her for milk


BECAUSE if you let bessie raise her calf to 6 months of age she will only be giving VERY LITTLE milk....check out your other cows or neibors cows with a 6 month old calf...when you wean the calf I have never seen a beef bred fill up the udder to even make it tight after 5 days it still will not be tight so they just don't give that much in that long a lactation....tjm

[genebo]

My vet told me that a lady in the next county milks a small herd of Herefords. She likes the taste.

They give less milk, so you have to milk more of them.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[Cat]

If the cow is gentle enough then I'd say the worst that could happen is that you'd get too little milk to make it worthwhile. I'd hate to even think of what could happen if the cow wasn't used to being handled. Think big flying concrete boxing gloves flying at your head.

[jerzeygurl]

any breed can be milked, my favorite milker is my angus cross.

jerseys are popular because of their efficiency in turning feed into milk. more milk on less feed than other breeds. Holstiens give the most period, but it takes more to feed them(usually) as they are bigger ect. A hereford will not be as efficient at turning feed into milk, because they are more efficient at turning feed into meat and fat...whereas your dairy breeds are definately not.

another point to consider, when the calf is weaned how long until bessie calves again, I usually let the cow a full month or more dry before she starts baggin up, and I often allow an extra month just to be sure I have the correct day. So if Bessie bred back a month after calving and calf is weaned at 6 months, you have 4 months until next calf. So allowing for the min dry time, you have 2 months of milking, part of which you will be drying her up.

If bessie isnt bred, then of course that doesnt matter.

[ksfarmer]

Originally Posted by TulleyJohnMyers

BECAUSE if you let bessie raise her calf to 6 months of age she will only be giving VERY LITTLE milk....check out your other cows or neibors cows with a 6 month old calf...when you wean the calf I have never seen a beef bred fill up the udder to even make it tight after 5 days it still will not be tight so they just don't give that much in that long a lactation....tjm

Don't know about the ones you have seen, but, my beef cows (Gelbvieh, hereford, angus) usually make very tight udders when I wean their calves at 6 to 8 months old. Sure, they aren't going to milk like a dairy cow.