Give me thoughts...

[XCricketX]

Don't have cows, never owned them.. BUT we would like to have a family cow for our small homestead.

Not sure if my children can even do well on the milk, but atleast I can raise my goat babies on them and give the goat milk to my kids... so it would be a win/win. My daughter is REALLY wanting one to milk, so it would have to be gentle.

I have a good friend who has offered to breed whatever heifer we get to their prize limousine bull.

What would be a good heifer to cross with this bull?

The more I read up on dairy cows... the more I like all of the breeds! LOL!!!

Thanks all!

Cricket

[ozark_jewels]

Well knowing your land I would certainly reccomend one of the smaller more agile breeds. Also one that forages better than your average Holstien.

I would highly reccomend a Jersey and maybe a Dexter if you can find one that milks well. But with feeding your goat kids you will certainly want one that gives at least 3-4 gallons of milk a day.

The problem with the breeds your land dictates is that you won't want to breed them to the limousine bull as they are small cows and a limousine is a large beef breed. There could easily be calving problems. Maybe a *mature* Jersey cow to a small calf-throwing beef bull, but certainly not heifers.
I am not familiar enough with the limousine breed to know if they generally throw a calf that a mature Jersey could handle.

Any other neighbors with bulls? There are plenty of dairies in that area.

Milking Shorthorn though I love them would not be practical for your land. Neither would Holstiens, Guernseys or Brown Swiss.

Are you planning on planting pasture or feeding hay??

Along with all the other benefits of a milk cow is homemade butter and lots of it!!

[ksfarmer]

I'm not a dairy man but I would think a Jersey would make a good milk cow, lots of rich milk. I am more familiar with beef breeds and I would second ozark jewels in cautioning you against breeding to a Limousine bull. Besides the size problem, limousines tend to be a high-strung breed. You will have a calf that may be tempermental and hard to handle. Limo cross cattle are much harder to handle and work with than other breeds such as hereford and angus.

[6ncounting]

Dexter's have lots of rich milk without the excess volume. Excellent for a family homestead.

[XCricketX]

I have the ability to breed to a couple of bulls that I think are dexter... will have to ask the neighbor again what they are.

I like the Jerseys, and the Brown swiss awefully good, but was thinking going mini Jersey or something like that.

We'll see.. I'm looking and getting prepared.

We have a new pasture fenced in... and we are feeding hay. We have a good quality source of hay thankfully, so do not think the nutrition would be detrimental to the cow we get.

Thank you all for the info!

Cricket

[matt_man]

We have some small jerseys, not technically "mini" but fit within the guidelines. The cow we bought this spring we got for a very good price because of her size. The man selling her thought she was undesirable because of how small she was; not knowing that that was exactly what I wanted.

[6ncounting]

Matt/Rachel can you post pics? And do you have any for sale?

[matt_man]

Originally Posted by 6ncounting

Matt/Rachel can you post pics? And do you have any for sale?

Here is the first calf heifer we bought this spring, Daisy. She calved 1 month after we brought her home. She is 41" tall.

She is just 1" taller than our Dexter was, but not as long. She also gives 4x as much milk with the same amount of feed.

This is Heart, our matriarch. She is 45" tall so would be considered mid-miniature. She is registered but Daisy is not.


Lily is Heart's heifer calf from this December. Heart was bred to an Old World Jersey bull and Lily can be registered with the Mini-Jersey Cattle Assoc.


She is not quite up to my waist and is 8 months old. She was 21" tall at birth and barely weighed 30lbs. She is going to be a very petite cow.

We don't have anything for sale right now but hope to in the future. Both of the cows are AI bred right now for spring calves and we will breed Lily this winter for a late fall calf. If we get any more heifers, they might be available.

Rachel

[R.Adams]

I would never breed a jersey to a limousine bull. Theres a holstein dairy near where I live that used to use a limousine bull as clean-up on his holstein cows. I used to get some of the cross-bred calves from him. The smallest I ever got was at least 90 lbs up to 125 lbs.. He eventually switched to an angus bull because he was tired of pulling calves that were as big as if he had bred to a holstein bull. These were full grown cows to not heifers.

[country_girl725]

My favorite breed is a Brown Swiss...they tend to be the most docile-and generally have large floppy ears that like to be petted! I have milked many a cow, and I find that jerseys are the most tempermental breeds...but if you aren't pushing them to make a lot of milk (this is when cows tend to be less personable), I would think that any breed would suit. Jerseys are definitely smaller if you are trying to be conservative with size. If you have any Amish in your area I would see if they have any to sell since they would be used to being milked by hand. As for breeding..I would definitely steer away from any beef bull unless you are planning on putting it in your freezer eventually. But like the last post says, if you breed your dairy cow to a beef bull, you will chance having distocia (calving problems). Good Luck!

[XCricketX]

Yes, I really like the Brown Swiss as well! I found a Brown Swiss farm nearby and hope to be able to take a field trip to their farm to ask LOTS of questions! ^_^

Cricket

[ozark_jewels]

I love Brown Swiss, they are just a beautiful gentle giant. But having owned both Brown Swiss and Jersey, I would not reccomend your average Brown Swiss for the rough Missouri hillsides. The Jersey is simply more practical for those situations. More agile, they eat less and they forage better.
Now a Jersey/Brown Swiss is a nice cross!

[XCricketX]

Originally Posted by ozark_jewels

I love Brown Swiss, they are just a beautiful gentle giant. But having owned both Brown Swiss and Jersey, I would not reccomend your average Brown Swiss for the rough Missouri hillsides. The Jersey is simply more practical for those situations. More agile, they eat less and they forage better.
Now a Jersey/Brown Swiss is a nice cross!

OOOOO I bet that IS pretty... I'll have to google pictures! Does anyone have a cross like this? Lettme see em and tell me what you think about them? ^_^

Cricket

[ozark_jewels]

I used to own and milk two, but that was before I had the internet so no pictures......They were a light grey-brown with medium build and the hairy swiss ears.