Beef dairy cross as milker

Apryl in ND · #1 01/31/10, 08:49 AM

I was wondering if any of you have experience with keeping a beef dairy cross cow for a family milk supply?

It seems to me that they would be hardier (hybrid vigor) and not as prone to mastitis and milk fever. Is this correct? What was the milk like and how much? Thanks!

Chixarecute · #2 01/31/10, 10:27 AM

Mastitis is more an issue of environment & sanitation, as well as size of the teat orifice. Doesn't matter what breed(s) your cow is, if it lays around in mud & excrement, if you do a poor job washing the udder, if you decline to use a teat dip after milking, the animal is more likely to come down with mastitis.

As far as mik fever, you may be correct, although milk fever, too is impacted by breed, as well as nutrition prior to and in the first few weeks following calving. A commercial dairy cow is built to rapidly produce milk after calving, unfortunately the metabolic system doesn't always keep pace with production, leading to milk fever. Beef breeds may be less prone, as that genetic condition can be self limiting if not treated.

At one point, we milked a 1/2 angus, 1/2 holstein cow in our dairy herd (for just one season). She never gave as much milk as the holsteins, and definitely dried off much sooner in her lactation, memory may be rusty but by 5-6 months (dairy we milked 9-13 mos, depending on breed back). We never sampled her milk, it was into the bulk tank with everycow else's, however I do not believe you would find much flavor difference - it may have been a little higher butterfat, or perhaps not.

A beef/dairy cross may indeed be good for a family cow, especially if you don't want - due to time or lack of options - a lot of milk. However, the milk becomes much more expensive to produce if you are only getting milk for 1/2 the year.

Since you have to feed it every day, you may as will milk it every day!

Apryl in ND · #3 01/31/10, 11:06 AM

Actually that would be okay because I really only want to milk for 6 or 7 months out of the year anyway because the other half of the year is winter here (and I don't want to milk in the cold).

Yes the milk would cost more to produce for only half of the year but it would still be more productive than keeping a pure beef cow just for a calf every year.

tinknal · #4 01/31/10, 11:20 AM

Had a neighbor in MT who crossed his angus beef cattle brown swiss. By weaning tome his cows always looked like starved goats, but his calves were HUGE!

OneDayx2 · #5 01/31/10, 01:55 PM

We have a half Angus/Jersey cross for a family milk cow. We only milk 6-7 months of the year. I'd say on average she gives about 3 to 3 1/2 gallons of milk per day. That's milking twice a day. At her peak she gives 5 gallons. Her cream isn't as much as the Jersey but is plenty for us. I make 3 - 4 pounds of butter every 3 or 4 days. There is only two of us so the chickens and her calf get plenty of milk also. Towards the end of milking her for the season we freeze enough skim milk to last us until she freshens in the spring. She's a very easy keeper, keeps in good condition through out the year and it takes way less feed than our Jersey did.

haypoint · #6 01/31/10, 02:10 PM

Temperment.
If you have a beef cross that will allow you to lead and wash up and milk, you can do it.
I have a neighbor that milks his beef cross cow. I have never had a beef cross that would stand that amount of handling. But it can be done.

You need her to have teets that you can get your hands on.

KSALguy · #7 01/31/10, 02:36 PM

we had two HUGE holstine Angus cross cows for a while, they were older cows when we got them and not gentle but they both had HUGE udders on them and i always wished i had been able to milk them, they raised nice big calfs for us though,

if they had been gentled at an early age it would have been a nice combination i think

IMContrary · #8 01/31/10, 02:36 PM

One of my grandma's best milk cows was a Guernsey-Hereford cross.

backachersfarm · #9 01/31/10, 05:03 PM

We have an Angus/Jersey cow. We love her. If we milk her 2x a day we get about 3 gal+/-....but we usually drop down to 1 x a day afterthe first month. Then we get about 2 gal. and event down to 1 gal a day when the green grass is gone and she is onhay. We only feed enough grain to keep her in the milker along with some hay. I don't think it is the mix of breeds that decides if you can milk them or not...if you handle them young you have a better chance. We usually milk her up to 9 mo. and get 1 gal /day about 1 qt. will be cream. I love jerseys...but frankly I don't want to sit and milk 4 gal at a time. A friend of ours who has had dairy cows all his life says the mix breed will usually keep weight better and a milk cow will burn up everything she's got to keep making milk.

linn · #10 01/31/10, 06:37 PM

We have several Red Angus/Jersey crosses. Most of them make excellent milk cows or nurse cows. I do think that a cow that is bred for very heavy milk production is more prone to mastitis problems.

Jennifer L. · #11 01/31/10, 08:41 PM

I milked several of them in my herd over the years. Decent milkers for the most part, some didn't have a classically nice looking udder, but all of them bred back fast every year. Which is good because they were shorter lactation cows than the pure Holsteins. Some of them were drying off a month sooner than they would if they were a Holstein. But for a family cow I think they'd be quite good.

Jennifer

DJ in WA · #12 01/31/10, 08:51 PM

As I've said before, beef/dairy cross is a good way to go for most people who don't need a ton of milk and don't want as many health problems. Breed her to beef bull and get a 3/4 beef calf for the freezer, or can even milk if a girl.

Yes, high production does contribute to mastitis and milk fever and ketosis and sore arms and other problems.

I've been reading different ways the increased production leads to mastitis.

High producers can have subclinical ketosis, which suppresses immunity in the udder, making it more susceptible to infection.

High producers generally have larger udders, which are more prone to injury. An injured teat allows bacteria to enter the udder.

As stated, environmental cleanliness is also a factor, but larger udders will get dirtier when a cow lays down.

Another potential problem associated with higher production is udder edema, which adds weight to the udder, which may contribute to breakdown of ligaments, leading to pendulous udder which is again, more susceptible to injury and contamination.

As for length of lactation, my lowline angus/jersey cow goes nearly 11 months before I dry her up, which has been a problem as she still produces well at that point. I think it depends on you keeping her milked out. I milk a gallon a day all year, while the calf takes the rest. Works quite well.

francismilker · #13 02/01/10, 10:31 AM

Beef/dairy cross is the ideal milk cow for the homesteading family. They raise a heavier weining weight calf and give plenty of milk.

Keep in mind though, with this cross you don't always get a 50/50 deal. I've raised several crosses over the years and some of them tend to lean more toward one or the other. I've had some holstein/angus crosses that should have been in a milk string somewhere while other crosses over the years didn't make much more milk (if any more) than a common beefer. It depends on what the genetics are of the two animals bred. I've found a really good producer for the family milk cow is a Simmental beef bred to a colored (jersey, MS, ayrshire, or guernsey) milk breed. The colored breeds tend to have more butterfat content than holsteins. The simmental breed tends to add some teat length for handmilking. Just my two cents.