Grassfed only milk cow?

[Creamers]

It is possible and healthy for a Jersey cow to be milked if given free choice hay and pasture without any issues other than lower production in your experience?

I've read it is fine, unlike with goats. . .which do not do well without grain when in milk.

Would she need alfalfa hay or pellets supplemented?

[sammyd]

I used to take care of a guys pipeline and all he fed his cows was what they could graze or he could bale off the pastures.
He didn't have the sleekest looking cattle or the biggest bulk tank but he had very low operating costs.
It can be done.

[Ernie]

Jerseys are pretty heavy feeders. They need some good feeding. That said, with good hay and good pasture you should keep one healthy and in milk. I've seen it done. Some cows do better than others but you can be guaranteed you'll get less milk. Still, less is often enough.

[Callieslamb]

I think it would depend on the cow. Some need more feed or they will milk themselves into skeletons producing milk. Others, you could feed 10 buckets of grain and not get any more milk out of them. Folks do it though.

[springvalley]

We have pretty much run all summer with no grain, just pasture. We are not looking for maximum production, since we are not selling to a milk company anymore. And we are still getting more milk than we can sell privately, thats where 9 pigs,12 calves, and a bunch of chickens comes in. We have just started giving the cows grain again, and probably will now through the winter. I think on the most part a family cow could very easily be kept on good pasture and vitiamin mineral supplement, and you will still get several gallons milk a day. You have no need to push your cow for high production, thats when you start having problems with the cow. If you can keep your cow on pasture, and milk her once or twice a day, you should have no mastitis problems also. Hope this helps.>Thanks Marc

[francismilker]

I've been milking my jerseys on all grass with no grain supplements to speak of for over a year now. Occasionally I do dump a small coffee can of grain in the stanchion feeder to occupy them while I nip off a hoof tip or shave the udder.

UpNorth has been milking their Ayrshire herd on all grass for about two years now and they seem to be having good success.

Sure, you're probably not going to have the highest producing, heaviest cattle. But, your expenses are going to be cut dramatically. And, as Marc mentioned above, you'll have far less udder problems and health issues.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by springvalley

We have pretty much run all summer with no grain, just pasture. We are not looking for maximum production, since we are not selling to a milk company anymore. And we are still getting more milk than we can sell privately, thats where 9 pigs,12 calves, and a bunch of chickens comes in. We have just started giving the cows grain again, and probably will now through the winter. I think on the most part a family cow could very easily be kept on good pasture and vitiamin mineral supplement, and you will still get several gallons milk a day. You have no need to push your cow for high production, thats when you start having problems with the cow. If you can keep your cow on pasture, and milk her once or twice a day, you should have no mastitis problems also. Hope this helps.>Thanks Marc

I'll point out also, as one of Marc's customers, that the milk he is producing is some of the sweetest, best-tasting milk I've had. So clearly his cattle on pasture alone are producing some great, healthful milk.

[Creamers]

Good to hear all, and thanke, Ernie - good to know the milk on grass only cows is excellent.

I can't sell milk here (at least not openly - lol), and I have dairy goats, so I am not looking for gallons and gallons a day.

My heifer's dam gave 8 gallons a day during peak production - crazy! I simply do not need that much.

This heifer keeps nice condition on forage only, so I hope she will keep good condition with little to no grain in milk.

[agmantoo]

I have a Jersey Holstein cow with my beef cattle. Her November 09 calf has been with her since birth. She has not been milked other than what the calf gets. She is bred back. She has not maintained the body condition that a beef breed would have. Then she is not as thin as I see some Jersey only cows in dairy herds. IMO a grass only milk cow with NO calf milked ONCE per day should fair nicely on good pasture.

[MayLOC]

I too think the outcome would depend on the cow and also on the pasture and what else they are being fed. Being fed alfalfa also, then that would make a big difference.

Our experience has been like Agmantoo stated.

My husband used to work for a man that ran an assortment of cattle. He had a few holstein and a few holstein crosses in the mix. Year after year when the rain was plentiful and the grass looked great and the beef cattle were fat, the holsteins struggled along. They ran alongside the beef cattle in these huge pastures, never milked or fed and only expected to feed their calves. They never made much milk and their calves often looked dreadful and several got sick and died. Eventually these cows were sold.

Another neighbor of ours had the same scenario. He ended up with a few holsteins and they ran alongside his beef cattle. Beef cattle looked great and the holsteins barely got along. Their calves were always struggling and often died a few months after birth.

But where we live the beef cattle have to really cover the country and we usually figure 55 acres to the cow.
In different situations I could see how the end result could be much different.
I would sure think they would need the alfalfa.

Growing up our milk cows had a nice pasture they grazed during the day and then given free choice grass hay at night and very minimal grain. They looked good and milked well but we ended up with calcium problems until we started giving alfalfa daily. But those pastures were irrigated and we hayed them. Far cry from the type of pastures where I live now.

[Ronney]

Creamers, it is quite possible to milk cows on grass alone - that's all I do and have ever done. You may not get the quantity but then again, how much milk do you want

Much will depend on your climate as to how long you can pasture feed; I'm lucky in that I live in a temperate area and grass feed all year although it does slow down over the winter and cattle are then fed supplementary/maintenance hay. Grass quality also plays a role but having said that, my cows are milked off mainly kykuyu grass which is not considered at high quality grass.

Just because I'm on a photo bent tonight I've posted a couple of photos of my cows.





BTW, in the second photo, I'm walking the cows home for milking through the Ewe Paddock, this is not the paddock they had spent the day in. Note the dead litter on the ground - this is stolan from kykuyu grass.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[springvalley]

Hey Ronney, I love the horns on that first cow, couldn`t be more perfect. Your cows look in great shape. >Thanks Marc

[Creamers]

Love the photos, Ronney - of course, New Zealand is the residence of my dreams, too, so that helps - lol!

[Up North]

In our experience, to make no grain work, you need excellent quality forages, the right genetics and once a day milking. I've got the once a day milking down pretty good but we're working on the other two. Throughout the spring and summer we can easily go 100% no grain. The pastures have dried up quite a bit and I've got some really heavy milkers (wrong genetics) that have skinnied down too much so I have been feeding the milk herd 3-4 lbs of grain a day. I'll probably feed this through the winter. We did plant some winter grazing so I may be able to cut out the grain again when we run the cows across it. We planted a perennial crop of fescue, different clovers and alfalfa with a cover crop of (which we'll be able to graze off this winter) of winter rye, globe turnips, forage turnips, mustard and rape. Going no grain has been a process for us. As we work on improving pastures, planting for winter grazing, buying in better hay, and culling and breeding for the right genetics I know we will be able to cut out fall/winter time grain.

[Up North]

Ronney, Mark and I still want to come for a visit!

[MayLOC]

Originally Posted by Up North

In our experience, to make no grain work, you need excellent quality forages, the right genetics and once a day milking. I've got the once a day milking down pretty good but we're working on the other two. Throughout the spring and summer we can easily go 100% no grain. The pastures have dried up quite a bit and I've got some really heavy milkers (wrong genetics) that have skinnied down too much so I have been feeding the milk herd 3-4 lbs of grain a day. I'll probably feed this through the winter. We did plant some winter grazing so I may be able to cut out the grain again when we run the cows across it. We planted a perennial crop of fescue, different clovers and alfalfa with a cover crop of (which we'll be able to graze off this winter) of winter rye, globe turnips, forage turnips, mustard and rape. Going no grain has been a process for us. As we work on improving pastures, planting for winter grazing, buying in better hay, and culling and breeding for the right genetics I know we will be able to cut out fall/winter time grain.

how well said!

[Creamers]

Well, her genetics are super heavy milking lines. I can give grain if I must. I want her to keep a nice condition. I was more just curious if dairy breeds - if given enough forage/pasture- would typically keep condition and just down with production. I see that isn't typical, so we will try and see. . .and offer grain if we must.

Gosh - yes. A NZ trip sounds amazing - lol!

[Up North]

You can over come the genetics to a certain extent with excellent forages but the minute you feed something less than stellar you will see a quick decline in your cows condition.

[Creamers]

Access to great hay is iffy - but pasture can be fairly lush - of course, that only lasts from April through July.

[francismilker]

Ronney,
What kind of cow is in your second pic on the far right side? (white/black roan colored)

I love that color. Almost reminds me of a White Park.