Would you?

[allenslabs]

Hey just wanted to see what you all thought. There is a guy I know that raises Jersey cattle. He had a herd a few years ago and his barn burnt and instead of rebuilding he sent his cows to another dairy and in turn they keep the milk and care for the cows and he gets the calves. In 2 years the man who took the cows has given him 5 calves out of 18 cows. Sound fair? Anyway he told me he had 4 cows to calve this fall so I called to see what he planned on doing with the cows. He said he wasn't going to milk them. So I asked if he would mind if I took one of the cows and milked it and kept it here and he get the calf like he does with the other guy. He said sure. He'd bring her over a couple months before she calved to get her settled and then I'd get to keep her as my own and do what I want with the milk. I think this is gonna be great. . .. . . .nice Jersey cow, don't have to pay for it, do what I want to with the milk, and he does vet work so would help with anything I needed. And if I wanted the calf I could buy it off him. What do you all think?? Thanks a lot!

[willow_girl]

Sounds like a schweet deal to me!

[james dilley]

You need to get the details in writing.

[SkyOne]

Agree...get it in writing. I would also see about putting my own calf on the cow. My Jerseys nurse two calves easy and I still get my morning milk. If you do this idea..a hint pull a guart of milk from the cow and pour it on the calf you purchase and she will soon except it as her own. The younger the calf the better. Sky

[allenslabs]

Yeah I don't really wanna insult him. He's a real nice guy about 65 years old. He used to be a vets assistant for 35 years and now just does a little vet work on the side reasonably to keep himself busy.

[milkstoolcowboy]

Is she a cow or a heifer? Just wondering if she'd ever been milked before. No big deal to break her into hand-milking.

It's only a good deal if you want a cow and need the milk. You'll get more milk than you or your family can drink, so you might want to have a couple bottle calves or some pigs to handle the extra milk.

Boarding cows with another farm isn't that uncommon. Sounds like a case of why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free, but if it were me and I really wanted a milk cow, I'd ask him if he'd be willing to sell her.

[allenslabs]

OH I want to but I don't have 1200 to toss into ANOTHER cow when I can buy a nice angus bred cow for 900 or less and my hubby would FLIP OUT if I said I wanted to spend that on a cow. He's not a dairy fan and kinda doesn't like that me getting a milker is gonna keep him from taking hay to FL to sell so I don't think tthat would work. Now that I talk to people they've deflated my bubble. I know I would go through all that work training her and get attatched and raise the calf and it wouldn't even be mine. Thoughts to ponder I guess. Thanks all though for you help!

[herefordman]

Sounds like a good deal to me, and forget the "In writing" thing, I would be insulted for a good deal like that.
If it goes sour just give him his cow back whats the problem.
18 cows and he only got 5 calves ?
Sounds like he was getting rooked anyways.