I'm expecting . . . a cow!

[pekin84]

Today we put a deposit down on a 6yo jersey cow. She is due to calf the first of August, and is retiring from a 50-head dairy farm.

I could not get anybody around here to talk to me about a family cow. Everybody in my area ( NW Ohio) milks commercial Holsteins, and you're nuts just for asking. We are paying $1200 for this girl and need to drive 4 hrs to pick her up. I felt like I was getting a fair price. The last guy I talked to wanted $3800 for his registered bred jerseys.

Now I've got the jitters. But can't wait for homemade ice cream.

[JeffNY]

Some pay 2000 for a heifer calf. For a bred Jersey 6 yr old cow, I think thats fair. She will get a good home, she won't be pressed, and she will be cared for. But with the way prices are now adays, it can be tough to get something for little of nothing. Around here registered stock keeps going up in price. Funny it seems most farmers will make more off their heifer calves, vs the milk price. If you do it right, thats the way to go.



Jeff

[Momof8kiddoes]

Congrats on your new jersey!
We just got one about 3 weeks ago, and paid 1700 + 6hrs to go get her (and $300 for a one month old heifer-not hers-she is due in July). Im in Co., and same thing here, people looked at me like I was nuts just for asking about a family milk cow-sheesh!
We love our baby (Luv) who is 7yrs old. She is a keeper. You will love having your cow!!
Mary F.

[quailkeeper]

I think I would have checked around some more. I just sold my five year old bred Jersey that was milking for $900. She was a great cow. I had so many calls that I checked around and found a 3/4 Jersey 1/4 Brown Swiss for $900 and a holstein w/calf for $950. I was just very unimpressed with the Jersey, they eat a lot and give very little in return. I am in the process of buying a registered bred Dexter cow for $800 and a Dexter heifer for $500. But congrats on finding one. I know how it can be. It took me two years to find my Jersey and now I find them everywhere :haha:

[MullersLaneFarm]

We love our Jerseys. Looked into the Dexter breed, but too much hassle for breeding AI. We can always get a nice young Jersey bull for a few months or have a pick of Jersey semen.

Our gals aren't that much bigger than the Dexter breed so we're not saving anything much on feed and get a great quality and quantity of rich milk.

We currently have 4 Jersey cows of which 3 are pregnant. (Our original Jersey came up open. She's had problems with a DA and just underwent surgery for that. We'll bring the young Jersey bull back to the farm in a month) One other of the pregnant cows is sold. That leaves us with only 3 cows. We'll keep our original Jersey and one of the other and sell the last one.

We like taking good Jerseys off the milking line, getting them accustomed to being handled every day, break them to a halter and to lead, also break them to be tied out. If they are in milk, they are trained for handmilking and a belly milker.

Anyone interested in a preggo Jersey cow in NW IL??

[Haggis]

Congrats on the new cow. It seems they are hard to find in some places and spendy everywhere.

We plan on selling one or two of our Jerseys before April next and won't be asking a heap for them. I know that cattle are spendy just now, but they just cows.

I may have someone interested in my Dorsey and I plan on selling her for just what I gave; $750. We've made plenty profit on her in the form of entertainment, a calf, milk, milk products, manure for the garden, and mown paddocks; I can't get behind trying to make a money profit on her too. On the other hand, I don't fault anyone trying to make money profit on the sale of their cows; we do all hear a different drummer.

[quailkeeper]

From what I've found there are two different lines of Dexters. There is the more beefy one where the bulls can actually weigh over 1200 lbs. Then there is the more milky line. The cow I'm looking at is 600 lbs. The bull I am getting is actually out of a smaller line, his mother weighed 400 lbs right before she calved and his sire weighed 650 lbs. The Jersey I had weighed around 800 lbs when we sold her and she gave 1-1.5 gallons a day. Very unimpressive!! She would eat up to a square bale of VERY good quality hay and 8-10 lbs of grain a day. Dexters are suppossed to give at least that same amount of milk on half the feed. There are different bloodlines in the Jerseys I'm sure or they wouldn't be using them in the dairies. All of them I've encountered has give a gallon a day or less.

[jerzeygurl]

my oldest jersey gives 5 gals and we feed 1 bale to 3 cows when we feed hay. my first calf heifer gives 3 on just grass. from all my reading ag books ect jerseys give the best return for feed given and they are like goats in that they will eat scrub, the breed started on an island which was mostly scrub. sounds like you just gotta dud on that one

[Paula]

Jerseygurl, I agree. We have a 12 yr old Jersey who is 10 months into this lactation who gives 2 gal. on only grass and only milking once a day. And she's in very nice condition.

[MissKitty]

As I am reading this board I am churning butter from a 4 year old registered Jersey...We milk twice daily...in the morning I get about 2 1/2 to 3 gal., the afternoon I get usually 1 1/2 to 2 gal. and she is not even fresh...It is the creamiest milk and can not beat if for the taste IMO....she is three months preg. and gave us a beautiful little heifer last Sept....She is the granddaughter of Duncan Belle...the top Jersey of the AJCA of 2000...We gave 1450 for her...she was 6 months preg.
Sweet nature and so pretty...I love my Jerseys!!!!!...MissKitty

[quailkeeper]

My neighbor has two Jerseys, both give a gallon of milk a day. I know of another lady who has a Jersey and she only gets half a gallon a day. Thats my limit on experience with Jerseys other than the one I had.