Two cow questions

[emke]

My husband welded for a guy for a calf. We were expecting a small bull that we would have to castrate. We were given a good sized (500 pound) female, about three weeks ago. I'm not sure of the breed, but it isn't a milk cow. I have always wanted a milk cow and my husband said we could milk her after she has a calf. The guy that gave her to us said we could even use the services of his bull free. Can you get good milk from a cow that isn't a milk breed? I realize that the quantity would be down, but what about the quality?

And next. When we got her she was wild, only have been running with other cows. We have since gotten her halter broke and she will let me hold her halter to walk her to where we want. The first day we got her she jumped the fence and went down the road to intermingle with other cows. We were able to get her home and put her in an enclosed pen and stall. Tim put another strand of wire around the top to make the fence 5 foot high. Today was the first day she went into the field. Tim put a cow bell on her so we could hear her if she was down in the bottom among the trees. We left for an hour and when we got home we called her and she came running. We fed her a little grain, scratched her and she went back into the pasture. My question is... Do you think I can quit worrying about her wanting to run down to the neighbor's cows (3 miles away) or should I keep a close eye on her for a little while?

Thanks for any help you can give this novice.

[Ronney]

If your cow was that mad when you got her and she has now quietened to the point where she will come to the call, I would say that you have the makings of a very nice cow. Now that she is settleing down you won't have to worry about her quite so much but it won't hurt to keep an eye on her for a while longer until your confident that she is happy about where she is and is used to your - and other animals you may own - activities.

You can milk any breed of cow you like if that's what you want to do. They all produce milk and most will produce sufficient for household needs with a bit left over. I milk a Hereford/Friesian and a Jersey/Belgian Blue. Both the Hereford and the Belgian Blue are beef breeds but the cows of mine are high producers, the downside being that their cream content is very low.

With the offer of a bull and a cow in the paddock, you've got it made for your first foray into milking a cow.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[luvrulz]

What did you name her? My cows are all tamed down now and we can even hand feed them. They stick their tongues out and vie for bread. They come running when they see me with a loaf!

I would utilize the free breeding and if possible, maybe a holstein or jersey that's more noted for their milk. She should come into heat every 21 days or so and you can tell when she started mooing morning, noon and night. That was a good deal for you and Tim! Good luck with the new addition!

[pygmywombat]

Wow, do you have any secret cow training tips? She sounds like she has turned out to be a sweetie. I wouldn't worry too much about her leaving, unless she gets wild when she starts coming into heat and leaves looking for man companionship.

You can milk beef cows, I know a few people who milk beef/ dairy crosses.

[JeffNY]

Being extremely persistent with a cow or calf that is not tame, will win over that animal most of the time. If the animal is absolutely, 100% wild, nothing will tame them down. There was this holstein, it got loose, had it's calf out in the woods or something like that. The cow went wild, kicked in the trailer when it was finally caught, had to be shipped. Now if the animal has been around cows, and is not tame that way. Bringing them around as emke did, is possible. Best thing to do is be the food source, the visit with you is pleasant. They see you as "their friend", and as long as you continue to be that "friend" they will feel comfortable around you. 10 holsteins I bought in January were not friendly at all, they ran away, couldn't touch them. After a month they came around some, and even to this day some aren't overly friendly, one is very skiddish but the previous owner said her Dam didn't come around till she was 6.


But I wouldn't worry about that cow, simply keep on doing what your doing, remain the comfort zone for her, and she will remain friendly.


Jeff

[emke]

Thanks for all of your answers.

Our five year old daughter wanted to call her Dora (as in Explorer) even before she took off that first day. So we thought it was appropriate, since she wanted to explore.

As for any cow training tips... I am learning as I go. Tim was a farm boy growing up and I was city born and raised. I fought the move to the country. Now he can't get me to even THINK about moving back to town. We just forced the issue with Dora. We handled her gently and put her on a rope in the yard. The first day she was SO scared. We would have to stand on the rope and walk up it to even get close to her. Every day she just got used to us. I have problems walking and it seems she knows now to walk slowly when I walk her. She still trots when Tim walks her around. The grain and sweet feed we give her helps a lot too. She knows when I call her that I will have a handful of food to give her.

I didn't know a cow would eat bread. It might be worth it for me to go to the bread store and get her some. Or I might make her a loaf in the bread machine and see if she likes it. We can make it an extra treat for her, since the bread would be easier for me to hand her then trying to hold grain in my hand.

Can anyone tell me how old she will be when she starts coming into heat? And also, how old do they have to be before she can safely be bred? I want her to have a good size before she has to worry about supporting a calf.

My daughter is already asking when we can milk her. She doesn't realize that it could take two years. My 15 year old son would be the first to milk her, then Julie would work into it, since she will be 7.

[JeffNY]

I know of someone who feeds bread to their animals, he introduces it slowly at first, but he said they do extremely well off it. I know of someone who feeds donuts to theirs, and the guy who buys their meat sometimes, said the meat is extremely tender.


As far as breeding age, how old is she? With our beef cattle, we wait till they are 3 before they have their first calf. We wait till 3 before they calf is so they have a decent size to them, they tend to mature, and support the calf better. We used to wait till 2, but compared to 3 years of age, we saw better results. Two last year calved at 2, was not planned, no problems. But a cow does grow to 3 years of age, and this one cow is now 3, and did grow through the winter some more.

From the sounds of it, depending what kind of cow it is. A 500lb heifer could be 9 months, 10 months or a year. Depends what it is. What are its colors?


Jeff

[Jim in MO]

It sounds like you have a really good start. We have a black baldy that was crazy wild as a calf and I wouldn't let any of the family near her out of fear of them getting hurt not because she was actually mean just crazy. It took me about 4 months to get her to settle down and now she is one of the gentlest cows we have next to our jersey and dairy short horn. I can lead her anywhere I want and see comes when called. I never tried to train her to milk since we have dairy cows but I think she would let me with no problems because she lets rub her bag as she gets close to delivery. She has great mothering instincts as well. She lets the other calves nurse even though she’s dry and that they don’t get a thing and they butt her like crazy trying to get some milk to come down and she just stands there as calm as can be until they’re done and then licks them until they run off to find momma. She still butts the yearling a little too rough at the bunk feeder but they learn real quickly to give her room and she is real gentle to people now.

So I think you have got a real peach of a heifer and will probably work out great for you to milk as well. As Ronnie said the only draw back is that the cream content will be rather low but you’ll get plenty of milk for personal use out of her.

Can you describe what she looks like? All black? Brown and White? Let us know and we might be able to make a guess as to the breed.

Good Luck

Jim in MO

[Ronney]

The minimum age to put a heifer to the bull is 15months which means they calve as 2 year olds. I personally prefer to wait until they are 18 months and are rising 3 year olds when they calve. Much will depend on her breed, her condition and what breed of bull she will be going to. I prefer to use an Angus or Jersey over a first calver. Don't get tied up in a knot about it and sound out the person you got the cow from.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[emke]

She is all tan, or what I call a light wheat colored blonde. She has horns and we want her to keep them. She has a white spot in the center of her forehead and some almost white patches on her knees. I don't know if all cows have this, but she has what I call a loose flap of skin running from her chin to her chest and it flaps when she walks. When Tim goes down and works the other neighbor's cows we see a cow that looks just like her, but the horns were removed. That cow is HUGE! Any ideas on what breed she could be?

I could always have Tim ask the guy we got her from as he is now putting in fencing for the guy. That makes a nice side job when he is laid off from the union.

[JeffNY]

Could be a crossbred animal, beef with something perhaps. It might be best to ask, because there is a variance. For example, some beef cattle can have blondish colored hide, atleast any that are out west seem to. Does that person raise beef or dairy? It sounds like a beef animal to me thus far.



Jeff

[lilsassafrass]

Another trick to taming down skittish, wildish, shy cattle if you dont mind getting your hand all goopy .. is liquid molassas , get her addicted to licking it off your hand , keep a bottle or pail of it in your barn and everytime you handle her , let her have a little bit ....off your fingers .. dont let her work your fingers to the back of her mouth though .. wher you could get a good laceration ..

Also , I differ in my experience with milking beef , and beef cross animals in the amount of butterfat .. my currant milker is an black baldy x highland and even at teh advanced age of twelve produces very high butterfat in proportion to the amount of milk she gives which of coarse is way down because of her age ...
I have an IH floor model cream seperator that I aquirred from a family who payed off their farm morgage during the depression , from milking a herd of herefords for the cream , to sell to the local creameries .. and it was a very common practice back in the thirties and forties in this part of ohio to milk beef herd for just this purpouse and the skim milk was fed to hogs ...

Paula
Hyde Park Farm

[Rouen]

I know someone who gets left over doughnuts from the local stores and feed them to their cows.