Aysshire dairy cows

I have been thinking about an Aryshire also, but I am interested in a Dexter. The price is pretty much beyond my means though, even though I think they are worth the price. From what I have gathered from reading and talking to old farmers this breed does fairly well on rough pasture, something that means a lot too me from a homestead basis, can make passable meat and has decent quality butter fat. I understand that they can be a bit skittish though. I need to get something here by spring, the place just needs a cow.

 

I checked on them with OSU (state aggie univ) and here is what they said:
"Ayrshires are medium-sized cattle and should weigh over 1200 pounds at maturity. They are strong, rugged cattle that adapt to all management systems including group handling on dairy farms with free stalls and milking parlors. Ayrshires excel in udder conformation and are not subject to excessive foot and leg problems. Few other breeds can match the ability of the Ayrshire to rustle and forage for themselves under adverse feeding or climatic conditions. Ayrshire cattle will do better under pasture conditions than will the other major dairy breeds and , when pastures are poor, they need less grain to keep them in air condition (C.H. Eckles, Dairy Cattle and Milk Production, 1923). The ruggedness of the terrain and the unfavorable climatic conditions of their native land led to the selection for those points of hardiness that adapt them to less than ideal conditions. These traits make Ayrshires outstanding commercial dairy cattle. ..In many ways, the environment in New England was very similar to the Ayrshire's native Scotland, and she thrived in her new home. Even today, the Ayrshire is very popular in New England, but her popularity has spread and the Ayrshire herds are now located in every part of the United States including the Deep South. The largest numbers of Ayrshires are registered each year in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Vermont. "

Sounds like you've found a good breed for back East if you want a full sized cow and they should be easy to find. They are supposed to be all over the US now.
Good luck and enjoy your moojuice! Personally I like 'em more my size and Dexters fit the bill. Belle

 

We had one ayrshire in our herd. She was a real PIA during milking and we were happy to see her go down the road. She was an easy keeper though and always seemed to hold good condition. Can't judge the breed by one cow though. I do know of one dairy grazing operation in SE MN that is entirely ayrshire and they seem very happy with them. They too mention that they hold condition well and seem to do well on mature pasture.

We had good luck with shorthorns. Dutch Belted is another breed that would be worth a look.

 

This was on a 100 cow commercial dairy. She was bought with a group of cows and was eventually culled. As far as production I don't have the records handy but I think she usually peaked around 75-80 lbs a day, 15-16,000 pounds a lactation. She would have been cross bred to a Jersey, I don't recall her calves specifically.

 

A good price would be around $700 for a Dexter heifer calf.

 

Ayrshires are good homestead cows. We've had several and found they were good grazers, fertile, had nice udders with good teats for hand milking. We got 7-10 gallons per day. The milk was nicely balanced butterfat and protein. They seemed to handle the heat well, and got shaggy every winter. I feed grain and alfalfa hay to milking cows and they were always ready to graze again after feeding time. Ours were from one family, so they had similar traits and size. They were all over 1200 lbs., so allow more feed than for a Jersey. Their calves, especially when crossed with Beef, brought great prices at auction.

 

There's a lot of variability in the Shorthorn breed. They have attemped to keep them dual purpose, beef and dairy, and the breed has extremes on both ends. On the dairy side they brought in red and white holstein genetics and some of them will milk 30,000 lbs. In general they are a larger frame animal, have less health problems than holsteins, and do well on pasture. You would want to know their background, it would be ideal to see herd they came from and what type of animal they were trying to develop.

Dutch Belted is different than Belted Galloway. It is an old dairy breed. We had two. They are smaller framed, did well grazing, and had absolutely no health problems. I know of a couple other dairy operations that were seriously headed towards the breed. The main source of semen is from Kenneth and Winefred Hoffman from Indiana. They are also one of the top shorthorn breeders in the country.

Here's a link with a picture and another opinion:

http://www.lappfamily.com/dutch.htm

Select Dutch Belted on this site for more info:

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/

 

You know, my question is *where* do you find these cows????

Even a "plain" old family Jersey cow is as scarce as hen's teeth around here, much less all the more exotic breeds.

I went looking for info on Brown Swiss, and all I could find were embreyos for sale. That doesn't help me much <g> The one auction I saw for them averaged $4500 a head!

Tracy

 

I would contact the breed associations you are interested in. They should be able to give you some contacts in your area.

 

I purchased a week-old Ayrshire heifer for $250 in Orange County, Virginia this June.

I also found some other folks who were willing to sell cows leaving the milking herd for $500-800, but chose to go with a small calf so I could learn the ropes while she was growing.

It was hard to find an Ayrshire herd in Virginia, but I eventually tracked down several farmers by contacting county extension agents. If you go the Virginia Cooperative Extension Website, they list e-mail contact information. Alan Grove, who is a dairy specialist was particularly helpful in my search.

Bonnie's temperment is wonderful; she is gentle and affectionate. If anything, she is a little too affectionate; it is hard to get work done in thepasture because she wants to stand next to you in the hope of being scratched.

Good luck in your search.

 

The last post was me - I forgot to log in.

 

Bonnie is my first heifer - I also had two Holstein steers at the time. All were bottle-fed. The long term goal is to use Bonnie as a nurse cow and raise eight Holstein calves a year on her (4 for four months, then 4 more for the remaining six months of her lactation). I am producing "humanely raised, grass-fed baby beef." Customers put down a $50 deposit in January to reserve a beeve half. This covers the expense of buying the calves and a good portion of the milk replacer ($50 for the calf leaves $50 to pay for half the milk replacer). I buy the new calves in January (I have orders for ten sides and will pick up my new lads this Thursday). I'll bottle feed the calves for three months, then when my grass flushes turn them out on pasture to rotationally graze. I'll take the baby beef in to be processed the day after Thanksgiving (I always have that day off from work). Customers will pick up their meat after it has been aged and cut in mid-December, paying me $3/lb hanging weight less their deposit. They also pay the buthchering expense. The biggest single expense in my operation is the milk replacer - $90 per calf. Once Bonnie is producing milk, I'll save that major expense. I figure that I will spend about $500/year maintaining Bonnie, but if she raises eight calves, she saves me $720, plus gives me a calf for free. Additionally, the calves will have milk for a longer period and should get a little bigger, bringing more "hanging weight" in the long run.

I'll breed her the first time with the neighbor's low-birthweight Angus bull. After that, depending on how strong demand grows for my beef, I may breed her AI with an Ayrshire or Holstein bull in the hopes of adding another heifer to the operation.

Good luck with your search.

Mark

 

"Please get back in touch I really would like to hear about this. Arnold[/QUOTE]

Yes! Please continue this conversation on-line! so that we all can learn more from what you folks are doing! It's all so VERY interesting! And informative!