I know these cattle are mostly raised for beef, but does anyone use them for milk? I'm trying to get a rough idea of how much milk they produce per day. I like Jerseys, but I think they would produce far two much milk for two people...
that's a lot of milk Thanks for the info . We may end up not getting a milk cow. I don't think we could use that much milk. And we are surrounded by dairy farms in the area so selling would probally be out of the question. I like to make cheese but I wouldn't want to do it on a daily basis.
Have you thought about a Dexter? I'm milking mine, but also have the calf still on her. She is giving at least 2 gallons a day, I just take a quart in the morning and sometimes at night (tho generally not) the calf has the rest. I can decide not to milk if I'm busy or away and just leave the calf with her. You can read about Dexters and hand milking here http://dakodan.net/dexters/ If you really want a cow that doesn't swamp you in milk, a Dexter may work for you. Carol K
PC. When I was growing up we had a black angus family milk cow. We would get about 3 gallons a day out of her if I remember right. Anyhow, we let the calf suck on one side while we milked on the other side. We dranked what we could and what we couldn't we fed to the pigs. Every evening we soaked a big bucket full of chopped corn in milk. The next day we fed it to the pigs in whiched they loved very much. You could also buy you some sucker calves and feed the extra milk to. Make you a little money on the side.
I've wondered about milking Highlands too. How do you handle all that hair? Do you have to keep it clipped to keep it out of the milk pail? Seems like it could really become nasty down there, especially in winter when things freeze up, icicles of calf drool and barnyard muck, icky. Somewhere I saw a neat comparison of beef breed meat quality and Highlands came out on top. Does anybody have a simiilar link for milk quality?
Morning !! Just back from fun in the sun in San Dieago, Had to go out for family stuff. I raise Highlands , and have kept a highland for milk for hmmm... can it really be ten years now? I share with the calf , and even then I can easily pull 3 gallons a day in her peak, and although now that she has become a little older. when she was in her prime i could handily compare her butterfat to that of a jersey not so now, she is thirteen ! I really need to consider heifer breaking one of her daughters to replace her. about the hair , i do what most dairys do , give her a good clip on the udder and on the inside of her legs , always keeps things pretty clean for me. I know during WWII there were several small farms around here that milked herfords and angus for the creameries , beef animals having typically high butterfat percentages . I have a floor model IH seperator that took 3 men and a boy to get out of the basement of one such farm house , works fine can either use electric , or hand crank , and I have used both , but since it really is a pain in the behind to clean up I tend to not use it, unless i am going to put through over 20 gallons of milk .. Paula Hyde Park Farm
There you go PC, see, a Highland is probably still a good bet for you. If Paula's was giving 3 a day, that's not a huge amount and like I said, just take what you want and leave the calf to do clear up! Carol
