I'm milking one with two dry and about to calf.. Milking 3 years. Only have had Jerseys so don't know of other breeds but sure would buy the Jersey again. Tom

 

I'm only milking two Jerseys just now, but I hope to have my 3 Milking Devon heifers and another Jersey heifer up and going by next year.

My goal is to have 3 and maybe 4 cows freshening each spring and another 3 or 4 freshening each fall; much like our friend Ronney.

However, there is much temptation to have a small herd of house cows freshening in the fall so that Herself and I would have our summers free for canoeing and fishing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, visiting family in other states (geographical and otherwise), and generally taking a break for a couple of months. Who knows, maybe I would ride my Harley and use our camper a bit before they rust into the ground?

 

I milk a Lineback/Holstein cross, have been for 2 years(well with a breif vacation while dry). If I had to buy another, I would buy them same. If I could find another. I get 5 gallons a day and meaty calves from the cross. I have a couple of Jersey crosses but they have not calved yet.

Kathy

 

Milking 79 , probably 80 by the time I get back to the barn. One Ayrshire, 2 Brown Swiss X Holstein, 2 Guernsey X Holstein, 1 Jersey X Holstein, and the rest Holstein.

 

We have 18 milking right now. We have around 50 head of dairy cattle though. Eight heifers to join the herd this year, at least. Hopefully more. And some purebreds that are dry.
We are currently milking 8-3/4 Jersey, 1/4 Norwegian Red 2-3 year olds and 10 purebred Jerseys ranging in age from 2-11 years old.
We will be switching around to seasonal calving. That will leave around 10 milking during the months of December to March, which will make feeding and keeping animals clean much simpler, then calve out most of the rest in March and April.
Registered Jerseys have been in my family for generations. My great, great (toss a couple more greats on there) grandfather brought the first registered Jersey west of the appalachian mountains.

We introduced the Norwegian Red genetics into the herd 5-6 years ago. We are pleased with how they are doing.

 

My two Holsteins are due 7/31!

I had a Jersey cow previously that I milked through one lactation.

I would definitely buy another Jersey, I also think Holsteins are great.

 

I Jersey and 1 Shorthorn. I actually prefer the Jersey but they are both gentle as lambs. I'm hoping to get 1 more Jersey then I'll have all I want and I can get my cheese operation into full swing.

Jim in MO

 

Were milking 71 head right now. 1 Dutch Belted, 2 Swiss, 1 Holstein,( shorthorn is dry) , 2 Guernseys, 15 Ayrshires, and the rest Jerseys. I like the mixture the way it is however I would get rid of the guernsey and swiss if it was up to me. Eventually we would like more shortys but that is down the road.

 

Hi All
Thank you for the responds to my questions. I had no idea that there is that many people on this board that are milking. Also quite a lot of diifferant breeds. Also seems like every body is quite satisfied with their breeds, although some have some changes in mind, mostly getting rid of some breed for others they have. I do want to thank all, that responded.
I do have Dexter, but do not milk them myself. Have another family, that has quite a few kids that have some of my cows, that they are milking. works out good for the both of us. Just wish they lived closer. then I could have some of that good milk.
I am also looking for another family, that would like some cows to milk. I would like to get them started in having thier own milk.

Ken in Minn

 

I'm hand milking 5 Randalls right now. Have been milking around 15 years. I feed hay and grass only, and the Randalls seem to be up for it. I would make the same choice again given my commitment to breed conservation, and also that Randalls seem to fit my subsistence farm type of management. They are very hard to get right now, however.

The Randall Cattle Registry, Inc.

 

We have registered Jerseys...One is a milking now and due to calf in Nov....We have been milking for a year...Matt//(hubby) worked in dairys as a kid...Love our Ms. Ellie and her milk is sort after far and wide...We prefer Jerseys but might think of a Gurensey also...MissKitty

 

I have one Jersey and one Jersey X Gurnsey (Which I've dried up). I like the Jersey's. I've only been milking less than a year. The Jersey is a 3 year old and is giving 5 gallons a day right now. We may try Shorthorns or Dexters in the future.

 

We milk Jerseys. We have 3 reg. cows, but only milk one at any given time if we can help it. The ones not milking just raise their calves. We have 2 due any time now, both are bred to our Dexer bull. We do have several Dexter cows, but have never milked one of them. I'd like to try their milk, just haven't gotten around to training one to milk.
We milk because we love the cows and love the milk. We probably wouldn't milk anything but Jerseys or Dexters because we don't want to deal with larger amounts of milk. Plus, we both LOVE Jerseys. DH and I both milked cows when we were younger, his family milked Jerseys, mine milked what ever mutt cow we could afford at the time.

 

Milking two jerseys for two years and would continue to do so. Thought about Ayshire and Dexter for the children to show at the fair but am completely satified with jerseys. They average 4-5 gal/day for the young cow and 5-6 gal/day for the older cow. The older one is currently dry until May's end. Have a total of seven. The other four are heifers at younger ages. One is due to be bred.

My family loves the by-products, cream, butter, ice-cream, etc. The cream is thick and wonderful. This jersey family is a sweet and gentle breed but very smart. Average size is 750# - 900#.

Jennifer

 

I have one smaller holstein cow (almost 3 years oldnow, have had her since she was 5 weeks old). Come to think of it smaller holstein is an oxymoron, but it is what she is. I've been milking her since last Aug. when she had her 1st calf. Her next calf is due Nov. 1st. I'm still milking twice a day, but will go to once a day in the summer and stop milking the end fo Aug. I would get the same breed over again, but would want either a holstein used to hand milking or a young calf that could easily bond to me and vice versa. Here's my question.... Do any of you ever get into a funk about milking day after day (I've had a spell lately, it's great once I'm out there, but sometimes I think... I wish I had a break). I was never raised around any livestock, love my gal, love my life, but wonder if any of you who have done it for years experience this every now and then.

 

Christina,
YES!!! But the alternative is that awful tasting store milk that is also awful for your health.
We get tired of most aspects of farming from time to time, but once you get used to the taste of fresh food and having varieties you can't even buy in the store it's hard to give it up. The health aspects of eating chemical free unadulterated foods are a big part of it for us too.

 

Herself gets really tired of always being around the place, but I don't go anywhere except the feed store, so I'm not losing out on anything. I'd like to have the feed delivered in bulk to save money and keep me at home, but Herself says that if I didn't get off the place every once in a while I would just close off the outside world.

I worked on a dairy farm in my teens and my folks always kept milk cows. Herself and I kept dairy goats on our little farm in Kentucky in the '70's and '80's, but I never felt like I had something else I wanted to do.

If I wasn't milking and tending my animals, I would just be staring at the TV or looking out the window. I know that to most folks a milk critter is the biggest tie in the world, but I would be a prisoner here with or without the milk cow. Sometimes, maybe once a year, Herself can get me far enough away from the house that someplace else is closer than home, but it's no easy trick. My boy works for Northwest Airlines and can get us tickets to anyplace for $50 each, round trip. Herself has lots of places she would love to see, but getting me off the place is hard. Sometimes I go out and set in our camping trailer and wish we could use it, and other times I go sit on my Harley and just stare down the road. No, I'm glad we have milk cows, even when it's -56 or when I'm mucking out stalls.

Milking gives me daily structure, something to look forward to, and a reason to be active. What in Heaven would I have to do if I wasn't milking?

 

Do any of you ever get into a funk about milking day after day (I've had a spell lately, it's great once I'm out there, but sometimes I think... I wish I had a break). I was never raised around any livestock, love my gal, love my life, but wonder if any of you who have done it for years experience this every now and then.

I'm sure that anyone who has a milk cow goes through this. I know that getting up everyday at 4:00am so I can feed and milk and get to work on time gets old and then after a day at work and the hour plus commute home I have to change and head to the barn again. There have been days when I thought to myself is it worth it but once inside with my girls I can put away the problems of the day and just enjoy "my" time. it gives me a few minutes to go into neutral and actually calms me downs. I guess it's become my anchor to whats real in this world. I'm finally retired from the Miltary reserves and in a few more years God willing I'll be retired in general and be able to just enjoy the farm 24 X 7. I think I'll be like Haggis actually, you'll have to drag me off the property then.

Jim in MO

 

That was a facinating site that your provided (the Randall Registry Assoc.) - very interesting and very informative! Thank you...

the Old Buck

>

I'm hand milking 5 Randalls right now. Have been milking around 15 years. I feed hay and grass only, and the Randalls seem to be up for it. I would make the same choice again given my commitment to breed conservation, and also that Randalls seem to fit my subsistence farm type of management. They are very hard to get right now, however.

The Randall Cattle Registry, Inc.

 

That was a facinating site that your provided (the Randall Registry Assoc.) - very interesting and very informative! Thank you...

the Old Buck

You're welcome, glad you liked it.

 

Here's my question.... Do any of you ever get into a funk about milking day after day (I've had a spell lately, it's great once I'm out there, but sometimes I think... I wish I had a break). I was never raised around any livestock, love my gal, love my life, but wonder if any of you who have done it for years experience this every now and then.

We used to have a commercial dairy herd. I dind't get tired of it but DH did after his folks retired. When we were all younger we could switch off and both couples of us could take vacations. If you have a friend or family member that could do "relief milking" for you it would give you a break.

We kept all the equipment just in case ...

Ann