OK, I'm having an idea...

[Deleted]

This is about that cow thing again. I've been thinking, what if I went ahead and took neighbor Joe up on his offer, but got a very young heifer, like 6 months or so, and raised her myself so that she was gentled and able to be handled every which way by the time she was ready to be bred. It would set my milk cow plans back a couple of years, but if I can get into it slowly with a young animal, I think it would be best for both her and me.

Rich and I were discussing it and trying to figure out the pros and cons of doing it this way. First off, we'd of course have to feed her for however long we have her before we start getting milk. Well, of course we'll feed her after that, but we'll be getting something in return, then. Also, there's no guarantee that she'll breed and calve properly, but I think the chances are pretty good she will.

I think the money we spend on food for her at first will be a wash with just buying a seasoned milk cow from a dairy. So money wise, I don't think it's going to matter which way we go, but a mature milking cow will need to be milked right NOW, and I've only done that a couple times so far, and not very well, mind you. So I think it would be good for me to get a young heifer and get used to her, and her used to me, for a while before it comes right down to the nitty gritty of milking.

What do you guys think?

Also, Kathy, you said you had a milking Hereford once. Are they a smaller breed than the average Holstein or Brown Swiss? Joe seemed to think we wouldn't be happy with a large cow (feed-wise) like those other two and that a Hereford would be just perfect in size and amount of milk. I'm embarrassed to say, even though I've driven Joe's cattle, it was always the yearlings, and I've not actually stood next to one of the adults and I have no idea how big they actually are. I see them from a distance, but I haven't been up close to one.

My other question, which I forgot to ask Joe, is how old should they be before they're bred the first time?

Anyway, Rich and I think that getting a 6 month old heifer would probably be the best way for me to get into this. Am I missing anything important? I'm so uneducated about cattle. I'm good on horses, dogs, cats, and chickens, though!

Speaking of cats and chickens, our gray fluffy (PJ) has decided to go live in the chicken coop now. He spends almost his entire day out there. We have to literally carry him out every night when I close the coop up! I think he has some new friends.

~Lannie

[Deleted]

Unless I was getting one froma very reliable source, I wouldn't do it any other way.

[Deleted]

You mean you'd get the young one? Yeah, I don't know any of the dairies, they're all over on the other side of the state. I'm just thinking it would be so much more convenient to get one of Joe's, because he's only a couple miles down the road from us.

~Lannie

[bergere]

My Dad raised Hereford's at one time. Lets just say they are not small cattle. And if those one he has are purebred, another lets just say, many of them have health issues.

If you want to raise a milking cow I would get one that is a month or so old. Bottle feed it yourself so you can start the training off really young. Halter training, picking up feet, touching all over is easier and much safer when really young.
Granted it is a lot more time from calf to the milking stage but you will end up with an easier to handle cow.
Unless you find an older one all ready trained.

Smaller breeds that milk, Dexter(pretty cheap and easy to come buy), Milking Devon, the smaller Jerseys & Guernseys.

My Dad ended up breeding black angus...and he found them much more hardy, smaller, and the cows were super tame.
Think any breed of cattle can milk, it just has to have the right temperament.

[Deleted]

If I had a milker already, I wouldn't have a problem bottle feeding a calf, but right now I have to pay $2.00 a gallon for my raw milk. So I need to get one that's weaned.

Also, remember where we live, Bergere. We are in the heart of beef country. There are Angus, and there are Herefords. These people have never heard of a Dexter, although I agree, that would be a great breed to have, but we can't afford to have one shipped from some other state.

My first choice would have been a Jersey, but I don't think there's a Jersey anywhere in this state, either. Also, I heard they have more problems calving than most other breeds, and that's definitely something I don't want to have to deal with, considering the closest large animal vet is 75 miles away.

Now, you mentioned health problems with Herefords. What kind of problems? We have a choice of Angus or Herefords here locally, so if a Hereford is going to be more of a problem, I can look for an Angus from one of the other ranchers around here. In fact, the family we get our milk from raises Angus, so I could probably get one from them for a fairly decent price, but it wouldn't be free.

Need more specifics! Like I said, I know next to nothing about cattle, so I need all the input I can get.

Thanks!

~Lannie

[Deleted]

get goats.

hehe

Kaza[/size]
~Just another day in paradise~

[bergere]

Lets see, Dad's purebred papered Herfords, where very well taken care of. Even though, they had a lot of pink eye and hoof issues and some even had calving issues. Always having to give them one kind of meds or another. There were other problems, but am trying to remember what they were. Sigh ~~
Was long ago.

Not sure where is SD you are but here are some breeders of different kinds of cattle. If the breeders are not near you they might know someone who is.

Dexter
South Dakota
Valley View Farm
Roger or Cindy Leeper
3300 N. Ellis Rd.
Sioux Falls, SD 57107
E-mail:[e-mail]
------------------------------------------------------------
Maine cattle, though they are larger.
www.maine-anjou.org/membership.html#SOUTH%20DAKOTA
www.deroucheycattle.com/forsale.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BLARNEY JERSEYS
Kyle and Pat Cronin and Gerald Feikema
Address:20865 404Th Ave., Huron, SD 57350 (MapQuest)
Location:Farm is located 4 miles east of Huron on Highway 14
Contacts:[phone] (Phone/Fax)

[phone] (Barn/Dairy Office)

[e-mail] (Email)


Herd Info:• 30 milking cows
• Enrolled in REAP program
• Equity Investor
Comment:


GRABER JERSEYS INC
Calvin and Jay Graber
Address:44797 281St St., Parker, SD 57053 (MapQuest)
Location:Farm located 22 miles west and 1 mile south of I-29, exit 64; or 7 miles south and 1 mile east of Marion; or 8 miles west and 2 miles north of Hurley.
Contacts:[phone]

[phone] (World Headquarters)

[phone] (Fax)

[e-mail] (Email)


Herd Info:• 30 milking cows
• Enrolled in REAP program
• Equity Investor
Comment:Cows and breeding bulls for sale or lease. Jerseys since 1927. Dairyland Jersey Sires, Inc.

UPLAND HUTTERIAN BRETHERN JERSEYS
Ronnie Wurtz, Dairy Manager
Address:24221 412 Ave., Artesian, SD 57314 (MapQuest)
Location:Farm located 10 miles north, 3 miles east and one mile north of Mitchell.
Contacts:[phone] (Phone/Fax)


Herd Info:• 112 milking cows
• Enrolled in REAP program
• Equity Investor
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I know there are Brown Swiss shown all over your state at the County faires but they do not have breeders in an easy to find format.
www.brownswissusa.com/breeders.htm

Sure you can find Angus breeders in your area.

[Deleted]

Boy, you're a great help, Kaza! LOL!

I actually wanted goats at one time, but Rich refuses to drink goat milk, and we don't have the fences. It would cost more to refence this place than it would to buy a cow.

And you know, I don't think they have goats in this blasted beef state, either! At least, I've never seen one. They have sheep, though. But I am NOT milking a sheep!

~Lannie

[bergere]

But, but Lannie, I love sheep milk!! And cheese, cream.......... ;D
They are much easier to keep fenced, well at least the ones I had.
My goats where another story though.

[Deleted]

Wow, Bergere, thanks for doing that digging! It's nice to know there actually ARE Jerseys in SD. Unfortunately, all those places are over on the eastern side, and I'm all the way over on the western side.

Our neighbor that used to have a Jersey (she died from mastitis - I mean the cow died, not the neighbor! ) had to go all the way to Watertown, which is over by S. Falls. It's a 7 hour one-way drive, and that's where all the dairies are. SD is split into "West Dakota" (all beef ranchers) and "East Dakota" (all farms and dairies).

Also, my other concern is (and I hesitate to even say this, but oh well), I'd rather stay under the radar as far as livestock goes. SD seems to be heading toward NAIS - at least all the socialists on the east side are - so I'd prefer not to end up with an animal that's already chipped and registered, and from what I understand, most of the dairies already are. That's just what I heard, I don't know if they ALL are, but I'd rather play it safe.

I'm really surprised to see a Dexter breeder in SD, even though they're in Sioux Falls. I might contact them, just for sh*ts and giggles, and see what they say. It would still be a long drive, though. No, wait, that won't work, I don't think. I don't know how small they are, but the only bulls around here available for breeding would be the Herefords or Angus. I think they might be too big, don't you? Sheesh, I've never even SEEN a Dexter in real life, only pictures, and I have no idea what their size is.

Regarding the Hereford health issues, did your dad raise them in that area there, or was it when you lived back east? I know when I had my horses over in the valley, I was constantly fighting thrush in their hooves because of the wet ground 10 months out of the year. Since we've been in Redmond, and now here, I haven't seen a single instance of it. Their hooves are nice and dry and hard and we rarely even have to trim them because they chip and wear really well on this ground. Was that maybe what the hoof problems were? And I'm not too worried about pinkeye - I have stuff here that will take care of that. I don't like hearing about calving problems, though. Oh, and before, when I said I'd heard Jerseys had calving problems, it was mastitis I meant. They're more prone to mastitis than other breeds.

Well, Joe's used to calving (he has a very large herd), so maybe if I have problems, he can come and help. He's 76 (you wouldn't know it to look at him) and he's been ranching his whole life, so I'm sure he's seen just about everything.

Thanks again for those links - I'll check them out, just in case. ;D

~Lannie

[bergere]

Dad moved to Grass Vally CA (family issues in NC) and was raising them there. Pretty dry place and hot.

Sure most the places might know a breeder or a backyard owner of those kinds of cattle in your area. I know lots of people don't advertise.
Someone I know got her milking Dexter from a friend that knew another friend and so on.

Think an Dexter, Angus cross would be just fine. Dad's Black Angus were not much, if any bigger than the Dexters I have seen.

Hear you on the NAIS thing. Just do not know how that is going to pan out. Was hoping it would go away by now.

Anyway,,, good luck shopping!

[Deleted]

Well, I was able to speak to ONE (yes, just one - the rest never called me back) of those Jersey breeders over on the other side of the state. He was really nice, but he said the closest person to me that he knows has Jerseys is in Philip, which is still over a hundred miles from here. The prices start at $1500 and he said we'd probably be looking at closer to $2000 for a Jersey, so we've decided to go with Joe's Hereford.

I found a really cool milk cow forum and I've been asking questions over there, and apparently it's not all that unusual to milk a Hereford. They're generally nice and docile, and take well to being hand milked.

We talked to Joe day before yesterday and he's going to be weaning last spring's calves the first of November, so I guess we'll be getting our little girl then. She'll be 7 months old, and I've been told that's not too late to begin handling and gentling her. I don't think I'll have a problem, not with the way I treat my critters. Joe said we can take her back over next summer to breed her for a spring '08 calf. Or, I can still take her over to the milk-cow neighbors and breed her to an Angus. Joe keeps his herd right on the other side of our north fence during the summer, so it would be very easy to just open the gate and let her in there - no trailering to the other peoples' place. Well, we have time to worry about that later.

Right now I'm trying to figure out if we have enough hay to last both horses and the heifer through the winter. We had some late rain this year, so the pastures have greened up and started growing again, which is good, but it's been really cold the last week or so. I've been tossing a couple of flakes in for the girls each night for the past three days, just to give them something to chew on during the night because they've been spending their nights in the barn. I don't think they have enough fuzz yet to want to graze the pasture when it's 15 degrees with a 20 mph wind! I don't blame them.

Several people on the cow forum said we could ration the hay for the heifer and supplement with alfalfa pellets, so I think that's what we'll do if it looks like the hay won't last until April. At her age, they said as long as she gets 3-5 lbs of hay every day, along with a couple of cans of pellets, she should do fine. I've been wanting to switch Wind over to plain alfalfa pellets anyway, so this way I can feed both her and the calf with the cheaper alfalfa pellets and save the spendy senior feed for Aiesha, who really needs it.

Oh, and I asked Joe about any foot problems with any of his cattle, and he says he's had none. Maybe it's a regional thing? I dunno. Also, I think one of his Herefords will be good because they're hardy in this area. I've never seen a fuzzy Jersey (not saying there are none, I've just never seen a picture of one), and Joe's cattle all have good thick winter coats on them already. At least I won't have to worry about the cold with the cow like I do with Aiesha. And judging by the way she acts, I don't think Wind has ever seen the inside of a barn before she came here, so she should be fine in the cold, too.

~Lannie

[bergere]

Ouch,,, that is sure a high price for a Jersey!

H's are pretty cattle that is for sure.
Dad had a mama H, that loved licking my DS hair when he was a baby. DS would fuss if she stopped, kind'a surprised me knowing how rough cow tongues are. She was a sweet heart.
So here is hoping your's will be just as sweet.

Of course,, will be needing pictures when you get her. ;D