Choosing a Homestead Dairy Cow
Choosing your first dairy cow is a bit like choosing a husband. First, you are attracted to his looks – nice shoulders, handsome face, strong arms, tight – oops, got side-tracked there. Then, you start to notice his personality – honest, hard-working, funny, kind. Finally, you realize you have a lot in common and enjoy spending time together. You have similar goals in life and plans for the future. A match made in Heaven!
I think bringing home Miss Bessie is a lot like that. You notice her sweet, gentle face with those big brown eyes and her full udder. She is lovely. Then, you see how she interacts with other cattle and her current owner and how easily she walks to her stall for milking. What a wonderful cow! Finally, you learn she produces 5 gallons of milk a day and you dream of a table overflowing with butter, ice cream, and yogurt. She is JUST what you need on your homestead. Of course! You want to spend time with her twice a day.
Every. Day.
Rain or shine.
Sleet.
Snow.
Horseflies.
Muck to your knees.
It will be perfect.
Call the florist and reserve the hall for a reception!
Bessie is coming home!
Slow down for a moment and get out a piece of paper and a pencil. There are things you need to consider before you bring the cow home.
Facilities
You will need a shelter from cold, wet weather (think sleet or rain/snow mix at 38° F with a brisk wind) and protection from extreme heat. The animals need to have access to a shelter independent of you. We have an open shed always available for cover in the pasture and we have a large stall at one end of our hay barn that we move our dairy animals into when we know bad weather is headed our way in the Winter. A heavy stand of tall pines can be enough protection if that is available.
You need pasture with good fencing. Cattle are big and they require room to move around. 2 – 5 acres for grazing 1 or 2 cattle is a good place to start. Grazing forage availability changes with weather and season. We live in eastern Ohio on marginal land – not the best for growing warm or cold season grasses. Some summers we are supplementing with hay or chopped green forage in late July. Other summers, the cattle need very little supplementation. It all depends on the weather, amount of rainfall, and number/type of animals on the pasture.
If you have very good soil and an established, healthy pasture, you can rotational graze on a small scale, moving your cow from one small paddock to another every few days. The small paddocks grow while the cow is grazing in another one. Then she is moved to a fresh paddock with lots of grass. There are books, journals, and even agricultural degrees in the field of rotational grazing and this isn’t the place to discuss all the details. County Extension offices usually have a grazing specialist who can help you decide what forage is best for your situation.
This is the type of milking machine we use. Ours is manufactured by Surge. It works very well and is easy to sanitize. It keeps the milk much cleaner, too.
You also need a place to milk. We use the back area of a pole barn/workshop. We have a headlock system, a place to feed and room to milk the cows. We carry in water to rinse the equipment. Because we use a Surge milk machine, we need electricity, but if you plan to milk by hand you won’t. You will need some type of lighting, though. It’s important to inspect the cow, especially her udder, daily.
Milking stanchion with headlocks are secured to the back wall of a pole barn. We bring the cows in and out of a side door.
Your buildings and pasture should be ready before Bessie comes to the homestead.
Features to Consider
I love cows and tended to overlook obvious deficiencies when we wanted to buy one. Thankfully, Bob was more levelheaded about the purchase. When you are considering a cow or heifer you want to consider:
· Size – smaller is better. When a cow has a very large frame it takes more feed for the cow to sustain her body. When a large cow is producing milk her energy (feed) needs increase even more. She will lose weight and her milk production will drop. A smaller framed cow is better for the homestead. Jersey, Devon, smaller Guernsey and Friesians are good options. Some folks like miniature animals, though they are not for me.
Noel was a perfect homestead dairy cow. She had a small, compact body, nice udder and was as gentle as could be.
· Teat size – teats are what you squeeze to get the milk out. Especially if you are planning to milk by hand you want a teat that is at least 3” long. I would go for 4”. On the flip side – if the teat is too long, she could slice it with her hoof when she lies down. (Also, realize that if the electricity goes out you will be milking by hand – Milking has to be done.)
Hilda has a nice compact udder with good attachment. Her teats are a bit small for hand milking comfortably. Unfortunately, she didn't like being milked and kicked a lot, though she had been hand-raised and handled since she was a calf. We finally put her out to pasture with her calf and she generously helps another cow feed her growing twins.
· Age – There are two schools of thought here – some folks like the idea of getting a heifer (has never had a calf) and training her. Heifers are usually younger, but more skittish. Training a new momma can be a time consuming, and at times, dangerous activity. Cows can kick and break your arm or leg. You can build a training stall, but that is an additional investment of money and time. The cow we have now is a bit older and had been in a small herd dairy before we bought her. She was used to being handled and milked. She is gentle and understands what we need her to do – be at the gate every morning and ready to go to the milk parlor.
· Attitude – is EVERYTHING!!! A cow or heifer with a bad attitude is a nightmare. Docile. Gentle. Calm. Good demeaner. Easygoing. Unshakeable. Obliging. Those are the words you want to hear when buying your cow. (Look up docile in the thesaurus and find a cow that fits the synonyms.) Avoid a cow with a spiral hair whorl above the eyes – they are nearly always more agitated, aggressive cows. Here’s a link with some data about whorls. https://www.grandin.com/references/abstract.html
· What breed is she? Breed influences size, milk production, easy of birthing, and, perhaps, most importantly, what type of milk she will produce. Most people have heard about A2A2 milk and how it is superior for health to A1A2 milk. A2A2 milk has a specific protein which results in milk that is more digestible. Some research has found a correlation between A1A2 milk and chronic illness (diabetes, heart disease, Crohns, etc.) and lactose intolerance. A2A2 milk means both parents carried the A2 gene. There is a lot of information online about this, so it is worth your time to do some research for your family before you bring a cow home. A few of the breeds which carry the A2A2 gene are:
o Jersey
o Guernsey
o Brown Swiss
o Devon
o Dexter
o Normande
o Desi breeds (from India)
o Also, goats, sheep, yaks, camels
· More on breeds – Some breeds are better for cross-breeding and have easy births. You may want to breed your dairy cow to a beef bull and raise the calf for meat. This is a usual practice among homesteaders. Other breeds are considered dual-purpose. This means they can be raised for meat and milk. Dual-purpose breeds may not produce as much milk as a single purpose dairy breed – but how much milk does your family need?
Certain breeds are also able to be milked once a day instead of mandatory twice daily milking. Because they produce less milk and their udders have a large capacity, they tolerate once a day milking without developing mastitis. We milk only in the morning and have the rest of the day free. Jerseys and Jersey-crosses are the breed standard for once daily milking.
· Udders – you want an udder which sits tight up against the underside of the cow, not loose and saggy (it may look like a deflated balloon when empty and that’s ok). It should be symmetrical (equal in size on both sides), soft even when full, warm but not hot to the touch, and 4 teats. (Some cows have small accessory teats which are non-functional and these should not affect ability to milk but you won’t know on a heifer until she ‘freshens’ the first time if the accessory teats cause a problem.) There shouldn’t be any red, swollen or sore areas and no wounds or cuts on the udder.
Emma, a Jersey/Friesian cross, has a large udder with generous teats. She has good attachment in the front and rear of the udder. She is about 8 years old and is a great asset to our homestead. She is milked once daily.
· Broad, open hips, as seen from the rear and a broad, open chest as seen from the front. The open hips indicate birthing ease and a broad chest indicate ability to convert grass to milk. You want to avoid a narrow chest and hips. Again, in a young heifer/calf, you may not be able to determine these characteristics. Look at her mother to see what her genetics are like.
· Overall good health. She should look content, healthy, glowing. Her eyes are bright and shining. Her coat is smooth (in Winter cows develop a rougher undercoat but that should look even, too). She doesn’t have rough, bare areas that may be from ringworm or other fungal diseases. Her hooves are neat and not overgrown. No obvious wounds. A dairy cow is ‘bonier’ than her beef cousin, but her ribs shouldn’t be sticking out like a starved dog. You will see her hip bones and maybe her front 6 or 7 ribs.
I have been using this book by Mary Jane Butters to create many, many dairy products. I feel like I have my own little dairy company, "Polly's Creamery". :-) There are recipes, information about cows and equipment, encouragement, and resources. Today, I made cultured buttermilk (for cheeses), butter, ice cream, and strained and chilled 2 gallons of fresh milk.
Where to buy a dairy cow
The best place to buy any animal for your homestead is from someone you know and trust. Remember that homesteading network I talked about a few months ago? Put the word out that you are looking for a dairy cow. Get names and references from your friends. Talk to people at the feed mill and the Agriculture Extension office.
Avoid auction barns, ‘dealers’, and animal brokers (people who buy and sell animals frequently). Dairy animals require a huge commitment on your part and you deserve a healthy animal which will pull its own weight on the farm, not be a drain on resources because of veterinarian bills and poor production.
We bought our cow from a small dairy which was reducing its stock because the herdswoman had gotten another job and didn’t have time to milk all the cows. She was regretful to sell Emma and asked a fair price. We knew the family and felt confident in the way Emma’s lactations had been managed. Bob happened to talk to the farm owner and learned they were reducing the herd. It was dumb luck on our part.
I have seen advertisements for family milk cows in agricultural weekly papers. We have raised and sold a few family cows ourselves. Always make more than one visit to the farm before you buy. Look at the entire herd, not just the cow for sale. Do they look healthy? Are they calm? Does the cow ‘check all the boxes’ for what you are looking for? Take someone who is more knowledgeable with you to examine the udder and overall health. A reputable seller will be glad you are doing a thorough job examining their animal.
We bought one of these ice cream makers and have been making all sorts of ice cream. I made basic vanilla today, but I have homemade strawberry jam to top it with. Yum. I got tired of dealing with the ice water and salt everywhere when we wanted to make ice cream so we broke down and bought this one. Ours is red and it was a bit cheaper than the silver one. Make sure you check out the options.
A dairy animal is foundational to the success of a sustainable homestead. Her milk will not only feed your family but also pigs, chickens, dog and cats, calves, and even the garden. She provides a protein source for your family with her milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, buttermilk, sour cream and more. I haven’t even mentioned homemade ice cream. {{{sigh}}}
We prefer cows to dairy goats for many reasons, including cream separation (for butter), fencing and housing issues, taste, quantity of milk per animal, and general demeanor. (Goats are nuts!)
Next time, my daughter is going to write about dairy goats and when they may be an option on your homestead.
Dairy Science is an entire field of study with advanced college degrees that include PhD – level research. This article is the tip of the iceberg. I am including some Amazon links to books about owning a family cow or small dairy. (We get a very small payment if you buy a book or other supplies using one of these links. This doesn’t increase your cost in any way.)
Dairy Fly Spray
Lavender Essential Oil 20 drops
Cedarwood Essential Oil 20 drops
Geranium Essential Oil 20 drops
Citronella Essential Oil 20 drops
I use a quart sized pressurized sprayer that I purchased at Dollar General. Add the above oils to a quart of water and shake well right before spraying on the cow. I do this daily before milking.
Udder Balm
3 oz olive oil
1 oz beeswax
1 oz shea butter
1 oz coconut oil
1 teaspoon local honey
Warming gently, melt all oils/butters together and stir in beeswax, mixing until wax melts.
Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Add:
Frankencense 15 drops
Helichrysum 5 drops
Lavender 15 drops
Tea Tree 15 drops
Stir well and cool. The solution should become opaque and then firm like Vasoline.
Store in airtight container.
Apply to teats after milking, especially in Winter to prevent chapped and cracked teats. I keep the container in my winter coat pocket so it stays soft. It becomes very hard if left in cold barn. (Ask me how I know.)
Enjoy this beautiful weather we are having.
I hope you are all stocking your pantries and toiletry cupboards while you are able.
Polly
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