Just starting to work it out.... first cow questions

greybeard

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Wrench in the works..

This weekend I received one of my 'cow care' books and went to one of those 'all natural, chem-free' makeup, nutrition, skin care "parties". I had just started reading about how to pick a breed of cow and the basics of care when I sat through 2hrs of this woman telling us how terrible all things dairy were (among many other things).
I'm not generally not a jump-on-the-bandwagon sort of person, but now I'm confused.
I thought that milk was good for you?
I assume that she was talking about the commercial, processed milk and not raw milk?
And then, when I aksed someone the next day about raw milk, they told me that raw milk is dangerous and even backyard milk has to be pasturized .

HUH????
Question?
Was the purpose of this soiree to try to sell a product/service/regimen of some sort?
 

canesisters

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Yup.
;)
I decided that I could continue to wash my face with what I already have and spend the $250 on a load of gravel for my muddy driveway.

On another note. What options for milking do I have... or rather, what options for milking will the cow allow? My hours have been changed to opening at 6:30. So I have to be out of the house by 5:50. I'm already up at 4 to get everything done and not thrilled about the idea of moving that to 3:00.
Is it possible to milk in the afternoon instead? OR, if I leave her calf with her... will I still have any milk in the afternoon???
Or should I start whining now about my hours and try to get moved back to 8:00am start??:rolleyes:


(this is going to get complicated, I just know it)
 

WildRoseBeef

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You don't have to milk twice a day! You can just have the milking as once a day, and leave it to the afternoons when you get home. Nothing wrong with once a day milking, as it's quite common among those with their family milk cows.
 

jhm47

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There are people everywhere who are willing to trash a product in order to advance their own. I would suspect that this "party woman" sells a highly overpriced product that has zero scientific evidence that it's superior to milk, but she had lots of testimonials from people who used it and believe in it. Check back in a year or so, and these same people will have discontinued using the product. There's a sucker born every minute.
 

canesisters

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:weee
SO EXCITED! Going this weekend to meet a neighbor's cows and spend a little time with them.
Poor guy... gonna pester him to death with questions.
 

canesisters

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Well it was a success! I showed them how to can meat - we did 3 quarts of chicken and 4 pints of BBQ.
And then went out to play with the cows. I HAD NO IDEA! They were curious, friendly, funny, affectionate... These were Herriford (sp?) cows with an angus bull. Even the bull was a sweetie (still scared me though - he was MASSIVE). I told him that I was in love with his sweet-faced mama cow. And we have a bet. He said that she's fat.. I said she was pregnant. We'll see. If it's a girl calf, I get first dibs! LOL
 

Baymule

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Cane, a Hereford is a meat cow, as I'd an Angus. First dibs for steak and hamburger maybe, but not a milker. Get a steer for meat and name him Pot Roast. LOL

Aren't cows cool? They can become big pets. I miss having cows, but don't want to deal with them now. Not to derail your plans, but have you considered milk goats? They are smaller and keeping a buck would not be the big deal as keeping a bull.
 

greybeard

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That calf will be a black baldie--can't get any better than that for beef or making calves.
(don't let anyone try to tell you it's a "Black Hereford".)
 

canesisters

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Hi Bay,
Yes, I've thought a lot about goats. They're EASY to get a hold of around here, and I've had a little bit of experience with them. But, I'd have to do some MAJOR fence overhauling to make my pastures goat safe. I am though, trying to work out how to build a 'goat tractor' that I can move along my fence lines and let a pair of goats keep my fences clean.

Greybeard, I got my breeds mixed up. I meant to say that the cows were Holstien, not Hereford.
(had to google breeds to find the right one.... I've got SOO much to learn)
 
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