what is good cow for milking?

miron28

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i am thinking about getting a couple of cows and useing one for milking. what is a good cow to start of with. i will be hand milking her. what age do they have to be before you can start milking them?
 

m.holloway

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oh boy, hope santa brings you the cows! can't wait till you get your answer. cuz i would like to know too!! if the 2 cows i have now work out. that's what i thinking about get too. good luck!!:)
 

Farmer Kitty

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A lot of people like the jerseys for a family cow. Good dispostion and they milk good but, not as much as a larger cow. Any cow should be milked twice a day-roughly 12 hours apart. If you don't need all the milk you could get a calf to give it to or put the calf on her for one milking. Example: milk her in the morning and then put the calf with her during the day. Take the calf away at night so you can have the milk in the morning. You may need to feed the calf one feeding depending on the timing.

Usually, a heifer, is breed to have her first calf at about 2 years old and then you can milk her.
 

miron28

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do i need to get a pasteurizer? or can i just put the milk in to a milk container and drink it from there?
 

steerrider

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Personally I love Jerseys (cows) for thier temperment. However after hand milking many, I will never own one EVER. Thier teats are genrally to small and makes hand milking very hard.

If I were to buy a "milk" cow for the farm I would buy Gernsy or Dexter due to temperment and teat size, along with amount of milk given.

as for pasturizing. all that is is cooking your milk. It will have a cooked flavor. If your cows are healthy you don't need one.
I wouldn't say I was the smartest rock on the pile according to USDA regulations.. however I have never owned a pasturizer, I have always TB tested my cattle or ask for the test results before buying a cow, and

the most important part

Before you buy

ask to hand milk the cow..

Make sure her teats are a good size for you and she has the temperment you want.
 

Farmer Kitty

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miron28 said:
do i need to get a pasteurizer? or can i just put the milk in to a milk container and drink it from there?
You don't need to pasturize the milk. We get it straight from the bulktank and drink it that way. As steerridder said, as long as your cows are healthy you will be fine. I haven't had a chance to study up on it but, I've heard that there are newer studies showing benefits to drinking raw milk.
 

miron28

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should i buy a cow at the auction that was a dairy cow or should i buy a calf and wait the 2 years?
when i do milk her, what should i put the milk in? do i milk her into a stainless steal pale and then pour it in to a plastic container? and how much milk will i get from her a day?
will she let another calf that is not hers eat off her? or will she not let him cause it is not hers?
do they sell a milker that will pump into a container? or do i really have to hand milk her?

sorry about all the quetions! i have more questions but i will start off with these and ask more as you guys answer thank you for all the help!
 

Imissmygirls

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You breed a heifer at 12-15 months so she calves around 2 yrs. Jerseys should be bred earlier. We had problems breeding Jerseys if we waited longer than 12 months. Had an oops! at 9 months once !
For a family cow, you can feed to the amount of milk you want. The Jersey we had was a 4H animal that I couldn't find a dairy home for. So she calved on the front lawn and we started milking!
Dairy cows generally give too much milk for just one calf. Also you have to be careful that the calves don't *bump* the udder and encourage bruising. That isn't critical in the beef breeds. Not sure about the Dexters, etc.
They won't accept a calf not their own but you can buy others and feed them with her milk. We did quite a few that way to use the milk.
Our Jersey milked about 40 lbs a day at calving. 2x a day milking. I fed her just enough grain to keep her in condition for rebreeding, not so much that she made more milk. AS an example of what feeding does, in her 3rd lactation, she did go to a farm and they fed her for production and she made 80 lbs/day. ( That's almost 10 gallons, folks, and I am not about to handmilk THAT much!)
Our gal kept up close to 40 lbs for most of the lactation, then decreasing to about 15 lbs/day when it wasn't worth washing the milk bucket for under a gallon of milk at a time:)
I found that efficient hand milking was just as quick as getting out a pump, then washing the milker, teat cups, etc.
I put the milk through a milk strainer, then cooled it in cold/ice water in my sink. The quicker you cool it, the better it tastes.
Jersey milk is VERY rich. At times, I suspect we had 25% cream on my gallon jars. ( Yes, Kitty, I know that is insane, but it really looked like that much! Had to be 10+% test)
I threw away a lot of cream because there was just too much to use. No pigs or chickens around.
 

Farmer Kitty

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miron28 said:
should i buy a cow at the auction that was a dairy cow or should i buy a calf and wait the 2 years? That depends on when you want the milk and if you are ready for an actual cow and milking her. If you decide on a cow steerrider had a very good point. If you can, go to the farm and see her, handle her, work with her before you buy her.
when i do milk herAfter she calves/freshens twice a day (roughly 12 hours apart)., what should i put the milk in? do i milk her into a stainless steal pale and then pour it in to a plastic container?I do believe that is the preferred method for hand milking. and how much milk will i get from her a day? Depends on the cow and how she is feed, as Imissmygirls pointed out.
will she let another calf that is not hers eat off her? or will she not let him cause it is not hers?This really depends on the cow. Some will except only hers and some will acept others.
do they sell a milker that will pump into a container? or do i really have to hand milk her? They make small vacuum pumps and either Delaval or Surge make buckets type milkers. Look at the equipment page (link in the index in my sig). Personnally, I hate hand milking and having to wash a unit would be worth it but, that is a personal decision. If you can, go to a dairy farm and milk a cow by hand. Try to go and do this a few times and see if you really want to milk by hand or not. It would be really great if it were the cow you wanted to buy, if your buying a cow. But, even buying a calf you should giv it a try so you know what you want to do.

sorry about all the quetions! i have more questions but i will start off with these and ask more as you guys answer thank you for all the help!
 

kstaven

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Farmer Kitty said:
miron28 said:
do i need to get a pasteurizer? or can i just put the milk in to a milk container and drink it from there?
You don't need to pasturize the milk. We get it straight from the bulktank and drink it that way. As steerridder said, as long as your cows are healthy you will be fine. I haven't had a chance to study up on it but, I've heard that there are newer studies showing benefits to drinking raw milk.
Here is some reading for you. http://wildthingorganics.com/milk.pdf
 
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