"HoneyBun" Our First Family Cow!!!
Hey there friends! As many of you know we have been very busy lately researching, shopping for, and bringing home our first family cow! It's been very exciting and challenging in that this is all new territory for us. I,TexasMom, have known about this goal of having a family milk cow for many years now but over the past couple of months the cow chatter seemed to be heightened and I knew it was the right time.
So fast forward to the nitty gritty here. We have a cow!!! She's a four year old beautiful Jersey Milk Cow and the boys and I named her "HoneyBun"...calling her "Honey" for short. She came from a beautiful farm about 2 hours from where we live. She is pregnant and will be, Lord willing, giving us a baby calf in late December.
Honey has been an absolute dream come true in every way so far! She is so amazingly gentle and calm by nature. She is learning how to lead to and from the milking stanchion and her pasture everyday. She even got a bath two days ago and loved every minute of it. She is really just a pleasure to be around and joy to milk.
For the first couple of days we were just tying her to a tree in the corner of the hoophouse/cowshelter. But she seemed to be getting a little antsy with that set up, so TexasDad and the boys built her a milking stanchion which seems to keep her still.
We have decided to feed her ChaffHaye which is a fermented alfalfa product that is excellent for many types of animals, cows included. We are also giving her access to hay, minerals, and salt free choice. She gets a couple handfuls of oats when shes being milked.
We are still in the beginning stages of owning a family cow and even started reading the book called, "Keeping a Family Cow". It's an excellent read for anyone considering someday owning a cow. It sheds a lot of light on the importance of a cow's role on a farm/homestead.
I was honestly torn between so many milking breeds and even miniature dairy cows vs. standard size. UGGG!!! However, after watching WAY too many youtube videos and a few conversations with some local breeders, I was reassured in our decision to just buy a standard size Jersey Milk Cow. It was a little challenging also to find a Jersey that has good size teats that will be comfortable for hand milking. Today most modern dairy cows have been bred to have smaller teats which are more ideal for machine milking rather than hand milking. So we were extremely thankful to find a family cow with nice large hand milking teats. I found it helpful to watch a few videos on good cow confirmation as well. This helped when we were looking at cows to understand better what are desirable traits.
So, like I said, we are only a few days in on our "Family Cow Journey" but so far it has been AMAZING! I can honestly say that our years of experience in owning dairy goats has helped us transition into this endeavor with much more animal know-how and appreciation. Also my younger years spent riding and training horses has really come into play over the past couple days as well. I forgot how much I really enjoy working with large animals and Miss Honey has already stolen my heart!
I hope y'all stay tuned as we find homes for our goaties and continue to make this transition into a more sustainable lifestyle. Hope Y'all have a blessed day! ~TexasMom
Just watched your Live and Q&A and was happy to hear you are now on Steemit. Glad to see you here.
Good to be here
How precious, She is a beauty....and she is all yours ...many more blessings to come I am sure! We have cows and goats and I have milked both..I is an amazing adventure though..loved every minute. (We still have them just in case ;/) I had to give it up as my time was getting crushed...fortunately I have a raw milk source and am sooo blessed. :)
Melissa
Shared to show your progress!
Thanks Wee!!! Hope your having a great day!
~TexasMom, thanks for this post. I have been thinking on getting a cow. Gives me additional things to consider. So far I'm leaning toward the mini milkers, but haven't made the final decision. Upvoted.
I considered the mini jerseys too. But after talking to a breeder on the phone...she simply asked me one question..."how many children are in your family?" I replied...5..( 2 of which are babies that drink bottles/sippy cups). She said bluntly..."you don't need a mini cow..you need a standard size milk cow." Hope that helps ya.
When a standard size jersey first "freshens" (gives birth) she will give more milk. As time goes on, their milk supply will lessen until, nearing the end of her lactation cycle( which is where we are now with Honey) she will only give between 1-2 gallons a day. Honey has been giving about a gallon and a half with milking her morning and night. I was very intimidated by the amount of milk a standard size cow could produce but now I'm ok with it. There are so many uses for milk around the homestead. We plan to use it for making all of our dairy products, consuming it, and feeding to the animals.
Welcome to the family HoneyBun!
Thanks Dude!
Please check out the book, "Keeeping a Family Cow" if you haven't already. It is an excellent read about the important role a family cow plays on a homestead. The economics of a family farm, in most cases, were all centered around the family cow!
We bought the digital download of the book off of amazon
What an amazing way to show us all that you are doing. Keep it up!
It's really a cool way to just journal our homesteading adventures. Thanks for the encouragement.
You go I enjoy your posts
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I never knew that about the cows being bred to have smaller teat sizes for the machines. Very interesting. Great information!