I thought it was a warning – I have a friend who “babysat” a cow for the summer, and the beast certainly thought it was a pet. When I visited it followed me around and ask me to scratch its muzzle and ears, and was just an incredibly friendly, sociable animal, like an enormous dog.
How hard is it to manage a small dairy cattle herd?
Let’s put it this way. A cow is like a two-year old kid. Needy, surprisingly quick on its feet, prone to wander off if you aren’t watching, and not really able to tell you what it wants or how it’s feeling. You have to feed it every day; tend to its bodily needs at least twice a day, every day; figure out when it’s sick and whether you can take care of it yourself, or call in someone who knows more. You have to clean up after it, and you have to do things to it God didn’t really foresee when He invented cows and people.
Now imagine that kid weighs 1,000 pounds, and can kill you with a kick to the right spot.
My Father-in-law was always on the lookout for Bitterweed which did give milk an unpleasant flavor. I also see in the link that it can be toxic as well.
That is my impression, from seeing small farmers at work. The work has to be automated if the herd is bigger, so just having a few cows can almost be harder work.
Better to make friends with a local dairy farmer. Or just buy what you need.
Here in Poland many people live on smallholdigns. and I mean live; much of their income and food comes from a few acres. But they still need money from somewhere, so they either sell produce or have a daytime job. Also, it’s a lifestyle thing. Those people usually like to stay where they are.
But, it is also noticeable that the people who do this are not the youngest, and the kids often don’t want to continue this, even as hobby farming. Which is what it amounts to, in terms of income. I have also noticed that these people might keep a cow or two, but no pigs. And some of them have given up keeping even one cow, as it was too much work. If you really want your own livestock, ducks, geese and chickens are less work. But you still need to have someone who can help out of you fancy a vacation. And you could only entrust cows to someone who knows about them.
Best to think in terms of an integrated farm. Use the manure on the fields. Better yet, if you will put in the work, is to compost it. I get horse, cow and chicken manure from local sources and jut mix it into the compost heap - no smell at all. Compost is way better for plants, manure is very acidic while it decomposes, and it stucking finks.
Weeds from seeds in manure are a problem. Esp. with less processed ones like from horses.
So composting is a good idea. As to using uncomposted stuff via manure spreading you’re basically putting seeds back onto a field that already had those plants. The welcome ones are not a problem, the unwelcome ones join their brethren that didn’t take the side trip through the cow and are dealt with the same way.
But when it comes to things like gardening where introduction of plant pests from outside is a concern, then proper composting is a must.
Can’t add much except I’d suggest starting small, no more than 3 cows at first. If you are calm and keep to a schedule the cows will learn where to go pretty quickly - no need for dogs. Absolutely do not get a bull - it makes no sense for that small number of cows, the genetics of a bull at an AI stud is going to be worlds better than any bull you can buy so the next generation of cows will be better than their mothers, and most importantly, bulls on farms cause more injuries than any other animal. Unless you invest in proper fencing/shoots/head catches a bull is a huge risk.
As a bovine veterinarian my #1 piece of advice is to make sure any cow you buy is healthy. Specifically that it is negative for mastitis, Johne’s disease, and any of the other issues that persist forever if they are brought onto a farm by a carrier animal. This means developing a relationship with a veterinarian before cattle are purchased. It will save you a great deal of money in the long run.
As a final thought - he might consider investing in a desirable rare breed like the Dutch Belted or Dexter. Then there may be a value added market for the calves. But don’t get Guernseys - they are born looking for a place to die. I almost lost one with only a small hoof abscess.
Do owners of small herds do a CMT every day? What’s the likelihood that an individual cow will experience mastitis at some point in her productive life? How important is milking hygiene for prevention of mastitis?
It’d be funny if your cousin just took off for the beach, or wherever, on the weekends and told him “good luck with the milking.”
That’s a very interesting thought that never even crossed my mind. I don’t know if Bob has considered it but I might mention it to him. He mentioned getting Guernsey or Jersey cattle primarily because of easy availability and a large library of information about them. It may be worth his time to research less common breeds especially if he intends to eventually produce boutique cheese commercially.
Oh, yeah, imagine what he can slap on the label to entice buyers! Naming some exotic cattle breed would be great additional marketing.
Huh, that makes me sad. I still have fond memories of the delicious Guernsey milk I had as a kid. My summer camp was a few miles from a Guernsey farm, and we got fresh milk from them twice a day, every day. It was super fresh, of course, but also rich and delicious.
This was late 60’s, early 70’s, not sure if methods have changed over the years or not.
There’s mastitis that is easy to clear up and basically just annoying and then there’s mastitis caused by nasty bugs that are near impossible to clear up. Mycoplasma being the worst of the lot.
So yes, you good great milk hygiene and monitoring daily by using CMT and that will prevent most mastitis and allow early detection when it occurs. But I’d never buy a milking cow if it has Staph or mycoplasma mastitis. That’s buying trouble you want no part of.