Silly cow questions

[booger]

So it seems we'll be getting a cow/calf pair in the next few months. DH is going to do some work for someone and they're going to pay him in cattle. DH raised a calf for 4H when he was a kid. I lived on a farm with a few cattle when I was a kid. That's the only experience we have.

So... What do I need to know? Heck, I don't even know where to start.

We can have our choice of several pairs, varying breeds but I believe they're pretty much meat breeds. Are any of the meat breeds (I keep spelling that bread ) good for milking? I'd really like to have one to keep for milking but, if that's out of the question, I'm sure she'll fill our freezer nicely. If it is possible to milk here, is there a certain age we should look for? Or maybe since they've probably not been milked before, we shouldn't even try? Anyone ever butcher a whole cow at home or does everyone take them in to a butcher? I know it would be a pain in the butt with an animal that large but they did it in the old days, right? Butchering is best about 2 years of age, right? I've some say 1 year, though. What about feed? We have several large rolls of hay--any particular kind needed? About how much will they eat? What do we need to supplement the hay with? We have a pond already--is that okay for their drinking water or do we need to provide fresh water frequently? Most folks around here just use their ponds but thought I'd ask. What about shelter? Just some trees should be enough, right?

I'm going to google my heart out but if any of you are bored enough to provide me with a Cows For Dummies cheat sheet, I'll love ya forever.

 

[goatlady2]

With a cow calf you don't milk especially a beef cow. They do not have the temprament for it (not in their genes) and usually produce enough milk just for the calf. Your best bet would be to butcher the calf not the producing cow. Breed her and winter her over for a never ending source of meat. Ponds are fine for water. If you want to butcher the calf, you can feed it some grain the last month or so to "fatten" it up = marbeling in the meat. Depending on winters where you live you might want to provide some sort of roofed shed shelter from wind and snow and ease of feeding. They eat much more in the winter so as to provide body heat to stay alive, again, depending on your winters.

 

[summerthyme]

Give me a day or two, and I'll see what I can do to provide you a "cows for dummies" basics. My daughter is getting married Sunday, and we're leaving early tomorrow morning to go to the rehearsal, etc.

But I've got 45 milking cows and half a dozen Irish Dexter beef cows, so I probably can tell you more than you ever wanted to know!

And first thing, start calling them "beef" cows, not "meat" cows. For some reason (I never thought of this before!), cattle aren't referred to that way. Goats and rabbits and chickens- yep, the ones used for meat are called "meat" animals. Cattle are either "beef" or "dairy".

(and please, I'm not picking on you! But if you talk to local folks and use "odd" terms, they may either not take you seriously)

I'll get back to you on this- probably Monday.

Summerthyme

 

[booger]

Thanks, Goatlady and Summerthyme!

About milking them, yeah, I kind of figured but was hoping anyway. Good point about just keeping mama for breeding. I'm sure the fella who keeps his cattle across the road from us can offer us stud service.

ROFL at the beef vs. meat terms. I actually wrote beef first but it just didn't look right so I went back and changed it. The folks around here already realize I'm odd. I'd better not give them any more ammo, eh?

Have fun with the wedding, Summerthyme!! Congratulations!!!

 

[HoofTrimmer]

I've milked a half angus/jersey before. Yes, the beef breeds can be a bit more jittery than the dairy ones. This also was a calf I hand raised, so do not attemp to milk a cow that isn't used to it already. The main hang up with milking a beef breed cow is that they lack the capacity to produce milk over an extended period of time. They will dry up faster.

We have butchered our dairy steers and beef steers at around one year. Some more and some a little less. My personal recommendation is to finish off whomever you plan to eat on a month or more of corn. They make wonderful beef that way.

HoofTrimmer

 

[Shouka]

Ohh fun cows.

You might want to put up a small lean-to, depending on what kind of winters you get. Pond water is fine, till winter comes then make sure that they have plenty of ice free water. When a cow is thirsty it can drink up to five gallons of water at a time!! As for butchering, yup go with the grain for the last month before you do the deed. You can send the steer away to be cut up or if you know someone they can do it right there for you. That's the only way that we ever did it. Two drunk Irishmen trying to butcher a steer in 40 degree weather at 2330 is the some of the best entertainment that you could get when I was a kid.
Other than, I don't know what else to tell you. PM me if you go more questions, I'm more than happy to answer them.


Shouka
(Midwesten Farmers Daughter)

 

[booger]

Thanks, guys! This is still a few months off, I believe. No matter how much I reseach between now and then, I betcha I'll be right here freaking out and asking a million questions when it happens. Thanks for the offer to PM, Shouka! I'll probably take you up on that before too long.

 

[Dennis Olson]

PAID IN CATTLE????

Is that "moosic" to your ears...?

 

[booger]

PAID IN CATTLE????

Is that "moosic" to your ears...?

He's being paid in hogs for a different job in the next week or two. The good, ol' days are alive and well in some areas.

 

[rockywhy]

Oh boy milking cows

Well if you all haven't read yet I was sent to Texas by the Father. I was raised on a farm so to speak in Ill so I have a little farm in my blood. Well we ended up on a farm that the man keeps cows on. These are not dairy cows but breeders. First year, second or third calf and the cow had enlarged utters so the baby couldn't get on them. Only solution I could see was to milk it. Needless to say these cows haven't ever been milked. I mean they mostly only see humans when it's winter and their fed. So I pin her up with baby and put her in a chute for loading on the truck. I roped her off (lassoed to post) and began milking. She was a little sore and didn't like anyone playing with the swelling. I told her it didn't matter we were here till we got the milk out and got the tit down to where the baby could use it. First time took about three hours. Second time much better and after that baby took pressure off and I let her go. Two weeks later another one with same problem. Difference was this one was a Tiger breed. These are large big horned animals. Well I did the same thing. Finally after three days of being pinned up, and milking twice a day the baby hadn't caught on yet. So I went out one morning and went to put her in the chute and she looked at me real bad. When I tried to herd her in there she dropped her head and acted like I was about to be a pierced milker. I finally got her in there and milked her down good. This time I got the baby close and shot her face with milk and she went right to that tit when I let her out. Needless to say it's not my idea of fun but it is possible. They all get used to it some. A beef cow may be used for milk, just not as much. If you have a baby on it then you have to share and add feed to her so she can produce more for you both. I wouldn't try to take anymore then a quart or half gallon per milking. The baby gets the rest. I can still go out to the herd and go up to the Tiger and squeeze my hand like I'm going to milk her and she will drop her head. In the winter you need to give them protein besides hay. Make sure they have salt and minerals too, year around. In Texas it takes five acres per cow, so make sure you have enough pasture for them. Break up the pasture into smaller lots so they don't over graze one area, and move them into the other lots in rotation. This should help you to have pasture all the time as one area is growing the other is being ate. Were now tending about a hundred head, plus babies. So have fun.