(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)
Medical needs
I don’t often have to call a vet, but establishing a relationship with a large animal vet is crucial. If you don’t have a relationship, you will have a terrible time getting help when you need it. It’s worth it to spend money with the Veterinarian. I use them for my cats and dogs, as well as my cows. We are on a first name basis now. I needed them when my first cow went down hard with milk fever. I know how to prevent that now. I needed them when one of my cows got hoof rot, and when I needed horns removed, or needed blood testing done, or a general health check or pregnancy testing. Most recently I needed them for when my cow couldn’t deliver a calf. Because I use their services fairly often, I can call them any time and they will provide me with whatever supplies I need. I called them a lot when I first started, but I can troubleshoot most things by myself now, and have been able to stockpile some medical supplies.
Finding really good neighbors and establishing relationships, are critical too. Last year when I was hospitalized, I was overwhelmed with kindness. Two different neighbors milked my cows for me until I was well enough to do it myself. Priceless. I learned that I need backups for myself, being that I am the only milkmaid on my small farm.
In order to avoid medical intervention, the goals are to ensure that cows have a clean, comfortable, environment, are well fed, and properly cared for. That reduces the need for medical intervention substantially. My cows are all disease tested and free of disease, so starting off right is important too.
There is a disease that is very prevalent in cow herds. It is Bovine Leukosis Virus (BLV). It is a blood borne disease, and can infect an entire herd. I would never buy an untested cow since the disease is so prevalent. However, it can show up later, so testing cows every year or two is important. It is also controversial, and that is probably because it’s so prevalent. For me, a BLV positive cow is a cull cow. I wouldn’t drink milk from a BLV positive cow, nor would I eat the meat. But, that’s just me. My cows are tested for BLV, BVD (bovine viral diarrhea), and Johnes prior to ever walking on this farm. Since I learned about these diseases, I closed my herd, meaning that no other cow is allowed on this farm. I know of some people who have small dairies who have BLV positive cows and they sell the milk. If you buy milk from a raw dairy farmer, please ask to see the health testing results first. Just sayin’.
In my mind, fly and tick control falls under Medical things. There is one time of year, Spring, when the flies are insane, and no “organic” or “holistic” methods work to keep the flies off the cows. I use Permethrin. According to the National Pesticide Information Center, “Permethrin is an insecticide in the pyrethroid family. Pyrethroids are synthetic chemicals that act like natural extracts from the chrysanthemum flower.” It is the least offensive of all the pesticides, and I may use it once or twice during the worst of fly season. Flies (mosquitoes, ticks) carry disease, and if spraying my cows down a couple of times a year prevents those diseases, then I’m all for it. I have tried all kinds of organic sprays and every conceivable essential oil to keep the flies off, but none work more than 15 minutes during the worst part of the year. I’ve tried fly traps of all kinds and sizes. The only thing I won’t do is feed the dairy cows anything with garlic in it because I don’t want garlic flavored milk. This is one case where I will compromise on my ideals.
Time commitment
When I got my first milk cow, I was overwhelmed with the time commitment. Now, it’s just a regular daily chore that doesn’t take a lot of time. I try to move my cows to once a day milking as soon as it is feasible, keeping the cow’s udder health in mind. That way, I can get out early, milk cows, process the milk, and clean up equipment, and do all the other animals chores before 8 or 9 am, depending upon the time of year. During the very hot summer months, I’m usually done by 7am.
What takes the most time, in my opinion, is what to do with all the milk. Some days, I have the cream separator set up in advance of milking, and pour the fresh milk through it. I save the cream in a ziplock freezer bag, freeze it, or put it in the refrigerator, until I can get to making butter with it. If I had pigs right now, I would feed the skim milk to the pigs, otherwise I toss it. Sometimes I let half gallons of milk sit on the counter to “clabber”, which is basically to ferment, then make soft cheese, sour cream, or yogurt. Sometimes I pour all the milk into 2.5 gallon ziplock freezer bags and freeze it. I have not yet learned how to make hard cheeses, but that’s on the list. And of course, there is lots of fresh drinking and cooking with the delicious milk.
I have systems in place now that prevents most of my overwhelm at owning dairy cows. They are part of the family and it’s just a part of my day.
Controversies
The controversies that I have seen are interesting and it all depends upon what you want to do on your farm. One of them is vaccinating cattle. Some follow a very strict vaccination schedule and some do not vaccinate at all. Both groups look down on the other group. I chose not to vaccinate, because I can do that here. It is not possible everywhere, especially in areas of Texas, and other parts of the country, where Blackleg is endemic in the soil. Blackleg will kill a calf or young cow in short order.
The other controversy I’ve seen is 100% grass fed dairy cows versus cows who are given grain. Again, each group looks down on the other. And in the graining group, the controversy is organic versus non-GMO versus conventional feed.
I can only say that I have ideals that I want to follow, and so far I have not had any problems. But, I am not a purist. If one of my cows fall ill, I’m going to take the advice of my Veterinarian. I don’t take all their advice, but if it seems the cow needs it, I am not going to withhold that intervention. It’s the exact same principle I use for myself.
Another controversy is pulling calves off their mothers after their first drink of colostrum, or before, and bottle feeding them, versus letting the mother raise her calf. On a commercial dairy, milk is the product to be sold, so separating the calf is generally a given, and the calves are often sold with some held back as replacement heifers. On a small farm, like mine, I get to decide how I want to do it. I have one mama cow who turns into a raging monster if you try to take her calf, and she will not come in to be milked when she has a calf. I had to take her calf away, since her milk volume required that she be milked out twice a day. I have another mama cow who could care less whether you take her calf or not, and she will come in to be milked if you call her, or you can leave her with her calf to raise. She’s very easy going and doesn’t have a large volume of milk. I had another cow who would come in to be milked, if her calf could come with her. Now, of course, I could try my hand at forcing these cows to do things my way, but I prefer to work with them. They definitely have distinct personalities, and I don’t have the facilities to do things like a commercial dairy does.
Another controversy is hand milking versus machine milking. I machine milk my cows because I have horrible arthritis in my hands. I have a friend who is an expert hand milker and has worked up the muscles to do so over time. She recently asked my advice on getting a machine. What the machine does is milk out the cow faster, but the milking time you save goes into cleaning and sanitizing equipment. I actually wish I could hand milk some times because cleaning and sanitizing equipment is a time sink.
Another controversy is type of milk machine. There are so many substandard milking machines on the market now, that people who don’t know any better will just buy one off of Amazon. A substandard machine can cause teat and udder damage, mastitis, and will break down frequently; the parts are not food grade, and I’ve seen people throw those machines away after a couple of years of use. What I most commonly see is people using milkers designed for goats and sheep, that are not at all suitable for a cow. They think it’s suitable until I see them complaining that the cow has mastitis. A proper, standardized, milking system will prevent mastitis if properly sanitized and in good working order.
I use an old style Surge belly milker. The Surge buckets were designed in the 1950s and are still around today because they were built to last. See the history of the Surge milker [1]. If you are lucky, you can find a used model, and then purchase replacement parts for it. I recommend Hamby Dairy Supply for all things dairy equipment. I also have a much larger milking system from Hamby that will operate on the same vacuum pump. The Surge belly milker has a capacity of about 4 gallons of milk before it will overflow. The larger system can hold 7 gallons. The Surge milker is super simple to keep clean and replacement parts are readily available. It’s a very heavy bucket though when full of milk. The larger Hamby designed system requires a CIP (clean in place) system where a vacuum pump is required to flush it clean. Each system has its pros and cons.
It’s amazing to me how many people have decided that keeping cows, both for dairy and beef, is possible! Although, this year I am seeing a lot of small family homesteads getting out of the business of milking cows. Costs are high.
My “WHY?”
This is work, no doubt about it. Due to my health issues of last year, I took a full 4 months off of milking cows over the winter months. And I missed that milk like you wouldn’t believe. The store bought milk tastes horrible and gives me tummy aches. I couldn’t wait to get back to milking.
But, here’s the thing. A dairy cow is one of the most productive and giving animals on the farm. If you take good care of her, you get all things dairy, and all things beef, from just one animal. One cow can fill your freezer for the year with her calf, and probably feed extended family too. One dairy cow can provide all the milk and dairy products you could ever want. And she can do that year after year after year. Some cows can live up to 20 years and calve out for 10-15 years, every year. Absolutely amazing. To me, it is a miracle of God.
For “self-sufficiency” purposes, I can’t think of a better animal to have on the farm. Although, I have some friends who have moved from cows to specific breeds of sheep and goats, and are experiencing the same magic. It’s just on a smaller scale. While I use electricity here to my heart’s content, I know that I can hand milk the cows, even if it hurts my hands to do so. I have spare parts for everything, but if all I can do is grab a bucket to milk into, that’s what I’ll do.
So why do I have more than one dairy cow? It’s the backups to the backups, just like when you stock up on supplies. You want more than one option. For now, this is how it is here on my small farm and I love it.
Resources
I have had a lot of help learning how to keep dairy cows. I can recommend the following resources, which doesn’t include FakeBook. LOL. But, the most important help has come from a good mentor, and a few really good milkmaid friends.
The first book I ever read was Keeping a Family Milk Cow by Joanne S. Grohman, who has now passed away. Along with her wonderful book is an online forum [2] that is immensely helpful. I recommend joining that forum because it has a wealth of knowledge, and is full of wonderful, experienced, people who will help you through just about any situation. Some members are holistic dairy farmers and some are conventional, and everything in between. All points of view are valuable. There are also sections on the forum for other critters, Kitchen 911, pasture management, and so much more. The forum is my go to.
A series of books that have been written by Michelle Lancaster and her husband:
- The Milk Cow Manual: A year in the life of a dairy cow
- Raising a Dairy Heifer Successfully, and
- Butter So Good.
Many people use FakeBook, and I do too, but you aren’t going to get the same kind of in-depth information as you will from a mentor and the above resources.
Conclusion
And the big question is, how do I do all this by myself?? I don’t. I hire mowing services, and I have a high school boy who comes once or twice a week for a few hours to do the really heavy chores. He has helped me for almost five years now. I can imagine that with a family, chores can be divided up between family members so that not one person is over-burdened. During Spring and Summer when most of the work is outside, the farmhouse is neglected. I have occasionally hired housekeeping help. But mostly, I’ve learned that each day I can work steadily for at least half of the day, and rest for the remainder. I’ve learned that I have to take “rest breaks” in order to get it all done.
I’ve learned to not chastise myself for things not being perfect. Thankfully, I am an early riser, so things get done early before the heat of the day sets in. I go to bed with the sun, and sometimes before the sun sets, and I get up with the sun, or sometimes before. I like to schedule a “milking break” during the worst of winter, so that I’m not milking cows during that time. It looks like I will be milking through winter this year, purely because of calving dates.
I would like to, Lord willing, keep dairy cows for as long as I physically can. Some days I wonder what in the world am I doing? Most days though, I am grateful for the opportunity to live this lifestyle, grateful for the experience, and thankful for the nutrition that the cows provide myself and my family.