Then I was using nurse cows and I used a couple Angus x Holstein cows to raise raise calves on. One out of a red Angus was almost like a solid black Holstein maybe a slight more meat on her, the other one was like an 80's Angus, big framed fairly thick massive cow with no flight zone at all and would walk right over the top of a person. Both cows had educated feet they could land a well placed kick on me or calf at any point.
I also kept a couple Hereford x Holstein heifers for cows. Never tried them for nurse cows but they were great cows heavy milking and bred to Angus bulls they'd have some real nice black 3/4 beef calves that would sell along with any straight beef calves.
A little later I transitioned more to Jersey nurse cows, I soon went to a Hereford bull on them because the Angus calves would be a brown kinda diluted color and finer boned.
We have ended up with 5 nurse cows. Gail, the Jeresy that started it all, the Milking Shorthorn, a Jersey-Brown Swiss cross and a Jersey Guernsey cross, and one that is 1/2 Hereford and 1/2 red Holstein or Guernsey ( the man we got her from tells it different ways from time to time) Gail and the Milking Shorthorn raised anywhere from 3-4 the first year we got them. They will let anything nurse. The lady we are letting keep the 2 half Jerseys, raises at least 4 off of them, but she pulls the the calf that is born and raises it and several more by milking them and giving them bottles. She feeds the heck out of those cows, too. Our vet down there keeps Gail and the MS, but she lets
them raise calves. My deal, is I breed them all to a polled Grey Brahma, sexed semen for female, and both ladies give those heifers to me at weaning. The rest of the time, they treat the cows as their own. That half Hereford had a Gyr calf the 1st time, and we let Scott's brother come get her because he had a Brangus orphan. That was the only 2 she raised.
Last year, the 2 heifers from Gail and the MS, and the 2 from the half-jeresys were identical as far as size and weight at the same ages. I guess the way Dawn raises them on a bottle with their mother's milks works just as well as letting them nurse their mommas. The Gyr calf weaned not quite as tall as the others ( I attribute that to the Gyr sire vs Brahma on the others) but had a little more muscle at the same weight. I figure it was due to being 1/4 Hereford.
IF I were to be fooling with nurse cows myself, I think I would prefer one like her, 1/2 beef 1/2 dairy. She would have plenty of milk for her calf and grafting another orphan, but you wouldn't have to worry as much about her making
too much milk. Especially on just grass and hay. Where as, the straight dairy ones, you just about
have to put another one or two on them. Or milk them, too.
That being said, Gail, like
@MurraysMutts ' Bessie and I suspect
@Ky hills ' Maybelle, will not ever be sold.
