Proverbs 12:10
Well-known member
I'm a long time beef cow/calf producer here in Texas but recently had a venture into the dairy business. Thru an organization we purchased 10 holstein heifers in Uganda, Africa where they are being milked. We were taking some risk here because we had no EPDs on the lineage of these heifers but we watched the actually milking of the dams of these calves over a period of several days to verify what they were projecting. They were producing 4.5-5.5 gallons per day. We could not verify the capabilities of the bull to pass on milking ability. Here's the rub: the heifers are calving now but only producing on average 3 gallons per day of milk. My local guys are saying that this is normal for heifers and that they will get to a higher level on the 2nd and 3rd calves. These heifers are calving at just over 2 years of age. I know from my experience that heifers will not produce as well until they are full grown but this is a big difference. What do you guys think? Can they get to the 5 gallon production? Thanks!