LOTS of questions

[trnubian]

I have been around beef cattle all of my life so I feel really stupid asking these questions even though they are questions about dairy cattle.

So for all you dairy cattle people out there:

1. Jerseys look all sweet and innocent, but is there an ornery streak hidden in those liquid brown eyes that I should know about?

2. I don't like the looks of Brown Swiss but is there a redeeming quality about them that should override that?

3. About how much milk will an average holstein give? What about a Jersey? I know the butterfat in the Jersey milk will be MUCH higher than in the holstein milk.

4. What do they eat? I know that is a stupid question, but one I want to know about. We fed our dairy goats:
alfalfa hay out the wazoo (in front of them 24/7),
an 18% grain ration (that actually contained Pro Vider 38 -dairy cow pellet-),
free choice baking soda (helps to neutralize stomach acid,
and free choice goat minerals.
Is that anywhere near what you would feed to a milking or growing calf? About how much of each?

5. I don't have much in the way of pasture. Maybe 3/4 an acre. So there won't be much. But it is divided so that I can rotate between 2 sections.

6. How much will a heifer calf cost me. Registerable. Nice conformation, good bloodlines (show and milk) as my younger brother might show it in 4-H.

Ok that's it for now. Thanks in advance!

 

[KNERSIE]

Jersey cows and heifers generally have a good disposition, however the bulls can be nasty pieces of work.

A holstein gives roughly 1 and a half times the milk of a jersey, but the jersey has much higher butterfat and proteien. holstein are typically harder doers than jerseys and require bettter food to perform.

I've had very limited experience with dairy swiss, but I liked them.

 

[auctionboy]

If you thougt you fed your goats to much hay you don't want a Holstein.

 

[badaxemoo]

My Grandparents had Guernseys and Grandpa had two quotes about Holsteins I can remember:

1. Shovel it into the front, shovel it out of the back.

2. I like to keep one Holstein around. We use her milk to rinse out the surge buckets after milking the Guernseys.

My other Grandpa, and most other farmers in the area had Holsteins.

I guess he was just proud of his Guernseys. From what I've heard, the breeders have sort of ruined them now.

 

[glover36]

brown swiss i like they can really keep up to the holstiens in production i thin k jerseys are around 9000kj of milk correct me if i am wrong. also jersey bulls are only orneray because of the way they are raised

 

[glover36]

you could also consider milking shorthorns

 

[cmjust0]

If you're looking to put a milk cow on 3/4 acre, you might consider a Dexter. They're pretty small, and are considered to be good 'dual purpose,' milk and/or beef cattle.. They say they're pretty thrifty on pasture and hardy, too.

You could breed the cow and raise one dexter calf a year to get mama's milk, then either sell the weaned calves as future milkers or bulls, cut them and sell the steers for freezer beef, or just put them in your own freezer.

 

[Gale Seddon]

An excellent idea, cmjust0, you took the words right out of my mouth! I think you'll still have to supplement as 3/4 acre, even if it's divided up, is fairly limited. Here's one of our smaller cows, 13 yrs. old, probably 38-39" at the hip...the beef is very good...don't milk ours, but they're said to provide 1.5 to 2 gallons a day (guess that also depends on how you're feeding them).

You can check the ADCA website (http://www.dextercattle.org) for more info, or PM me if you'd like.

 

[glover36]

we had a milking shorthorn whos 14 last year have twin bulls in sept and we kept them on her till late july and they weighedd 900 each

 

[Keren]

also jersey bulls are only orneray because of the way they are raised

I dont know much about dairy cattle, would you mind explaining that one a bit?

 

[la4angus]

also jersey bulls are only orneray because of the way they are raised

I dont know much about dairy cattle, would you mind explaining that one a bit?

I don't think that he can, in a way that it will make any sense.

 

[Aaron]

Jersey bulls are just as mean or even worse than Holsteins. All has to do with the maternal aspect of the breeds. Dairy cattle are highly maternal and paternal, so you get great cows with lots of milk, but also bulls whose sole existence is to breed and kill anything that might disrupt that lifestyle.

While I was nightwatchman at the local stockyards one day last year, I checked in on a 3 year old Holstein bull in one of the pens. Just for kicks, I gave him the evil eye just to see what would happen. I swear that bull gave me the evil eye back and would have gladly beaten the snot out of me if I had went into the pen..

Brown Swiss are a pain because the calves don't take to the bucket feeding as well as any other breed.

A good heifer calf with a good pedigree would probably cost you around $700-1000 US I would say.

 

[randiliana]

also jersey bulls are only orneray because of the way they are raised

I dont know much about dairy cattle, would you mind explaining that one a bit?

A good article on this topic.....

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 320#205320

 

[bigbull338]

jersey bulls are just pure mean.it really doesnt have much todo with the fact that they was bottle raised.most times when a jersy gets 2 or 3 he gets meaner than snott.thats why people buy them as yearlings an use them 1yr.if a jersey bull gets mean he gose to the packer.

 

[glover36]

they are mean because they are separateed when they were calves from everything else and not handled as the hiefers were, that makes them less social and protective saem with all bulls

 

[dun]

they are mean because they are separateed when they were calves from everything else and not handled as the hiefers were, that makes them less social and protective saem with all bulls

BULL. Most dairy bulls are raised exactly the same as diary heifers. They may not be brought into the parlor everyday to be milked, but they're generally run with the cows and other then milked, treated just like the heifers and cows.
Jersey bulls just happen to have the "banty rooster" mentality, but they'll generaqlly all be mean and nasty as they get older.

dun

 

[TCFC]

Dairy cattle are highly maternal

I am completely ignorant when it comes to cattle... really just here to try to learn more... but this statement didn't really make sense to me...

Haven't dairy cattle had the maternal nature bred out of them in favour of production... they have their calves taken away very shortly after birth and if a cow was highly maternal, wouldn't it be a problem to take their calves away and expect her to be alright with it not be stressed and drop in production? Maybe this is the stupidest question ever... who knows. I know that you want a beef cow to be maternal because she has to raise her calf... but a dairy cow??

If someone could better explain this statement that would be awesome

And from what I have been forewarned, Jersey Bulls are the nastiest things on four legs, but I don't know about the cows... are they similar in nature? The Jersey cows we have at school don't seem rank, but they get handled a lot...

TCFC