Milking a hereford for profit?

[hid1375]

Hi all,
I want to preface this by saying that I have barely any dairy cow experience. I had a few dairy farm jobs but that's it. The same goes for beef cows. That being said, I have only learned all my knowledge on cattle when I am expected to know it in a pinch, not when I can sit down and read a book to digest information. I am also still just a teenager in college who is a young entraprenaur at local farmers markets selling produce, eggs, honey, and other stuff. I have the resources to get dairy equipment if need be, so here is my question.

My grandfather has raised herefords for years, only a couple though. I want to say his max that he had at a time was 8 or 9, and he only uses them for meat in our family, not for selling. He has been pretty successful when it came to breeding, and usually mostly got bulls for beef. Up until recently, his most recent calf was a heifer. They don't want to use her for breeding as they already have two they use which is more than enough and they aren't sure if they actually want to butcher her when the time comes or to send her to market for an auction. I was curious if I would be able to buy her and milk her when she is old enough? I have read on a few threads here that milking herefords is totally possible and depending on your luck, could be worth while if you have no other options. However, I can't say I would be able to milk her everyday. In the summer yes of course, but like I said I have college so I am not home 100% of the time but for half of the week I usually am. I know for big dairy farms, you need to milk every day, could herefords go a few days without being milked? I cannot boast about having a massive stand and being super great income when it comes to my markets, but a steady flow of money, just not enough to rely on it as my only mode of money so the amount of milk yield is not a problem for me unless it is completely pitiful. However, how much milk will these cows produce daily? Please let me know and any other general information on the facts of milking herefords. Again, go easy on me, I could be a complete dope for asking this

 

[Hpacres440p]

Hi all,
I want to preface this by saying that I have barely any dairy cow experience. I had a few dairy farm jobs but that's it. The same goes for beef cows. That being said, I have only learned all my knowledge on cattle when I am expected to know it in a pinch, not when I can sit down and read a book to digest information. I am also still just a teenager in college who is a young entraprenaur at local farmers markets selling produce, eggs, honey, and other stuff. I have the resources to get dairy equipment if need be, so here is my question.

My grandfather has raised herefords for years, only a couple though. I want to say his max that he had at a time was 8 or 9, and he only uses them for meat in our family, not for selling. He has been pretty successful when it came to breeding, and usually mostly got bulls for beef. Up until recently, his most recent calf was a heifer. They don't want to use her for breeding as they already have two they use which is more than enough and they aren't sure if they actually want to butcher her when the time comes or to send her to market for an auction. I was curious if I would be able to buy her and milk her when she is old enough? I have read on a few threads here that milking herefords is totally possible and depending on your luck, could be worth while if you have no other options. However, I can't say I would be able to milk her everyday. In the summer yes of course, but like I said I have college so I am not home 100% of the time but for half of the week I usually am. I know for big dairy farms, you need to milk every day, could herefords go a few days without being milked? I cannot boast about having a massive stand and being super great income when it comes to my markets, but a steady flow of money, just not enough to rely on it as my only mode of money so the amount of milk yield is not a problem for me unless it is completely pitiful. However, how much milk will these cows produce daily? Please let me know and any other general information on the facts of milking herefords. Again, go easy on me, I could be a complete dope for asking this

To legally sell milk for human use you need a lot of documentation and licensing. If you don't milk daily, she'll dry up.

 

[farmerjan]

Hi and welcome to CT....

You are not a dope for asking... Herefords can be milked like any dairy cow... Their DISPOSITION will be part of the determining factor...
I have had friends that often milked a 1/2 hereford 1/2 holstein because that is what they had and did fine. Production will obviously be less than a dairy cow... I would expect in the neighbor hood of 2-3 gallons a day total...by nature.... they are "supposed to" make enough to feed their calf... if she is getting some grain she should make a little more, less if she is on just pasture and hay. Grain would be an incentive to come into a stall/stanchion type place to milk her.
Letting her go a couple days without milking will not work... she will possibly get mastitis, and she may start to dry up.
Suggestion... She has to calve to come into milk production... Why not do a share situation with her calf, if she is a nice quiet animal that you can handle... Let the calf nurse her, and then shut the calf away from her for 12 hours and then you milk her for yourself... then let the calf back with her. She will produce a little more milk if stimulated that way and fed some grain to increase her production. That way, when you cannot milk her, the calf can use all the milk, she will not get mastitis , and then you can milk her when it works. The big thing is if she will allow you to milk her to start with... because it is ingrained in them to feed their calf... so she might be fine with you milking her say, once a day... and she might totally not allow it.

 

[farmerjan]

If you are thinking milking her to sell milk, then I would definitely NOT do it. There are way too many legalities on raw milk... many states require liscensing, too much liability. Add to it the latest issue with this bird flu that has been found in cattle, and a couple humans have caught it from the cows, and that pasteurizing is the only way to be sure it is rendered inactive in milk... NOT something you want to get involved with. Milking for yourself is one thing.... NOT FOR PUBLIC USE.

 

[Ky hills]

@farmerjan provided an excellent response.
To reiterate, there's nothing wrong with asking questions. I've always said that if somebody doesn't know about something there's no such thing as a dumb question. Asking questions is a great way to learn.
You'll sometimes get a lot of varying answers, based on each person's experience, but usually even among some variation if a pattern emerges it's worth noting.
I will second what has already been said, I would advise against selling raw milk as well.
My concern with Herefords is that in my experience their milking ability can vary greatly, with nothing to go on until they have their first calf.
Unfortunately, I've had a few to not be very good milkers at all without enough milk to sustain their calf. Most of mine are average milkers for the Hereford breed I would assume. Have had only a couple that were what I would consider heavy milkers.
For the majority of mine that I would consider average milkers, I would suspect that using them in a milking situation would be taking away from the needs of the calf.
As has been said, if they are fairly heavy milking cows, then feeding them good would be a good idea if milking and allowing her to raise her calf, to make sure the calf's needs are met.
If milking, they would have to be milked regularly and consistently.
Another angle would be to breed the heifer/cow at some point to a dairy bull and if she has a heifer calf retain it as a potential milk cow.

 

[WestTexasLivestockGrowers]

Nothing wrong with asking questions, that's how you learn. You would be able to milk a Hereford though you wouldn't get as much as you would from a dairy breed. I wouldn't recommend selling it because there is a lot of red tape involved in doing that.

 

[WAnabee]

Hi all,
I want to preface this by saying that I have barely any dairy cow experience. I had a few dairy farm jobs but that's it. The same goes for beef cows. That being said, I have only learned all my knowledge on cattle when I am expected to know it in a pinch, not when I can sit down and read a book to digest information. I am also still just a teenager in college who is a young entraprenaur at local farmers markets selling produce, eggs, honey, and other stuff. I have the resources to get dairy equipment if need be, so here is my question.

My grandfather has raised herefords for years, only a couple though. I want to say his max that he had at a time was 8 or 9, and he only uses them for meat in our family, not for selling. He has been pretty successful when it came to breeding, and usually mostly got bulls for beef. Up until recently, his most recent calf was a heifer. They don't want to use her for breeding as they already have two they use which is more than enough and they aren't sure if they actually want to butcher her when the time comes or to send her to market for an auction. I was curious if I would be able to buy her and milk her when she is old enough? I have read on a few threads here that milking herefords is totally possible and depending on your luck, could be worth while if you have no other options. However, I can't say I would be able to milk her everyday. In the summer yes of course, but like I said I have college so I am not home 100% of the time but for half of the week I usually am. I know for big dairy farms, you need to milk every day, could herefords go a few days without being milked? I cannot boast about having a massive stand and being super great income when it comes to my markets, but a steady flow of money, just not enough to rely on it as my only mode of money so the amount of milk yield is not a problem for me unless it is completely pitiful. However, how much milk will these cows produce daily? Please let me know and any other general information on the facts of milking herefords. Again, go easy on me, I could be a complete dope for asking this

Maybe you could finish her out for beef and add that to your farm stand if you have USDA processing availability in your area? Don't know if that is an option for you, but heifers can make great beef also, not just bull calves.

 

[Travlr]

Hi all,
I want to preface this by saying that I have barely any dairy cow experience. I had a few dairy farm jobs but that's it. The same goes for beef cows. That being said, I have only learned all my knowledge on cattle when I am expected to know it in a pinch, not when I can sit down and read a book to digest information. I am also still just a teenager in college who is a young entraprenaur at local farmers markets selling produce, eggs, honey, and other stuff. I have the resources to get dairy equipment if need be, so here is my question.

My grandfather has raised herefords for years, only a couple though. I want to say his max that he had at a time was 8 or 9, and he only uses them for meat in our family, not for selling. He has been pretty successful when it came to breeding, and usually mostly got bulls for beef. Up until recently, his most recent calf was a heifer. They don't want to use her for breeding as they already have two they use which is more than enough and they aren't sure if they actually want to butcher her when the time comes or to send her to market for an auction. I was curious if I would be able to buy her and milk her when she is old enough? I have read on a few threads here that milking herefords is totally possible and depending on your luck, could be worth while if you have no other options. However, I can't say I would be able to milk her everyday. In the summer yes of course, but like I said I have college so I am not home 100% of the time but for half of the week I usually am. I know for big dairy farms, you need to milk every day, could herefords go a few days without being milked? I cannot boast about having a massive stand and being super great income when it comes to my markets, but a steady flow of money, just not enough to rely on it as my only mode of money so the amount of milk yield is not a problem for me unless it is completely pitiful. However, how much milk will these cows produce daily? Please let me know and any other general information on the facts of milking herefords. Again, go easy on me, I could be a complete dope for asking this

I knew a guy in Northern California that milked black Angus back in the days when most were tiny little 4 foot tall midgets, and his were huge. I suspect he had half Holsteins. As someone said, Herefords can have a wide range of milking ability. You might get half a gallon and you might get 3 gallons, but I'd bet on only a gallon at a time.
As far as not milking every day, the animal will have to produce a calf to give milk so leave the calf on her and only milk her after separating the calf for six hours.
The big question is... why?
Availability of an animal with teats doesn't make the effort worth the squeeze all the time. Have you considered using the heifer the way most people use beef heifers to make money?

 

[cowman82]

To legally sell milk for human use you need a lot of documentation and licensing. If you don't milk daily, she'll dry up.

depending where you are. Here in MO we still have our right to choose what we'd like to drink.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

When raw milk sellers in MO get sued do they loose the farm?

hid1375, if you have an interest in home dairying, a good website for you to read and learn is keepingafamilycow.com .

 

[cowman82]

no, we have laws protecting us from those things. no one is losing the farm for selling Gods greatest gift for his milk drinking people, which contains the exact same enzymes, proteins, etc as our blood. The sale of raw milk was outlawed to help the rockerfellers out and destroy the farm life, forcing many to move to the city. Further decaying our Christian, family oriented, safe, society.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Welcome to the boards!! You got some super great info from some of our members. farmerjan has great advise - especially when it comes to nursing calves and milking cows.

 

[SDgrampa]

The key word in your question is for profit. I doubt you will get a hereford to give enough milk to be profitable