Gobbler'sKnob
Well-known member
For anybody that was tracking, I'm getting out of the military soon. I go on terminal in June and the adventure soon begins. Looking at several properties now and I lucked into (didn't know I was owed) a decent chunk of change so looks like everything will go smoothly all about at once on land acquisition. Found a few good jobs that will extend me an offer with good enough hours for me to go back to school to make the big bucks. All's on track for stuff to step off the trailer for me somewhere by fall-spring (latest) so I sat down to start pencilling costs and stocking rates and then...
The wife tells me she wants a dairy cow. I start going over milk production with her and telling her that getting something done with all that milk is gonna have to be her effort as much as mine. She asked about looking at mini jerseys and I hit up some websites and some folks and they are thousands of darn dollars and higher, whereas I can find full size cows cheaper, but that's a lot of milk. We eat a lot of dairy and drink a lot of milk, but not a good producing jersey's worth a week. So... what do y'all that milk do with it all? I know it's good for picking up bottle calves and feeding hogs and chickens, but that's still a lot. Texas only allows home pickup of raw milk for sale, so I'd have to cultivate a customer base for the excess but it's easier to sell meat than other cow products in my experience. So... either what do y'all do or is there a better way to not get taken for a ride on these mini prices? Maybe other breeds? Even as a family we only drink 4 gallons a week, eat about a pound of cheese and two pounds of butter... a man can only have so many chickens and hogs before stuff gets silly... any advice is appreciated.
The wife tells me she wants a dairy cow. I start going over milk production with her and telling her that getting something done with all that milk is gonna have to be her effort as much as mine. She asked about looking at mini jerseys and I hit up some websites and some folks and they are thousands of darn dollars and higher, whereas I can find full size cows cheaper, but that's a lot of milk. We eat a lot of dairy and drink a lot of milk, but not a good producing jersey's worth a week. So... what do y'all that milk do with it all? I know it's good for picking up bottle calves and feeding hogs and chickens, but that's still a lot. Texas only allows home pickup of raw milk for sale, so I'd have to cultivate a customer base for the excess but it's easier to sell meat than other cow products in my experience. So... either what do y'all do or is there a better way to not get taken for a ride on these mini prices? Maybe other breeds? Even as a family we only drink 4 gallons a week, eat about a pound of cheese and two pounds of butter... a man can only have so many chickens and hogs before stuff gets silly... any advice is appreciated.