I have goats and am waiting and waiting for milk from them...my hubby was thinking of getting a milk cow so we could have more cream and more milk. But we were wondering if you had to pastuerize the milk and how often a cow has to be bred to keep the milk coming? Is it better to buy the milk, or the cow? I would like to know what is in the milk etc...but don't want to "bite off more then I can chew" as my mother always said when I was growing up.

-- Cindy in OK (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), November 02, 2000

Answers

What do you mean you are "waiting and waiting for milk from your goats"? Are they bred? How long have you had them? What breed are they? You don't *HAVE* to pastureized any milk if you don't want to, it's a personal choice, we don't pastureize our goats milk cause we want all the good stuff in it that pastureization kills. We choose goats for our milk because they are smaller (easier for me to deal with) they don't eat as much as cows and we didn't need the volumn of milk a cow gives as opposed to a goat, so in the long run we figured it would be more economical for our needs. I'll let someonelse answer you about the cows, since we don't have any. I'm curious what you mean by waiting for your goats to have milk?

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), November 02, 2000.

Cow milk doesn't have to be pastuerized, but it is a good idea to have them tested every year to make sure they don['t have any illnesses that could affect you and your family (a good idea with goats, too, actually). They need to be bred once a year, usually just a few weeks after they have their calf. Though like goats, some cows can be milked through for two years without re-breeding. The volume of milk goes down with time, of course. If trained to electric fence, a cow can be easier to keep in than goats, but she will be a lot bigger and a lot heavier if she needs manhandling, or if she just decides to step on your toes! Also, cows can give up to ten or twelve gallons of milk a day, though family milkers aren't usually *quite* that productive, and you want to consider whether you can use all of that. Maybe raising extra calves, or using some of it for a protein supplement for your chickens or pigs.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 03, 2000.

I now most cull cows up here are giving about 20 pounds a milking or more .Now thats allot of milk ! I would suggest getting a pig or 2 if you got a cow , that way you could feed them all the extra .I have both cows and goats .If you got a cow you could breed her to a beef bull and them have beef for the freezer .

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), November 03, 2000.

I have Saanen goats for milk to drink, but I would love to get 1 milk cow. An older one, smaller, tame, used to milking and all. It's hard for a small person to wrestle a big cow, it just is. I can't make butter with my goat's milk, and I want to do all those things. With a cow, you have to consider available bulls around you. Nothing too large for her. We tried to breed artificial with our last cow, but it didn't work. And she would get out every time she was in heat, looking for a nearby bull. Cows are more work for sure, but I would love all that cow milk in addition to my goat's milk.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), November 03, 2000.

Ok, I wrote that message in exasperation. I have two autistic children and they have been "waiting and waiting" for the milk. The goats are newly bred so it will be awhile. I keep telling them that it will be awhile,but they can't understand this. We had a milk goat,but she was a horrible thing to have, almost killed me. I am small statured so was afraid to get a cow for that reason. Our goats we have now are pygmies and I heard they give good milk, but I would also like to be able to make cheese etc..without the expense of buying the cream at the store. My hubby heard that you can get really, really sick if you drink cows milk fresh after drinking it from the store. I did not pastuerize the goat's milk and my children had fewer allergies on it, but since we sold the milk goat, and have gone back to store bought milk, they seem to be doing ok...so we have switched to thinking about a cow too. I have 6 children and cats, not to mention the chickens and ducks. Plus, I have neighbors that said they would buy some if we had excess milk. I would have to get a tame , tame cow, I am looking at a large expense aren't I?

-- Cindy in OK (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), November 03, 2000.

After thinking about the 500 lb cow getting mad at me, plus the barn, electric fence etc...I am not ready to get a cow right now. I will have to think about this for awhile. hhmm..I think I am a goat person. I was spoiled growing up as our goats milk was so creamy the cream would float to the top and be lots of it. I want another goat like that.

-- Cindy in OK (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), November 03, 2000.

Cindy, you say that the milk goat you had was horrible and almost killed you? What did she do? Was she horned? I have never had a doe attack me, and I've had a lot of goats. The only one that ever came after me was a buck with massive horns. I think that if you could get a nice ,gentle dairy goat, she would produce a LOT more milk than the pygmies. In some cases, you can get 2 gallons a day from a doe.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), November 03, 2000.

Cindy, I wouldn't give up on a milk cow just yet. Visit some dairies in your area. You should be able to tell a good one from a bad one...it's pretty obvious. A good dairyman will care for his cows and as a general rule they will be calm and dosile. I have had 2 different milk cows so far(on the look out for my third now). I got both from small dairies. Both were very gentle. Didn't have half the trouble from my cows as I had from goats. I got my cows checkups once a year and didn't pasteurize the milk. Yes they do have a tendency to get out when they are in heat (the last one was amazingly skilled at this). But once she had visited her 'boyfriend' she was very easy to lure back to her pasture with a bit of feed. Both of my cows gave from 3-5 gallons a day. I did let a calf suck them part of the time so the 3-5 is what was left. I suggest a Jersey or a Jersey cross. They are small and gentle. As to drinking cows milk making you sick you are correct. lol....we didn't skim off the cream when we first got a cow...well lets say I was glad we had more than one bathroom :o). To prevent this just skim the cream....it rises fairly quickly. Good luck.

-- Amanda S (aseley@townsqr.com), November 03, 2000.

I will remember Jersey cows...how much space do they need? As to that goat, she was a nigerian dwarf. She would not stay in the pen, I got wonderful wonderful advice from this group, but nothing would keep her in the pen. Then I got the pygmies for my children and she would tear down the fence, then lead the little ones out into the street and run off. I built a fence-in-a-fence-in-a-fence. So there were three fences she had to get through, spaced 4 inches apart. She got through all of those. She almost killed me one of the times when I put her on a saint bernard tether (she had broken 5 others). She jumped over my right shoulder, ran around to my left side, lowered down and was pulling on the cable which was wrapped tightly around my throat. I was screaming, but the neighbors in the pool never came around. My little billy pygmy came over and distracted her enough that I was able to get out of the cable. I could hardly breath. When I got out, she jumped on my back. I had only had her 2 weeks at this point. I left her on the cable and came back inside. She could reach water, food, shelter so I figured she would be ok. She was. I went out later to check on her and the others. She had chewed through the cable and it was wrapped around the neck of one of the pygmy does. Luckily, there was a stick also tangled in the cable from where I had brought leaves to the pen. The little doe was scared ,but ok. This goat also would lay in my lap at milking time and bite the top of my head. I started out milking her in the shed, but she got to where she would rear up, causing me to back into the wall of the shed to avoid being kicked, then she would butt me. (she had no horns at least). I should have known something was up when the owner wouldn't let me try to milk her before we bought her. He said he had to leave in a bit, so if we wanted her, we needed to make up our minds. She was so pretty and had such gently eyes....sigh..what a mistake. I did get alot of practice making fences at least!!! When I first got her, I had never made a fence by myself before. I was averaging 6 hours a day dealing with this goat, it wasn't worth it. My little pygmy goat are so cute and easy to care for, though the billy is learning to use his horns >:-( even on me.

-- Cindy in OK (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), November 03, 2000.

Cindy, that doe sounds like she was a real b-tch! I have never, in my life, had anything that nasty before! I would have shot her before long. For what it's worth, most dairy goats without horns are much, much nicer than that. And electric fence works very well at curing escape artists!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), November 03, 2000.

My husband is really interested in a milk cow. :-) We like the looks and size of the Jersey cows. From what I have been reading since posting this, they sound like what we would like to have. We will have to get the fence built before we start looking though, with my luck, I will find one right off and have fence problems again! Thank you all so much for the advice and encouragement!!! We also should clear some more land..we have alot of really skinny trees growing that need cleaned out. These are black oak trees.

-- Cindy in OK (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), November 03, 2000.

I bought a Jersey cow for Y2K and have become so attached to her that I couldn't possibly be without her now. In fact I wish I had 2 just like her so I wouldn't have to be without fresh milk while she is dry.I have raised several calves on her and had all the milk I could use. When I weaned the calves she would give 4-5 gallons of rich creamy milk. I made cheese, ice cream, butter all without being pasturized and never had a problem with it. She is very gentle and a pleasure to have around.

-- Marlene Leiby (mleiby@caprock-spur.com), November 07, 2000.

:-) Big smiles!! What a nice picture I have in my mind about your cow! :-) I hope we have such an experience. We have decided to go with a cow as soon as I get my fence built. :-) I will be sure to meet the cow first, I have a tendency to have happen to me what wouldn't usually happen to other people, so I want to be real cautious.

-- Cindy in OK (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), November 07, 2000.

dear cindy jerseys are great to have around but you better have good fencing. Because jersey's are very curious cows they will find a hole in the fence where holsteins won't even notice it. But for all the trouble sometimes that they give i wouldn't trade mine for any other breed.---gail okla.

-- myra gail akins (dakins@cottoninternet.net), December 11, 2000.

Cindy, did you ever get your cow? How has it gone?

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), November 01, 2001.