Do Guernsey 's have trouble with butterfat separation?

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Hello, I am looking into the possibility of buying a family milk cow for our farm. We are in central NC, near Charlotte. From what I have read and heard, the Guernsey's would be perfect for us - not too large, good butterfat content, and docile. However, a local retired dairy farmer said that in the past the Guernsey cows had trouble with the butter fat separating in the udder, causing milking problems. Is this still a problem or any problem at all?

Thanks for your imput - I have learned so much from thses threads!

-- Kathy Davis (kadavis@iocnet.net), December 03, 2001

Answers

My never heard of such a thing, you have to remember that a cows body temperature is between 101.5 to 102.5 and milk needs to be cold for the butterfat to seperate. You can spin it off through a seperator because the fat is lighter but when milk comes out of a cow it's all one componet.

-- Diane (oleoranch3@aol.com), December 03, 2001.

Kathy, I have never heard of this before, but then I milk Holsteins which aren't known as high butterfat cows. It doesn't make sense to me, but then everytime I think I've heard something can't possibly happen, someone proves me wrong. I *have* very occasionally seen traces of liquid butterfat floating in the weigh jar in the parlor, but when it separates out I don't know.

If this can happen, I really can't see why it would be a problem to the cow. Did he say HOW it was a problem?

However, I can see where it would be a problem to the farmer's milkcheck if this goes on: when the milk plant tests the sample of milk for butterfat, if the butterfat has separated out for some reason, such as churned in the tank, or in this case, separated by the cow, that butterfat never shows up on the test. So you could conceivably have a bulk tank of milk having 4% butterfat, but only get paid for, say, 3.9% butterfat. Over the course of time this loss adds up in the wallet.

If this is what the guy meant, then that would be no concern to you, because you would be using all the milk yourself, so even if the milk were separated in some fashion, you'd still have the butterfat. I don't think I'd worry too much about it when choosing a breed. The Guernsey breed numbers are dropping fast in this country and if you can support them a bit I think it's a good idea.

Can you ask him more about this? I'd be interested in any explanation you get.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), December 03, 2001.


In the past we had a Guernsey and no problems. The last time she came fresh she was giving nine gallons a day. To much for us so we sold her to a dairy. Now we have a Jersey. Jim

-- Jim Raymond (jimr@terraworld.net), December 03, 2001.

Our Guernsey's milk comes out all mixed together. Always a golden color, and the cream separates as it cools. I've never seen any lumps or anything. I've never heard of this either. Guernseys are great and nice and friendly.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 03, 2001.

You've got to watch out for some of those older farmers - I'm surprised he didn't walk off with your leg.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), December 03, 2001.


Thanks for everyone's imput. After reading what you nice folks wrote and thinking things through, how could the butterfat ever separate! I have much to learn and am so grateful of people like yourselves helping me understand dairy cows!

-- Kathy (kadavis@iocnet.net), December 04, 2001.

In response to my question about fat separation in Guernsey's - I talked with the retired farmer who corrected the concern. The concern was if Guernsey's udder were too fragile vs. other milk cow breeds. Do the Guernsey's udder sway too much? Are they suseptible to knicking the udder more so than other breeds? Would appreciate any info from those who know Guernsey's. Leaning towards getting one. Thanks so much

-- Kathy (kadavis@iocnet.net), December 04, 2001.

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