Cow Raising

Cow Raising

With feed costs as high as they are today, keeping a cow may not save you much, if any, hard cash. But, if you like cows are willing to spend a few hours each day feeding, watering and milking one—and processisefresh milk—then the animal will indeedwith plenty of dairy products.

Proper housing is of key importance, but generally an existing outbuilding can beversed to a suitable cow barn.

Unless the cow is to be kept in stanchion, the minimum floor area for a stable is 200 or more square feet. In northern areas, the cow stable should be windtight; all winter ventilation should be under control. An economical job can be done, when necessary, by nailing unslated roofing paper over the sides. A cow can stand more cold than generally realized. If a stable has but on window, cross-ventilation must be obtained bymeans of a transomthe door provided with a sliding panel ortrolled through Tnings into other parts of the barn.

The cow my be confined by somestanchion or allowed the freedom of a stall. The box ,stall is recommended,some cows can keep warmer by movingoccasionally on/very cold nights. Milkduction has ben found to increase aboutpercent when ows are kept in a stall as opposed to a stanchion.

A calf pen is required. This preferably be a duplicatethe cow stall t ailf may be raised through the heifer stagea second cow or for beef.

A cow that is four or five years old and has had her second or third calf is generally a good choice. She will be young enough to have years of production ahead of her, and oldto have shown her milk-producingThere is no reason to pay the highasked for heavy milk producers. For a cow, the criteria should be gentleness, ease of milking and general good health.

A family milk cow will generally yield about 12 quarts daily for from eight to 12 months, consuming about 18 pounds of hay daily. Jerseys and Guernseys are most often chosen for family cows because they are smallermat do not require as much feed or give asmath milk as some of the larger breeds, suchas Holstein or Brown Swiss. A Jersey heifer isfitm bred at from 15 to 17 months; Guernseysinfrom 17 to 18 months; and the heavier breedsan up to 25 months. After freshening, a cow will reach maximum production during theamend month. She will then decline in production at the rate of 6 to 7 percent a month.A cow that freshens in the fall or early winter usually yield an average of 10 percent more milk and fat than one that freshens in spring or summer.

Ideally, the cow should have about twoacres of pasture for summer grazing: Permahent pastures of bluegrass or mixtures of grassdrop in production in the summer and mayhave to be supplemented to provide a uniformfeed supply. The vegetable garden can furnished with a bit of the animal's summer feed. Cows will eat pea vines, sweet corn stalks, cabbage leaves, and sweet potato vines.

The family cow's winter feed consists ofhay and a mixture of concentrates. Alfalfa,soybean, alsike clover, or early-cut grass hayare satisfactory. A Jersey or Guernsey cowwill need at least ten pounds of hay a day, anda pound of grain for each two to four poundsof milk she produces.

A mixture of ground corn and wheat branis a good concentrate to feed with hay. Some soybean oil meal or linseed oil meal may beadded to the diet of hay and grain for extraprotein.

Provide a block of trace mineralized salt ina sheltered box for the cow, or add loose saltto her concentrate mix at the rate of one pound to every 100 pounds of feed.

Give the cow water at least twice daily in winter and more often in summer.

Other Gardening Articles:

Home :: Contact Us :: About Us :: Privacy Policy :: Terms of Use :: Site Map