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Author Topic: The Jersey as a house cow?  (Read 4223 times)

Herbs,Hens and Spaniels

  • Joined Dec 2017
  • Warwickshire
The Jersey as a house cow?
« on: January 20, 2020, 06:45:09 pm »
Hello everyone!!  :wave:
We were wondering if anyone could give us a little advice on having a Jersey as a house cow. We've kept Fresian crosses before and goats but we do have a soft spot for those little golden beauties so just a couple of questions before we bring one home  ::)  :love: ...

When we had the Freisian x's we found the milk horribly watery and we love the Jersey milk we buy from Sainsburys  at the moment for drinking, however when we've bought Jersey butter we didn't like it because it tasted over rich and almost rancid. Would our own fresh Jersey milk/cheese/ butter be that rich?

We rear calves, pigs, lambs, goat kids, puppies, chickens e.t.c with our milk, but have heard that Jersey milk is no good for this as it causes scours- has anyone else found this to be the case?

Are Jerseys more economical to keep? Would anyone be willing to share how much their house cow eats, how many acres of grazing she has, if you make your own hay how many acres do you mow for her e.t.c and what her keep costs are?

Jerseys = milk fever! Or so I've heard, does everyone on here find this, or is it more of an intensive dairy farm problem?

Thank you for taking the time to read my questions, any other help or advice or comments would be appreciated!! :excited: :cow:

Herbs,Hens and Spaniels

  • Joined Dec 2017
  • Warwickshire
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2020, 07:04:40 pm »
Oh my goodness OH has just been reading the Smallholders magazine and seen Red Polls advertised as multi sucklers and house cows!!
Opinions please!
Considering we want milk for drinking, cheese, cream, butter and general cooking as well as rearing calves, lambs, goats, pigs, hens, puppies e.t.c.  Has anyone any suggestions on which breed of cow they think would be best?

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2020, 02:40:04 am »
I have kept Jersey house cows for eight years now.  Our latest addition is a crossbred daughter of my original matriarch Jersey.  The new entrant is a Red Devon cross Jersey.

First of all, I have milked three of my Jerseys and the one crossbreed, and if you blindfolded me and gave me some of their milk to drink I would be able to tell you which cow it came from, and whether she was eating predominantly grass at the moment or not.

My first cow, Hillie, is an amazing animal with incredibly rich milk.  Picture of her midsummer produce attached.  Not so much "gold top" as "white bottom"!   ;D

And yes, the cream, butter and cheese are also very rich.  Personally I adore butter made from Hillie's cream, but it does very quickly get that sharp taste unless you are very thorough about washing it until the washing water is sparkling clean - and then pat it throughly to get any remaining water out.  I don't like my butter salted, so that makes it harder to drive the water out.  Also, we let the cream rise and then skim, rather than using a separator, so the cream has "matured" for a day or three by the time we churn it.

In Cumbria, I would make 1/2 a jam jar of yesterday's cream into butter every day, and we would eat that in 24 hours.  It was never rancid, always fantastic :)

I haven't yet had a go at making a cultured butter - Christine Paige at Smiling Tree Farm (pasture-fed Jerseys in Shropshire) recommends this, and I think it could address the sharp taste thing.

Hillie's milk has successfully reared lambs; many, many calves; augmented pigs' diets and those of puppies... I always meant to make a collage of what her first lactation gave us.  I think it was 5 calves, 10 or more lambs, 2 pigs, two hounds, and of course ourselves.

I have never ever had a calf scour on Hillie's milk.  She has reared her own calf every lactation; after about one month old we usually separate the calf overnight, but they are together all day with the calf or calves drinking at will.  Until being in a community, Hillie always had more milk than we and her calf needed, so I would bring in extra calves.  Most lactations she would have her own calf for 5 months, a same-age companion for it for 4 months, then another pair of calves brought in at a month old and fed for 3 months, and occasionally another calf or once another pair for a couple of months or more, depending on when her next calf was due.

I would always take care that the calves couldn't gorge when going back onto her in the morning after milking, and when introducing new calves I would manage every feed for the first few days while they got used to her milk and that they would have plenty of it ad lib, so didn't need to gorge.

i have written about using her milk for lambs on the forum.  Basically I never had a problem with scouring; I found they needed about a litre and a half a day at full capacity; I did find that lambs would scour - and two died before I sussed how to handle this - if I put them back on a ewe after they'd been on Hillie's milk for more than a few days.  After I realised, I would give any lambs that were suitable for adoption half-and-half Hillie milk and ewe milk replacer, and they seemed to be able to switch back to a ewe no problem from that regime.  Once they were clearly not going to be adopted, I could put them on 100% Hillie milk.

We believe that Hillie is A2, in that several people who thought they had a cows' milk intolerance or allergy have found that Hillie's milk has no adverse effects on them.  I have wondered whether the ease with which all species seem to take to Hillie's milk is connected to her being A2 ;)   However, I've also realised that she was always on largely unimproved Cumbrian upland when I was doing all those things.  (Down here the pigs get whey from cheese-making and any unused cream, but we don't get a lot of pet lambs and haven't had any hound pups.)  Hillie's summer milk was about 1/3 cream up in Cumbria.

Hillie is wonderful but she is a high-performance animal and she takes a heck of a lot more looking after - and food! - than a suckler cow!

She is not hardy, and really needs a dry bed in winter at least.  One of her purebred daughters was a much hardier animal, but she didn't take to being milked so was used to rear calves.  One of the other daughters was the opposite; loved being milked, was an utter sweetheart in the parlour, but wouldn't take to another calf, would only rear her own.

I have not had a problem with milk fever, but I don't push them and I take care that they have rock salt all the time, and extra minerals in the couple of months before calving.  I give some feed for the month before calving too, which is grass pellets now that we have gone pasture-fed.

Ex-BH used to feed a dry cow half a small bale of hay a day, or reckon on 15-22 cows eating a big round bale of haylage in 24-36 hours.  Hillie eats at least twice that, plus a bit of hard feed (now grass pellets) in the parlour.  I have found that grass makes milk and flesh, hay makes flesh but not much milk; good meadow haylage makes milk and a bit of flesh.  Rye haylage makes wet poop and goes through so fast I'm not convinced it has any nutritional value at all!  lol

She has literally a handful of pellets to get her head in her bowl while I tie her up, and only has more pellets than that in the month before calving (when she's dry, of course) and if she seems to need more input early on in her lactation.

It took me a while to catch her to the AI after her first calf (which was a natural service.)  Since realising just how sensitive to change they are, we've had no problem with her - but I don't serve her if I know there is a big change in the next six weeks ;)   There have been three occasions on which she has skipped a year or had an eighteen month lactation.  She milks through, gives a bit less the second year but still plenty for us, and I've always given her a longer dry period if she's had a long lactation. 

They say that older Jerseys are prone to mastitis and also to Johnnes.  Hillie has had mastitis three times since I moved to Cornwall but I am sure that is mostly down to us not managing her perfectly.  (We have made some changes, so fingers crossed for the next lactation :fc:)  Hillie's poo is always wetter than Flare's, and Hillie is not an animal that carries a lot of flesh. She can get really quite thin at times when there is not a great deal of grass, but she is able to replenish her modest covering when the grass comes back.  One year here we had a long drought, and she had a calf on her, so I stopped milking her until the weather changed and the grass came back.

Flare, the crossbred daughter, is much more of a suckler type physically; she is hardy and a "good doer" - and gives way less milk than Hillie.  We milked her to train her but did not separate the calf at all, and basically have only been getting enough milk to do anything with since the calf went.  (He was an Angus cross, made 244kgs deadweight at 10 months old, off grass and milk only.  Spectacular :))  Flare's milk is crisp, white and has a "clean" taste compared to Hillie's.  It has a reasonable layer of cream; the cream is thinner and whiter than Hillie's.  (But you would never call her milk or cream "watery".) I think Flare's milk will make awesome soft cheeses, and a really fresh-tasting yoghurt. 

I adore Hillie and wouldn't change her for the world, as you can probably tell!  If you want to multiple suckle, I think the right Jersey will pay for herself many, many times over.  But they do have very distinct personalities, and not all will take to multiple suckling. 

Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2020, 09:23:16 pm »
Oh my goodness OH has just been reading the Smallholders magazine and seen Red Polls advertised as multi sucklers and house cows!!
Opinions please!
Considering we want milk for drinking, cheese, cream, butter and general cooking as well as rearing calves, lambs, goats, pigs, hens, puppies e.t.c.  Has anyone any suggestions on which breed of cow they think would be best?
Theres a guy in Leciestershire who until 2019 milked a herd of 50 MILKING line redpoll cows! They still keep them but want to sell and retire.
I'd love to take that job on if I could!
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

Herbs,Hens and Spaniels

  • Joined Dec 2017
  • Warwickshire
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2020, 11:11:06 pm »
SallyintNorth,
Bless you! What a lovely, knowledgeable lady and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to write that reply!  :bouquet:  :hug:
Possibly then, the Jersey is not our cow  :'( We might find the milk much too rich for our tastes but more importantly we are a 10 acre holding and try to produce not only our own food but our stock feed as well. Lots of mangels, kale, maize and stock beans! I'm wondering whether our acreage would be sufficient to supply a Jersey with the hay, grazing and other feeds she would need.

Would a Red Poll or a Shetland be more up our street? I adore the beautiful colouring of the Dairy Shorthorn but wonder if they might be similar to a Jersey?

Wow macgro7, I'm with you on that one  :o :idea:  Has he got some for sale now? Might be worth an enquiry if that particular breed would be a better option for us!  :cow:

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2020, 11:42:56 pm »
10 acres is a bit tight to be thinking of cattle, I would say, especially if you've got other animals too, and grow feed for them. :/ 

You would need two cows; like all herd animals, they must have company of their own kind.  It's not illegal to keep a solitary cow with just her calf for company, but it's very unkind.  The whole herd share the work of protecting the calves.  A lone cow with her calf would be incredibly stressed. 

With that acreage and what you already do, you would be better thinking of goats for milk, wouldn't you?  Or if it has to be cows and you don't want to cut back on the other stuff, maybe look at Dexters.  Some Dexters are quiet and can be milked, you would need to get the right ones!  I haven't milked a Dexter or drunk their milk, but it is supposed to be similar to Jersey milk.  There was a small herd of Dexters here when I came, a suckler herd.  They are smaller than the Jersey, considerably more hardy, and seem to do well on grass which would struggle to sustain a Jersey. 

Just googling, the Red Poll seems to be a similar size to the Jersey.  The Northern Dairy Shorthorn is larger.  The Shetland would be a similar weight to a Jersey and I believe is fairly hardy and a "good doer" like the Dexter - but I will let others with experience of them comment on their suitability for your situation.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Herbs,Hens and Spaniels

  • Joined Dec 2017
  • Warwickshire
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2020, 06:47:39 pm »
Sorry for late reply! At the moment we have 4 milking goats, staggered breeding to ensure milk all year round and milking 2 at a time. Obviously apart from a few months of overlap when we have all 4!
It was just a thought really because we've ran sucklers all my life and my dad's life and his dad's life...cattle really go back in our family. I'd hate to be without them, but commercially we can't afford to keep them going!
Just a house cow or two would be nice, but perhaps it's not to be on our acreage!

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2020, 11:44:36 am »
We have cattle on 12 acres but buy all our feed in.

Herbs,Hens and Spaniels

  • Joined Dec 2017
  • Warwickshire
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2020, 01:10:32 pm »
That's interesting, Rosemary, how many do you run?
Our ground is good, we are in Warwickshire.
We have a 2 acre field and another 5 acres of permanent pasture which is medieval ridge and furrow.
•Last summer we had 14 ewes, a tup and 24 lambs + 2 heifers, 1 cow and calf and a bull all on that 5 acres, no extra feed. All were fit and the grass kept up with them.
• The year before,( when we had that extreme hot weather),  we had a multi suckling cow with 3 calves on the 2 acres and she was fat. We turned goats out with her to eat down the grass that was over long and had gone to seed so we had fat goats as well  :D Once again no additional feed.


SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2020, 05:01:19 pm »
All well and good, but where are all the animals in winter?  If you've good housing, and house them, then that would be a different equation ;)
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Herbs,Hens and Spaniels

  • Joined Dec 2017
  • Warwickshire
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2020, 05:32:51 pm »
Oh yeah, forgot to say cattle are entirely housed through the winter! Apart from the sheep who stay out on the 5 acres all year as it's not wet ground, even this year!  :raining:
They're much too fat though :innocent:
The sheep are going this time, and we really would like to turn the 2 acres over to crop rotations for our food and stock feed.

I think I'd at least give a couple of Shetlands a go if it wasn't for the fact we're in a 6 monthly Tb area and the trouble of getting them bulled. Definitely haven't got room for a bull as well. Keeping a billy goat is much easier! Never mind-  I adore my goaty girls and would never be without them anyway so looks like I'll just be sticking with the goats!  :excited:  :goat:


Any suggestions for how to divide the 5 acres for a hay crop and grazing to avoid worms?

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2020, 01:40:36 am »
I am envious of your ground and weather!  But I suspect your 5 acres of Warwickshire would probably buy our 18 of Cornwall twice over .... :/

AI for cattle is fairly successful, although saying that, we didn't catch Flare right last year so she is running on.  :fc: we catch her right in April

We have been getting on well here using low-ish stocking levels and rotational grazing for worm control - cattle, then sheep then Fell ponies (we pick the poo for the ponies), rest, repeat.  I dared to not worm the ewes at lambing last year, and had no issues with the lambs until one needed worming in October.  Only 2 lambs didn't perform very well, in one case it was a mum had a bad quarter and the other was a single so I wouldn't have wormed the mum anyway!

We also keep himalayan rock salt out for everyone all the time.

Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Herbs,Hens and Spaniels

  • Joined Dec 2017
  • Warwickshire
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2020, 10:39:40 pm »
Thanks for all the advice! I'll have a go with the 5 acres and see what happens  :fc: With 4 goats I'm guessing we'll have plenty of space there to rotate and mow. However, I think the other 4 acres will take much more planning before we get the rotation in that we want there!! :farmer:

Really?! I thought land / Smallholding prices would be much higher where you are! We are lucky, it's a beautiful little spot, but I'm sure yours is just as lovely!
Good luck with Flare! I hope all goes well this time  :cow:

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: The Jersey as a house cow?
« Reply #13 on: February 06, 2020, 05:40:01 pm »
Btw, my dairy goats are not rotated, and I have one field (probably just over an acre, milkers anything between 5 and 12) for milkers (it always gets very long...) and the other field for youngstock (usually just goatlings, as I leave my kids inside as long as possible until their Johne's vaccine has kicked in). Goats are outside in good weather for about 3 - 5 hours per day between March/April until end of September. Heavy clay, so needs rest. I haven't wormed my goats in a couple of years... but I run my females as a closed herd now, males brought in or females travelled to mate or laprascopic AI.
Once you have a) clean ground and b) relatively stable set up (no new stock) - you shouldn't need to worm, and probably not rotate either. But having sheep in the same field will set you back for a while - best not to co-graze. Also goats very susceptible to pick up Johne's...

My goats get loads of branches during summer - much better for them than grass.

 

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