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Author Topic: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?  (Read 5701 times)

GBov

  • Joined Nov 2019
Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« on: January 22, 2020, 03:07:42 pm »
What are the pros and cons of the two breeds for new cow owners?

Meat and milk would be the goal of cow ownership, two cows at most plus offspring.

A family of 5 plus friends and family, all of which love milk and beef so no problems using it all up.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2020, 07:52:35 pm »
Two cows in milk for one family.... you better get a cream separator and some pigs well... and learn cheesemaking. But it's great fun.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2020, 10:44:08 pm »

two cows at most plus offspring.


Two cows is a minimum.  All cattle should have company of other cattle "of their own age and stage."  One cow and her calf is not kind, she needs another mum to share the duty of keeping the children safe!  And the calves need another calf to play with.

A Jersey is a high-performance animal and needs proper, knowledgeable care. 

Very high butterfat in Jersey milk, not everyone likes it. (I love it, but some don't.)

Jerseys have a very wide pelvis, so calving to a beefy bull is not a problem.  A Jersey will have plenty for a calf and plenty to spare.  But Rosemary gets plenty out of her Shetlands, too.

I have adored my Jerseys and would find it hard to be without them now.  But if I was starting it all again I would definitely look at animals which are a little less high performance.  And Shetlands would be one breed I would look at, for sure.  (Whitebred Shorthorn would be on my shortlist too.)

As Anke indicates, the milk from two Jerseys - every single day - can soon become a millstone unless you have more outlets than just home use and the occasional cheese.  We have a community of over 20 adults here, and more than 10 children, and because we haven't yet got ourselves set up for making hard cheese, we can't always manage to make enough product and drink enough milk from one Jersey!  (She has another cow for company, but that one is a cross and much lower performing; we have not had milk from two at the same time yet.)   It takes real commitment : we have a team of milkers, a team of skimmers (although you will probably get a separator), and in order to keep on top of it, we need another team making yoghurt twice a week, soft cheese every day, (get pigs to eat the whey!), butter, ice cream... We have folks making white sauce and cheese sauce to freeze to use up surpluses, the pigs get loads when we can't process it all but we only have pigs March to October....

They eat a huge amount too!  Which means more acres than you might have anticipated...  And buying in or having even more acres to make your own hay and haylage for winter....  And straw for winter too, they can't be outside when it's wet and muddy...  Then there's keeping them clean when they are indoors, and dealing with the mastitis when you didn't...

If you are rearing your own meat then you have two options.  Send 'em off at less than twelve months, get less meat per calf but need way less land and housing as you aren't overwintering youngstock and don't have three or even four pairs in spring and summer...  Or keep them on to whatever you decide between 18 and 30 months, get more meat per animal but need significantly more land and housing. 

Bringing in and rearing extra calves can be a good way of using up all the milk - but you need to know what you are doing, buying in young calves and rearing them.  And if you are in a bTB area, as I am now, you may decide it is not worth the risk and prefer to keep a closed herd.

« Last Edit: January 22, 2020, 10:50:56 pm by SallyintNorth »
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

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2020, 10:52:55 am »
Ditto what Sally said. We like our Shetlands - fantastic beef, enough milk, cheap to run.

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2020, 11:14:29 am »

Bringing in and rearing extra calves can be a good way of using up all the milk - but you need to know what you are doing, buying in young calves and rearing them.  And if you are in a bTB area, as I am now, you may decide it is not worth the risk and prefer to keep a closed herd.


But if you do this make sure it’s from a herd free of BVD, johnes, bTB, that has good colostrum management too

GBov

  • Joined Nov 2019
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2020, 12:21:03 pm »
I thought the reason to have two milk cows was to have one in milk and one pregnant (and to keep each other company) so as to always have milk but not too much?

Good to know about the high maintenance/costs of Jerseys v Shetlands.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2020, 03:13:14 pm »
I thought the reason to have two milk cows was to have one in milk and one pregnant (and to keep each other company) so as to always have milk but not too much?

Good to know about the high maintenance/costs of Jerseys v Shetlands.

gestation is 9 months, their natural cycle is to reproduce approx once a year, they need approx 60 days dry between calves.

So even if you successfully stagger calvings (and believe me, even when you know what you are doing, nature has a way of not playing ball with your preferred service dates!!), you will have two cows in milk for 8 months of the year.

A Jersey has too much milk for one calf, so you will have to milk her, at least in the early months of the lactation.  if she has a beefy (greedy!) enough calf, and you are very good at managing your grazing for the production you want, you may be able to organise yourself to have the calf on her, taking all she gives, from maybe 5 months onwards.  (She will reduce output down to demand to an extent, but a less specialised animal will do this better.)

Or if you want more milk, spean the calf at 5 months and keep all the next 5 months' milk for yourself.

On organising staggered calvings, it is mind-bogglingly tricky with two!  You can't dry them off when they have too much good grass; they need to be together really; it's not a great idea to house cattle when the weather is warm; the one in mid-lactation needs lots of good food because she will "milk off her back" (ie., lose flesh to produce milk) if you don't,...

So, if that is the way you are thinking, then I would say go not Jersey.  Probably much easier for first time dairy farmers to manage.

Oh, and another tip, from my own experience... plan to milk heifers every single day throughout their first lactation, whether the calf could keep them comfortable or not and whether you need the milk or not.  Cows are creatures of routine, and giving her a very steady routine in her first lactation will stand you in very good stead when you want to stop and start milking her to suit your own needs and the conditions later on.  Milking her for the first few months, then treating her like a suckler cow (so not milking her) for some months, or until she next calves, will set you up for a difficult relationship ;). Once she's had her second calf it will all get much easier on you both :hugcow:




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

GBov

  • Joined Nov 2019
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2020, 04:54:53 pm »
SallyintNorth, your post is exactly why forums beat books every time!!!

Books are good but real-time experience is truly priceless.

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2020, 05:21:54 pm »
I guess taht's why we like the Shetlands - we milk once a day and leave the calves on. If we want a day off or there's a crisis, I can safely not milk and the calf just gets a double dose of milk.
Shetland ARE used for multisuckling though, but I've never tried it.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2020, 09:06:13 pm »
I actually do this too, even with my Jersey, except for the first month or two when she really does have to be milked... but I've been doing this a while now, and have learned a lot about how to manage it all over the years!  So for beginners, I think a less highly-specialised cow is a better choice.
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: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2020, 11:00:34 pm »
Rosemary, how much milk does a Shetland give? If you removed the calf and reared it separately so needed milk for that but also were looking for an entire household supply i.e.cooking, drinking, butter, cream, cheese, ice cream and then wanted to rear hens, lambs, pigs, puppies and so on with it too- would a Shetland do that?
Or would say a Dairy Shorthorn be better? Or possibly a Red Poll?

Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
    • Nantygroes
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Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2020, 12:13:03 pm »
I'm sure a Shetland cow would give oodles of milk!    Mine feeds her own calves and has allowed other calves (of over 6 months) to suckle her as well without any difficulty or losing any condition...… biggest issue I have is stopping them getting too fat between calves.

Biggest difference is going to be in housing needs …. Jersey's need more TLC  because they originate from further south.

I have worked with and love both breeds ……   
Linda

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Dan

  • The Accidental Smallholder
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  • Carnoustie, Angus
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Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2020, 12:56:38 pm »
Our oldest cow, Blizzard, had  a dead calf in 2018  :'( . Rosemary milked her twice a day and at peak, was getting 20 litres a day. She milked for about 6 months before drying her off and she was down to about 10 litres a day.

Dan

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  • Carnoustie, Angus
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Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2020, 01:00:42 pm »
Rosemary says that Shetlands are more variable than Jerseys - although originally a dairy breed, thay have been sucklers for generations, so some strains are more milky than others and there's not a lot of tangible evidence on milking ability in the breed since not many folk milk. Does that make sense?

Size of udder isn't a definite correlation to milk yield ([member=10673]SallyintNorth[/member] will know more)

PK

  • Joined Mar 2015
  • West Suffolk
    • Notes from a Suffolk Smallholding
Re: Jersey v Shetland for new cow owners?
« Reply #14 on: January 24, 2020, 01:43:49 pm »
Given the milk yields how realistic is it to keep a ‘house’ cow(s) for home consumption of its milk, including cheese making, with any breed?

 

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