Bought but not paid for yet as I am not getting them until April.
I have been window shopping for months, reading as much as I could. My husband was not keen, but you only come this way once and to soften him up I have got some cow lodgers, Dexters in the shed, which are really cute and no a lot of trouble.
I have ended up with in calf Kerry girls, from a family home. Not that much bigger than the Dexters, and certainly not as big as a Jersey. I am hoping they will cope with our solid clay and fen weather, when it blows it could strip paint, but they will be overwintered in sheds.
So the project for this year is to renovate the old milking parlour, which was for 12 cows and split it into a parlour/dairy/shop area. If it works great, if not at least the building will be weather proof and tidy, at the moment there is more tin off the roof than on it. Its really sad seeing the empty milking bays.
I have contacted BCM. I am window shopping for a calving gate. I like the look of these,http://www.bosteel.ie/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=5
I think I could borrow a crush from my cow lodger if needed. So what bits of equipment are vital?