|
|
|
Senior Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 8:55:34 AM
Posts: 1,155,
Visits: 941
|
|
If you really like goats, then I encourage you to get into goats. The reasoning is pretty sound. With all the frustrating things that comes from raising animals, you want to get something you are really interested in. Its silly to get something your not so hot on and trying to get into something based on reasoning.
If you truly like something, you make it work. In this case you like both goats and cows milk so go for the goats and run with it.
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
|
|
|
|
|
Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/17/2009 9:46:12 PM
Posts: 114,
Visits: 129
|
|
Goats are awesome little critters. I'd never try to talk someone out of getting goats. My best advice; ask lots of questions, prepare properly and find a mentor who has goats that you like and that are raised the way you intend to raise them. For example, don't take just the advice of show breeders on feeding, etc if you intend to have browsing goats who just need to pay their way with milk and healthy kids.
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Dairy and Meat Goats
http://www.freewebs.com/ozarkjewels/
Also Morningland Dairy Raw Milk Cheeses. www.morninglanddairy.com
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 12:27:20 PM
Posts: 12,
Visits: 24
|
|
Hi,
Emily, I looked at your website. What do you do with all the milk you get? I also think that your Jersey's are the prettiest cows I have ever seen.
I also think that goats are great. We got a mother and baby in August, and they are the sweetest things. We got Nigerian Dwarfs to keep our pasture weed free, but they are great pets as well.
Ariel
|
|
|
|
|
Senior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 8:55:34 AM
Posts: 1,155,
Visits: 941
|
|
Jerseys are "pretty" I guess, but they are also very skittish. We have both on the dairy farm and milking them is NOT fun. They jump and squirm around no matter how much and how often you try to educate them. We actually call them "Grass Rats" because they also eat far more feed then they convert into milk. They do make good butterfat though.
They are good cows, but I prefer the Holsteins which give far more milk, have better conversions, are better tempered and can tolerate cold a bit better.
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
|
|
|
|
|
Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/17/2009 9:46:12 PM
Posts: 114,
Visits: 129
|
|
| I use all my excess goat milk for raising replacement heifers for the family dairy. All the excess cows milk goes to my dairy doelings who are raised on a lambar system. Jerseys are NOT all skittish. Has mostly to do with bloodlines and handling in my opinion. Yes, they are not as slow-moving as the Holstiens. This is where personal preference comes in. I'd rather milk Jerseys and Jersey crosses over Holstiens anyday of the week. Jerseys are smarter, easier to handle. The mixed herds work the best as the Jerseys and Holstiens balance each other out. This really makes no difference at all when it comes down to a family milk cow. With just one or two cows, the cows get plenty of handling and ours are as tame as dogs. For a family milk cow, you do not want a holstien. They are more prone to breeding/calving/feet/leg problems than Jerseys, give way more milk than the average family needs(though if you have enough other animals you can always use the excess), but really, up to 10 gallons a day from a Holstien is a bit much for one family to handle. In a commercial dairy, there is no doubt that the Holstiens will outdo everybody else. But they will also wear out faster than anybody else. Our dairy is in the process of weeding out all our pure Holstiens as they get older. They just do not preform as well in a grazing dairy as the Jerseys and jersey crosses. The next bull I get will be a Milking Shorthorn, to keep some of the size and higher milk production in the herd as I don't want to go *all* Jersey. But I will never go back to all Holstien. Our cows have to be able to get around on ice in winter, and take extreme heat swings in summer. Big Holstiens are the first to go down in either situation. I like my cows to reach 11-14 years old and still be a productive part of the dairy. I've never managed that with a pure Holstien. They just wear out.
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Dairy and Meat Goats
http://www.freewebs.com/ozarkjewels/
Also Morningland Dairy Raw Milk Cheeses. www.morninglanddairy.com
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 4:53:43 AM
Posts: 26,
Visits: 28
|
|
I agree, my Jerseys are not skittish. I guess because they have been handled since calfhood. We mostly use our Jerseys and Jesey crosses for nurse cows. I milk a Dexter and love her unique personality. She is smart and gentle. Her funny little personality quirks keep me laughing. If she doesn't like something, she lets me know by a funny little humming mow.
Visit Briar Acres
http://www.briaracres.com/
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/16/2009 7:11:34 PM
Posts: 46,
Visits: 107
|
|
| It is much easier to separate goats milk from cream with a separator. You can find a hand crank separator on-line for about $100.
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 3:49:04 AM
Posts: 47,
Visits: 103
|
|
| I agree with the gentle, tame personalities of Jerseys. I've been in a pen of mixed cows at the salebarn and had Jerseys- strange Jerseys- just walk up to me and start chewing on my pigtails! The only bad news was there was a Jersey bull right behind them!! As sweet as the cows are the bulls are a complete 180- they make Holstein bulls look nice!! Believe me, I handle 100+ bulls a day, there is nothing nice about the Jersey bulls. I don't care how you raise them- they are just NASTY!! Now, about Holsteins, yes they can be clumsy, seems alot of the bigger animals and even bigger humans can be more clumsy. I've seen them get so excited and start jumping around like calves in spring and the next thing you know there are legs going every way but the right way! I think we've focused too much of our breeding on production and not the animal as a whole. That's why they wear out so fast. Its sad. Dad has always had holsteins and I remember 1 was either 13 years old when she died or had had 13 calves but I can't remember which. She was a very good cow but never produced a heifer Now goats? They like to climb- thats all I know. Oh, but for fun, you may want to check out fainting goats! They don't actually "faint" but when they are startled something happens that their muscles tense up and they can't move and they fall over. That way the wolves eat the "worthless" goat and leave the sheep alone.
|
|
|
|
|
Senior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 8:55:34 AM
Posts: 1,155,
Visits: 941
|
|
I have to tell you, I have been around Jerseys and Holsteins every day of my life an I have never seen a calm Jersey yet. They are like my Montadale sheep, when spooked they are very jumpy and kick...oh my. And a Jersey Bull is out and out dangerous. I would never have one of those. But the worst thing is they just cannot figure out what to do. You would think after 4 years of doing the same thing, twice a day they would be a little clued in. Even a 3 foot chunk of pipe clobbering them behind the head doesn't seem to educate them any. I still can't figure out why we have them on our farm, and we even have some 3 teated ones...if I ran the place those would be the first cows I culled...even before the ones with Johnnies. (LOL)
And I disagree with the Holstein slams too. I do admit they are way overbred and have inbreeding problems, but they give a lot more milk, are ten times more tame, are super smart and have less mastitis and other milking related issues (Comes from not having their teats dragging in the mud and manure all the time where they pick up bacteria). When you ask my 3 year old daughter where milk comes from, she proudly says "Holsteins". ALmost enough to make her Daddy cry with pride.
But age is where many of you are way off. We have Holsteins that are 15-18 years old. Even at sale barns we buy the oldest cows there. The reason is simple, they are old because they gave a lot of milk. Even if the cow is on her last years of dairy production, her milking genetics are there and her calves will give plenty of milk down the road.
As my old boss used to ask, "are your cows the right color?"
"Black and white"
"Yep, I guess they are."
We do breed a first year heifer with Jersey sperm in order to get a smaller calf that the poor girl can pass easier though. After that its a dinner and a movie with the Holstein bull.
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
|
|
|
|
|
Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/17/2009 9:46:12 PM
Posts: 114,
Visits: 129
|
|
| We will just have to disagree on the Holstiens vs Jerseys. I never "slammed" the Holstiens, but for us, they do not work out the best. We have steep, steep hills leading to almost all our pastures, and the Holstiens do not do well year after year of walking to different pastures everyday. They fall on ice and they don't handle heat well. Their feet are the only feet on the farm with problems. Of course the miles will vary depending on the situation. On nice flat farms the bigger cows will do better. Farms where they don't move to new pastures every 12 hours puts less miles on a cow in her lifetime. Nice flat farms don't exist where I live. After having milked both breeds for about 20 years, I know which ones *I* prefer to handle. We have always kept Jersey bulls. Never trusted a bull in my life, but we use Jersey bulls over everything. We have never had problems with Jerseys "never learning". I agree to disagree.
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Dairy and Meat Goats
http://www.freewebs.com/ozarkjewels/
Also Morningland Dairy Raw Milk Cheeses. www.morninglanddairy.com
|
|
|
|