Calf Sharing | Only Milk Once A Day {Or Only When You Need Milk}
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2020
- Want to get a milk cow but scared of the commitment? Come learn about calf sharing and how it makes having a family milk cow easy and stress free! Milk twice a day every day? Not if you don’t want to!
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One of the homesteading goals for many people is to have some type of dairy animal whether it be a cow, goat, or even a sheep, to provide fresh, raw milk for their family. It kind of seems like the pinnacle of homesteading, doesn’t it?
But the truth is, many people miss out on the benefits and rewards of their own home dairy because they’re scared and intimidated by the thought of being chained to their homestead to milk their cow twice a day, every day, 365 days a year.
What about vacation? Bad weather? Drowning in milk or just don’t feel like milking?
Let me be the shining beacon of hope for you…there’s an easier way!!! It’s called calf sharing and it makes having a family milk cow so easy and flexible!
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CALF SHARING?
1. First and foremost, having calves to nurse your milk cow gives you so much freedom and flexibility that you just don’t have any other way! If you want to milk twice a day you can do that but if you only want to milk a few mornings {or evenings} a week you have the option to do that too!
2. Not being tied to the homestead. If you need to be gone for the weekend or have been wanting to take a vacation, you can turn the calves out with the milk cow and not have to worry about trying to find someone with knowledge and experience to come twice a day to milk your cow. Sometimes that’s a difficult thing to find!
3. Relieves stress about having to milk every last drop out of the udder and practically eliminates the risk of mastitis. You do have to be careful with dairy animals and make sure you drain their udders when milking or you run the risk of them developing mastitis which can ruin an udder if not promptly treated. Those calves will drain her out completely!
4. Raise freezer calves or expand your herd. We keep our freezer filled with fresh beef just by raising extra calves on our milk cow. It’s a super win-win! You could also be strategic when buying an extra calf if you wanted to raise some to keep and expand your herd. Or you can always raise a calf to sell if you want to recoup some of your costs but aren’t ready to send your calves to butcher.
5. Healthier calves. Just like formula vs breastfeeding for a baby, the mothers milk is what the baby calf was made to drink and he’ll be the healthiest he can be by drinking her milk. Milk replacer can raise a healthy calf and we’ve raised a few bottle calves through the years, but cow milk is definitely optimal for a calf.
6. Save tons of money vs bottle feeding the calf plus it’s so much easier than bottle feeding! Calf milk replacer gets really expensive, really fast! Not only that but a lot of times the excitement of bottle feeding a calf can wear off after the first few days and then it can easily become more of hassle if it’s not something you really enjoy. I always thought raising a bottle calf was fun but there will definitely be days where it’s not so fun!
7. Get as little or as much milk as you want. Whether you need three gallons of milk a week or 2 gallons a day, you can easily get just the right amount but still have the freedom to skip days milking if you need to. Also just not having to stress about milking all of the milk out every. single. time. There are days that our cow decides to be difficult where that would be nearly impossible!
Thank you for this info! This was my exact worry about getting a dairy cow. Now I'm jumping back in 🙌
Our.Sweet.Life it really is quite doable even in the crazy days of starting a family and having young kids like we're in. If we can do it, anyone can! Good luck!
Thanks so much very valuable info. Much kinder to them both calf and cow
I'm so glad it was helpful! It works so well!
Thank you so much for this video! I’ve been wondering about the logistics of this as calf sharing is kind of a dream of mine so thank you!
It really makes having a milk cow so much easier and more manageable especially if you're in a busy season of life!
Best video on this topic I have seen - thank you. Going to attempt grafting a calf onto my jersey.
Sorry for the late reply, but thank you! How did the graft go for the calf?
wonderful video 👍 Blessings 🥰
Thank you 🤗
Very informative, thank you! I bought a cow in February that was in milk but was believed to be pregnant. I learned later her AI hadn’t taken so I had her bred and it took. Unfortunately she’s not due now until early April, but she’s drying up fast already with about 7 months to go! I’m concerned that if she dries up completely (she’s giving just less than 3/4 of a gallon per day) she’ll be so far out of the routine of being milked by the time she calves, that she won’t let us milk her. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks :)
Hey Rachel, do you sell your Jersey heifers? I also am in Louisiana and there is no one near where I live that have dairy calves for sale.
Thank You
Amanda
Hi Amanda! Believe it or not, we've always been "lucky" enough to get bull calves haha we breed to my dad's angus bull so we raise them for meat. I really want to try to AI her for a heifer dairy calf so we can raise up a replacement because she's getting a little older. They are definitely hard to find around here.
This was so helpful! As of right now I have two Jerseys that are in milk. How long do you usually keep your cows in milk? And also when do you wean your calves?
Kendra, I'm sorry that I'm so late replying. We usually breed every year and we'll dry her up a few months before she calves so she has a little break. We take our calves off and put fresh ones on when the older ones get more interested in grass than milk. These last two were pretty big. If you were wanting to raise more calves you could wean them earlier. I hope that's helpful and not too late.
@@thislovelylittlefarmhouse Farm life can be really busy! It’s perfectly fine!That is very interesting. Thank you so much for your reply!
Thank you so much for this video. You explain this very well. We are getting our first milk cow. Bringing her home today.
Videos are going up on Idahofarmkids page.
So glad it was helpful! Good luck on your new adventure!
Will the newborn calf/a week old be fine without nursing for 12 hours?
I have Dexter cows. 1 calf that is 2 months old. My calf has only milked on the 2 back teets. I try twice a day to milk the 2 that has no milk. Can you advise please? Thank you and I really enjoy your channel.
Hi Paula. I'm sorry, I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. Are the 2 front teats that the calf doesn't nurse on dry? There's no milk in them?
Can u just milk the cow everytime the calf finishes milking? In other words just finishing off the calfs milking?
In the very beginning that would probably work but once the calves get a few weeks old and the cow's milk supply gets regulated, they drain her when they nurse. If you milk before they nurse, she makes enough for you and them since milk production is primarily a supply and demand thing.
Our cow has dried up and is expected to calve in March or April. How do you get her to let down her milk if she’s holding it back completely for her calf? My jersey did that years ago and wouldn’t give me anything, knowing her calf was in the stall next to her!
Follow the method they use in India. Works every time.
Let the calf suckle first for a minute or so, mama releases the milk, tie the calf next to mama so she can lick and nuzzle her calf while you are milking her. When you are done let the calf back on to nurse the last bit that's in there. It's very humane and keeps mama cow so happy that she won't ever be holding back her milk again. And you have a happy calf too. Win win all round. 😊
I have a jersey/Angus cross that just had a calf yesterday morning. She has a huge udder. Just curious, you said, don't milk until after a week to ten days, but you also said milk along with the calf at first if the cows udder is bigger. So, do you start this sharing along with the calf right away or do you wait a week and then start sharing along with the calf without separating? Just confused there
I'm sorry for the confusion. Since every cow is different it can kind of be a play it by ear, case but case scenario. Which can definitely make it confusing!
You usually don't need to milk until they switch from making colostrum to milk.
That being said, if you have a super high producing cow, you may need to milk along with the calf from the get go. Is her udder hard and full feeling even after the calf nurses?
The size of her udder isn't really as important as how much she's making vs how much the calf is removing. The main thing to consider is how her bag feels, looks, and how well the calf is able to suck it down. And too, their udders can tend to be swollen at first.
As long as the calf is getting plenty and full, it won't hurt to milk after he's finished if she still feels full. And definitely milk her if you see her squirting milk.
Also, are you keeping the calf with her full time right now?
@@thislovelylittlefarmhouse yes, he's with her full time. She is a high producer and she is leaking milk and her udder is very hard and tight. He's nursing, but not enough to make a huge difference
@@wolfie1461 in that case I'd definitely go ahead and start milking her. You definitely don't want her to get mastitis which is a concern if she's staying full enough to be leaking. Depending on what your goals are, you could just milk enough to relieve the pressure. I don't know what your plans are, but if you want to do the calf sharing like I talked about where you can not milk every day twice a day, I would highly recommend getting another calf to put on her. If she's that heavy of a producer, he'll have to grow quite a bit before he'll be able to keep up with her supply. Of course that can come with its own set of challenges. I hope that helped and didn't add to the confusion!
@@thislovelylittlefarmhouse perfect! I do definitely want to get some milk for us too for sure, so that helps us and helps her. We were planning on doing the milk sharing though for sure just so we don't have to bottle feed and deal with all that. Our cow was a bottle baby, and it took a lot of time to make sure they were fed, plus, I feel it is better this way. We did just invest in a vaccum pump to help us out with this though, so it should be quicker and relieve her a lot. It makes it difficult not having a milking stand, but we are making it work with what he have. Luckily, she's a good girl, but she sure likes to move around a lot. She isn't halter trained, so that was put, but once I have a stanchion it will be loads easier too. Thank you for all the info! She's my first milk producing cow, so I need all the advice I can get 😂
I'm super late to the party, but I wanted to add that if you need to milk from the get go if she's a heavy producer you can save that colostrum and freeze it in case you ever have a bottle baby that the mama died and baby didn't get the colostrum. It's almost imperative that newborn calves get that first colostrum to survive so I've had it be a life saver having some frozen in cases where I lost a cow and needed to bottle feed the baby.
I would never be able to butcher calves I have raised _
How long can I keep one calf on her mother? I dont know if I have enough room to buy 2 or 3 other calves to calf share with. Would her one calf be enough to get her to the drying period before she births her new calf?
Well, I'd say it'll depend on how soon you breed her back. You definitely wouldn't want to wait a year to breed her back and then have an almost 2 year old nursing her by the time she calved again. What I would recommend if you only have space for 2 and no more is to keep her calf on her and then when it gets big, at maybe around 8 months, take it off, sell it and buy a baby calf to put back on her. You could time it based on when you bred her back and expected her to calve so that the little one would be weaning around the right time to give her a break before she calved again. We usually wean around 8-9 months but you could do it as early as 4-5 months if you needed to.
As far as if one calf would be enough, yes and no. In the beginning you'd probably have to milk morning and night until her supply got more regulated and the calf got a little bigger. Some of that will depend on the breed of cow as well. Our little jersey was fine until we got a second calf on her but my dad had to milk his jersey/Holstein cross because she was producing way more than the calf could keep up with. Once her supply regulates and he gets a little bigger, you could start calf sharing and not have to milk every time if you didn't want to.
I hope that makes sense.
It does thank you. I appreciate your video and your knowledge, we are looking at a couple of jerseys and wanted to calf share but weren't 100% on the process.
@@nathanielmorrison6333 good, I'm glad it helped! Good luck! If anymore questions come up I'd be happy to try to answer them. I may not know the answer but my dad has had cows his entire life and is a treasure trove of cow wisdom!
I want to open a small shop to sell milk with 20 HF cows can i do this method
Theoretically you should be able to although the logistics of it may be much more difficult.
How many calves do you think an average Jersey could raise and still give milk to the family?
It would depend mainly on how much milk you would want every day and if you'd be willing to feed her to keep up her milk supply if needed.
We keep 2 calves on ours the whole time she's in milk and we could easily milk a gallon morning and evening. I don't think you'd be able to do much more than that with the average Jersey.
@@thislovelylittlefarmhouse 2 gallons a day would be plenty. So do you still recommend milking twice a day with 2 calves or would it be ok if we just milked once a day?
@@natet5425 we only milk once a day and sometimes we don't milk at all and only let the calves suck. That's the beauty of having the calves...it makes it so flexible!
You'd want to watch her when she first freshens to make sure they empty her enough, but as they get a little bigger, they won't have any problem emptying her out!
@@thislovelylittlefarmhouse Wonderful, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!
@@natet5425 you're very welcome! I'm fortunate to have my dad to ask all of my questions to when it comes to that sort of thing. He's such a wealth of knowledge especially when it comes to cows. I can only imagine how difficult it is to try to navigate learning all of this when you don't have a real life mentor like that!
how sick it is that we exploit innocent creatures for our own greed. We don't need to consume animal products to be healthy
them soybean plants doesn't like it when you devour their offspring either
Plants fruit and reproduce seeds to procreate ,not to feed vegans! but to expand and spread their own gene infact every living creature does it even the corona virus!