Post by amandas101 on Jun 4, 2018 20:28:47 GMT -5
Hi everyone! I'm new to these boards, only recently signed up. I wanted to tell a little about myself.
I am from Grey-Bruce county, located in Ontario, Canada. Anyone else from the area please give a shout-out! I have been milking cows for 9 years now, which is as long as I've known my husband. We milk between 35-40 cows, with about the same number of young stock. I am a little different than other farmers in my area. My cows do milk for a living, but they are never pushed to be super high production cows and they are loved and cared for like family members. We allow our cows access to pasture during spring/summer/fall. Calves are fed free-choice whole milk, as much as they can drink, until they are at least 4 months. Over the years, from being disappointed with high-maintenance holstein cows, there has been a slow shift to crossbreeding with jerseys, brown swiss, montbeliardes, viking reds, and more recently dutch belted. My highest lived cow currently in the barn is a cross with ayrshire going back a couple generations. I can post pictures later. Although we have stuck with breeding the majority with holsteins, we choose healthy, high fat/protein bulls with good temperament and excellent fertility. After 6 years of doing this, results are showing.
Due to heavy use of sexed semen (used mainly on heifers), right now I have excess heifers. Although I have had a couple cow buyers drop in and offer to buy them, they don't care about where the cow/heifer goes, only the bottom line. I would prefer selling to people that care about the animal, not milk her then discard her. Anyways, I have a question: as I have an excess of heifers, is there anyone interested in buying? What is preferred: pregnant heifers? Young calves? Fresh cows? Everyone is registered with Holstein Canada (even those not by holstein bulls) and I can show the pedigree if needed. We used to raise intact bulls, but due to limited space (we do not like overcrowding!) we sold them to market. I would like to start raising them again if there is interest. I had a really nice bull calf, a jersey x montbeliarde x holstein that I wanted to keep but didn't know if anyone would be interested in using him as a herd sire.
Anyways, thank you for reading and I'm glad to be here
I am from Grey-Bruce county, located in Ontario, Canada. Anyone else from the area please give a shout-out! I have been milking cows for 9 years now, which is as long as I've known my husband. We milk between 35-40 cows, with about the same number of young stock. I am a little different than other farmers in my area. My cows do milk for a living, but they are never pushed to be super high production cows and they are loved and cared for like family members. We allow our cows access to pasture during spring/summer/fall. Calves are fed free-choice whole milk, as much as they can drink, until they are at least 4 months. Over the years, from being disappointed with high-maintenance holstein cows, there has been a slow shift to crossbreeding with jerseys, brown swiss, montbeliardes, viking reds, and more recently dutch belted. My highest lived cow currently in the barn is a cross with ayrshire going back a couple generations. I can post pictures later. Although we have stuck with breeding the majority with holsteins, we choose healthy, high fat/protein bulls with good temperament and excellent fertility. After 6 years of doing this, results are showing.
Due to heavy use of sexed semen (used mainly on heifers), right now I have excess heifers. Although I have had a couple cow buyers drop in and offer to buy them, they don't care about where the cow/heifer goes, only the bottom line. I would prefer selling to people that care about the animal, not milk her then discard her. Anyways, I have a question: as I have an excess of heifers, is there anyone interested in buying? What is preferred: pregnant heifers? Young calves? Fresh cows? Everyone is registered with Holstein Canada (even those not by holstein bulls) and I can show the pedigree if needed. We used to raise intact bulls, but due to limited space (we do not like overcrowding!) we sold them to market. I would like to start raising them again if there is interest. I had a really nice bull calf, a jersey x montbeliarde x holstein that I wanted to keep but didn't know if anyone would be interested in using him as a herd sire.
Anyways, thank you for reading and I'm glad to be here