Post by donnaclyde47 on May 16, 2020 14:34:01 GMT -5
Today I looked at a few Brown Swiss cows to purchase. I used to have one that I got from this guy, but I sold her a few years back. I think she was my favorite cow, but I was a purist and didn't want to have to give her grain.
Almost ten years in, I've let go of a lot of my idealism in hobby farming. I don't have a bazillion paddocks everywhere for rotational grazing (that I've spent hundreds of hours putting up and down) and I feed some grain mixed with alfalfa pellets in the stanchion, and it's not organic. (gasp) I loved getting huge pallets from Countryside Organics, but it's not in the budget anymore.
Anyway, the cows I looked at, one was nine and she's 3-4 months bred. He feeds all of his girls 2 gallons of grain a day. He thought they could be cut back to one, but he's never tried it. The other one for sale is a heifer calf that's one and a half, and he's about to breed her. She gets a gallon at her young age.
He milks I think a dozen Brown Swiss cows, uses the milk for the calves and sells some locally (illegally here in LA) and he's had one vacation in thirty years. Does all the farm work by himself. He got into the breed because his daughter liked them. She's grown and married now, and he lets local kids show them! He must be in his early to mid 60's.
I asked him if he's ever gotten the flu, and he said yes, and that he still milked. Craaaaazy! Love meeting farmers like him.
Okay, back to my question: I'm having them tested. If the older one comes back clean, do you think it would be possible to back her up to a gallon a day? My pastures are in better condition, and my hay as well. But the cows are SO big, I wonder how many Brown Swisses there are out there that can manage on very little grain? Obviously the younger one might make the transition better, but I really do like the nine year-old. Also he said he won't guarantee anything, but when beef calves have been around her she will just stand there for them to nurse. I really could use a cow like that.
Thank you!
Oh, also he feeds 12 percent protein. My dairy mix is 18 percent.
Almost ten years in, I've let go of a lot of my idealism in hobby farming. I don't have a bazillion paddocks everywhere for rotational grazing (that I've spent hundreds of hours putting up and down) and I feed some grain mixed with alfalfa pellets in the stanchion, and it's not organic. (gasp) I loved getting huge pallets from Countryside Organics, but it's not in the budget anymore.
Anyway, the cows I looked at, one was nine and she's 3-4 months bred. He feeds all of his girls 2 gallons of grain a day. He thought they could be cut back to one, but he's never tried it. The other one for sale is a heifer calf that's one and a half, and he's about to breed her. She gets a gallon at her young age.
He milks I think a dozen Brown Swiss cows, uses the milk for the calves and sells some locally (illegally here in LA) and he's had one vacation in thirty years. Does all the farm work by himself. He got into the breed because his daughter liked them. She's grown and married now, and he lets local kids show them! He must be in his early to mid 60's.
I asked him if he's ever gotten the flu, and he said yes, and that he still milked. Craaaaazy! Love meeting farmers like him.
Okay, back to my question: I'm having them tested. If the older one comes back clean, do you think it would be possible to back her up to a gallon a day? My pastures are in better condition, and my hay as well. But the cows are SO big, I wonder how many Brown Swisses there are out there that can manage on very little grain? Obviously the younger one might make the transition better, but I really do like the nine year-old. Also he said he won't guarantee anything, but when beef calves have been around her she will just stand there for them to nurse. I really could use a cow like that.
Thank you!
Oh, also he feeds 12 percent protein. My dairy mix is 18 percent.