E 2 Opinions on two housing options for new cow?

[oregonnewbie]

Hi everyone,

We're about two weeks away from bringing home our new Jersey, and we're excited and nervous!

We'd like some input on two possible housing arrangements:

1) The close option: our back yard. We've got about 1.5 acres of non-fenced pasture and a small outbuilding which we could house her in. We were thinking of using a small movable hot wire and wondered if that would be adequate for fencing. If she does get loose there is only one main road to worry about. There is a ditch between our yard and the road. The next-door neighbors have also volunteered to let us graze their land, which gives us an additional acre or so.

The biggest disadvantage is that we don't have a lot of storage space for hay. Her "lounging" area would be about 10'x28'. I figure that's enough room for a stanchion and her bed area. There's another 10'x10' area to store hay and other supplies.

2) The far option: a neighbor's house about a half mile away. They have about 3 or 4 acres of pasture and an empty barn. The pasture is mostly fenced off, and they have a spacious area for hay storage. But the distance means that we'd only be able to check in on her a couple of times a day. There will be someone there in the evenings, but all of the care-taking tasks would be performed by us.

Any advice on the more practical option? This is our first cow. She's in milk, but tapering off--we're told she's at about 1.5 gallons a day and could probably be milked once a day at this point. Essentially we're weighing the convenience of easy access versus a more distant but better setup.

On a separate unrelated point, we're also wondering if she'll be depressed as an only animal (our only other animals are chickens). Many sources have told us that she would need some kind of animal company, but arrangements seem tight enough to us. We were wondering about the feasibility of taking baby steps initially, and maybe getting another cow at some point in the future... Any experiences on keeping lone cows, and their resulting temperament?

So many questions. Again, thanks ahead of time for the accumulated wisdom of this community!

--Darcy

[crowinghen]

Hi Darcy-
maybe you could keep her at your place until the grass gets short then move her to the next door neighbors, then move to the neighbor's down the road... kind of use all three options. It would be great to be able to keep her at the neighbor's down the road in the winter, so you could store hay there, and maybe less possibility of a mud hole?
You can buy a Costco canopy for some hay storage.
I don't know about keeping a cow by themselves-- I'll have to let others chime in there!
susie

[Joes Wife]

I think Susie had a great idea. Use all three of your options. Several people rotate from pasture to pasture.

I had my first beef cow in our pasture alone and she did fine until she heard the cows down the road and then she hopped the fence and went visiting. She stayed home more after she calved. My milk cow stayed in a pen alone till she was bred and then we put her in the pasture with the beef cows. She seemed to do fine. However, she could see the cows in the pasture and they would come over to the fence to check her out. Cows are herd animals so they prefer to be with "friends". I think they can do okay alone they just prefer company. I am assuming she is bred. When will she calve again?

Teresa

[BlueFeathers]

Darcy,
Yes, definitely make use of all that pasture that is available to you. We have a similar set-up. My only concern would be relying on only an electric fence until she has adjusted & you have a clear picture of her temperament. Our sweet cow will still challenge (ie run through!) electric fencing if she wants whats on the other side. We only rely on electric only fencing in one of our 3 options, and only after they got used to the habit of moving around. We know where they will go if they get loose ( back to the secure "night pasture." We use step in posts and IntelliRope 4.5 from Premier One fencing. They really respect the IntelliRope 4.5, it's bigger than the stuff you can get at the feedstore, but not as big and expensive as the fancy equine stuff. We use it to move the cows to new small paddocks about every 3 days. The pasture lasts longer and we don't have to worm, just had them fecal checked & no eggs! The bonus of walking or bicycling 1/2 mile each way is that my DH lost 25# since we started this even though we drink all that cream. It does take time though, depending on how much fencing supplies you can afford.

As for hay storage, if you are in Eastern Oregon, no problems. We are in Western Washington, we used a Costco carport with metal roofing and plastic tarp sides & stored our hay on pallets. We still got mold issues on the sides of the bales that faces the walls (they weren't touching either). I think your wooden structures may be best for hay storage. Luckily with only 1 cow, you won't need as much. This winter we will lay black plastic on the ground, then our pallets. We're going to try & get wood walls up & get a cupola style vent in it too. I think we just kept in too much moisture.

Maybe you'll be lucky & get one of the cows that does fine solo. Some do fine with just their daily human buddy visits. We increased to 2 milk cows & it has its pros & cons.

Enjoy your new cow when she arrives!
Aloria

[Jenn]

Here's what I would do...
Make your self a GOOD perimeter fence...can be multi strand electric, then use single strand, temporary fencing for subdividing OR tether. A ditch will NOT keep a cow in. Keep her at your place when she is in milk. Use the neighbors place to make and store hay and MAYBE for when she is dry. I don't know your neighbors, so I say maybe on them.
-Jenn

[simplynaturalfarm]

I would build a small paddock to put her in when you get her - I've yet to have a cow not lose it when put in a new area. Electric is all over my property, but not one strand, and for a new animal, I use panels of some type for at least a week and feed them hay til they have calmed down. Every animal I have unloaded in the dark or in undinosaur proof fencing has gone through and led me on a horrible chase.
Run a strand of electric inside the good fencing to train her to it. Then use three strands for the perimeter of your property and one to cross fence. I have 3 strands right now for perimeter, but have two more going up (just because there is some odd rule in our county that if your animals get out and they find you had less than so many strands you are in trouble with improper fencing.)
My girls will go over one strand if they are scared, really hungry, excited . . . Under, over, through . it's is rather irritating as I've never had animals do this, but if it is not at the correct height, they duck under to get at the lovely new grass. And they will walk over if it sags down, but if it is right and tight the one strand will keep them in well - I have the bulls going down one part of the pasture with two strands on the side and one that I move forward 10 paces a day. That one works great as long as it is tight, and they just stand and bellow at the gals over the two strands. One strand would not keep them apart, and my heifers would probably hop over it too - the problem with different sized cows is that the one strand that keeps the big cows in is too high for the dexters

[Claire]

I'd keep her at home and put up a good perimeter fence. Use the neighbors for hay/storage. Can you house her in the 10x10 area and use the larger space for hay instead?

[oregonnewbie]

Thanks everyone! She is not bred back, so we will have that challenge to deal with coming up.

It definitely sounds like we need to get some perimeter fencing up at our place. We will probably keep her at our neighbor's place until we can train her to the electric fence and get the perimeter fence up here.

So much to learn!

--Darcy

[Jenn]

What ever you decide, you will want a SMALL space to unload her into and keep her for a few days ...or longer until she settles in.
-Jenn

[missevelyn]

If she's not halter broke, I'd recommend her arriving with the halter on and then tying her to a post for three days. She'll learn that YOU are the source of all good things and that the rope is stronger than she is. She'll believe the rope is stronger even when it's you on the other end rather than the post.

Regina