Post by mothership on Nov 5, 2007 14:51:33 GMT -5
I'd love a little input on this from some of you experienced folks. We've finally found a dairy that might be able to sell us a family cow, and we're trying to give them as much info as possible about what we're looking for so a good match can be made. They have apparently helped out quite a few families looking for family cows.
So, if you could choose between the following, which would it be? (This is all assuming the cow's temperament and level of training is suitable to our situation and she's reasonably healthy.) Bear in mind this will be our first cow.
1) Dry and bred
2) In milk, bred but still early in pregnancy, no calf at side
3) Newly freshened with calf at side, open
4) Later into lactation cycle (say, 6+ months), bred
Or any other combination you think would be good, for that matter.
My thoughts on option #1 are that we could get to know the cow and vice versa before calving and milking commences, but a long trailer ride on twisty roads with a very pregnant cow makes me nervous. If she was dry but not yet hugely pregnant, the transport might be easier on her.
#2 might be safer in terms of transporting the cow, and we'd have to launch right into milking her - not necessarily a bad thing, if all goes well.
#3 might also have safety issues with transporting a tiny calf (I don't know, never having done so).
#4 might be less volume of milk to cope with right away, but we might not want to have to dry her off within our first couple of months of cow ownership.
I can see benefits and drawbacks to each situation, and may be unnecessarily complicating the choice, but if we have a choice I'd like to not make stupid mistakes right off the bat!
It seems these people may be willing to bring along a cow they don't plan on keeping for their dairy to the stage we want before we bring her home, i.e. halter training, dry her off or get her bred, whatever applies. It would be great if it works out that way, because I've been thinking I'd pretty much have to settle for whatever I could find, since family cows are an extreme rarity around here. This is a small-ish, organic, pasture-based Jersey dairy, not exactly close but within a (long) day's drive. We've told them we'd be okay with a 2- or 3-quarter udder, older is okay, gentle and reasonably easy to handle and milk, would rather not deal with fertility problems or a totally untrained heifer with unproven fertility, but I don't know what would be best in terms of the stage of lactation and/or pregnancy.
So, if you could choose between the following, which would it be? (This is all assuming the cow's temperament and level of training is suitable to our situation and she's reasonably healthy.) Bear in mind this will be our first cow.
1) Dry and bred
2) In milk, bred but still early in pregnancy, no calf at side
3) Newly freshened with calf at side, open
4) Later into lactation cycle (say, 6+ months), bred
Or any other combination you think would be good, for that matter.
My thoughts on option #1 are that we could get to know the cow and vice versa before calving and milking commences, but a long trailer ride on twisty roads with a very pregnant cow makes me nervous. If she was dry but not yet hugely pregnant, the transport might be easier on her.
#2 might be safer in terms of transporting the cow, and we'd have to launch right into milking her - not necessarily a bad thing, if all goes well.
#3 might also have safety issues with transporting a tiny calf (I don't know, never having done so).
#4 might be less volume of milk to cope with right away, but we might not want to have to dry her off within our first couple of months of cow ownership.
I can see benefits and drawbacks to each situation, and may be unnecessarily complicating the choice, but if we have a choice I'd like to not make stupid mistakes right off the bat!
It seems these people may be willing to bring along a cow they don't plan on keeping for their dairy to the stage we want before we bring her home, i.e. halter training, dry her off or get her bred, whatever applies. It would be great if it works out that way, because I've been thinking I'd pretty much have to settle for whatever I could find, since family cows are an extreme rarity around here. This is a small-ish, organic, pasture-based Jersey dairy, not exactly close but within a (long) day's drive. We've told them we'd be okay with a 2- or 3-quarter udder, older is okay, gentle and reasonably easy to handle and milk, would rather not deal with fertility problems or a totally untrained heifer with unproven fertility, but I don't know what would be best in terms of the stage of lactation and/or pregnancy.