Arguably the most common breed of dairy cow in our country. Because they have so many cattle, there’s a great deal of variation in Holstein size, type, and production. Therefore you can find short, broad Holsteins, tall, broad Holsteins, narrow cows, high production cows, low production, high fat, low fat…and the list goes on.
I like the stark contrast of black and white, I like the powerful broad cows with a productive udder tucked high above the hocks, I like the milking speed, and I love their will to milk!
Our red and white Holstein, GiGi is my favorite cow. Of course, she’s not black and white, and she’s a slow milker. But she breeds back like clockwork, stays fat super easy, and milks her heart out for 10 months a year. Oh…she’s also a2/a2.
So yes, the Holstein definitely have earned their place in the dairy world. Personality is usually a little less affectionate than Jersey and not as smart as Ayrshire or Shorthorns. But don’t discount a good milk cow because she’s a Holstein. Holsteins aren’t all evil mega cow dairy robots, they’re not a1/a1 mutated gene skim milkers. Ours are grassfed and out milk every other breed on the farm.
Alan's favorite cow is a Holstein cross cow named Barb. Barb was an impulse buy, she was selling for slaughter and we took a chance. She'd ripped a back teat wide open on barb wire. She's stayed and become the favorite for so many reasons, production, fertility, intelligence, personality, dairy type, udder quality. Barb has been Grand and Reserve Champion at multiple local shows because she has such great confirmation.
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