Tell me again why I need grassfed genetics to make my dairy cows perform without grain??
Dairy cows need calories. They honestly don’t care if it comes from hogweed seedheads, or organic soybeans.
This is a Red Holstein we’ve had for almost 5 years. We got her shortly before she had her first calf. She milks like crazy and does a full 10-12 month lactation (depending on how fast I get her bred). She calves in fat, promptly milks off her extra, has a thin couple of months, and packs the weight back on. She didn’t miss a beat when we stopped feeding grain 18 months ago. She always has an appetite, even if her food is poor quality. She doesn’t have grazing genetics or grassfed genetics—she’s registered, I can see her genetics. She has flaws, she can be kicky, hard to catch, she has an extra opening on one teat, and is exceptionally skilled at lying in mud with a full udder. But she’s the best cow in my herd because she excels at what I need her to do.
Milk well.
Breed easily.
Put weight back on.
Here’s a 3yr old Ayrshire in late lactation. One we bred and raised. She has show genetics. She’s been fat as long as she’s been alive. Always gets docked in the show ring for being short. She doesn’t milk as well as the Holstein, but has held her own, put weight back on and bred back in a timely manner.
A Jersey we bred and raised, she’ll be calving soon. Show genetics on both sides of her pedigree. Has had maybe a total of 20lbs supplemental feed (Alfalfa pellets) this growing season. She’s probably not going to milk 6 gallons a day like her genetic potential allows, but that’s not what I need her to do. I need 4 gallons, and her to hold a decent production for at least 6 months and breed back by 4 months in good flesh. Why?? Because that’s the kind of cow that is sustainable on a rough Ozark farm. And I want her to do that for the next 10 years.
If you want a failsafe milk cow that will stay fat and milk a moderate amount—get a beef x dairy. Might be a little hard to find in the dairy world, maybe shop the beef world. This is a Brahma x Jersey, “Camel” doesn’t get fed anything extra. She’s an uncommon dairy cross, but still a good example. She’ll probably peak at 3 gallons a day, balance off at 2-3 for 5-6 months and then hold at 1.5 the rest of her lactation. 1.5/day is still 10 gallons a week. Not enough to sell, but plenty for an average family of 6-8 people. And you can probably get by on 1-2 sacks of average quality feed. $10-$20/week for 10ish gallons of whole raw milk is still pretty cheap.
These girls do a homestead life well and have the hybrid vigor needed to live through your beginner management mistakes. (Yes that’s a weaning ring in her nose)
Be realistic in what you expect from your cow, if you have a heavy milking, dairy type cow, feed her adequately and enjoy her productivity. If she’s a easy keeping, low volume milker, appreciate her body condition and don’t expect 5+gallons a day to flood your fridge. If you lucked into a homely, black, 3 titted crossbred for slaughter price, appreciate the fact that she’ll pay herself off in a fraction of the time of a registered, tested, beauty queen.
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