Family cow?

We always had a family cow when I was growing up, Just like everybody else did around here. Currently we have a small herd of angus and had to milk an old big teeted cow down so the calf could suck. Lately the conversation has returned to what breed and how much a family cow would cost. I always had a Guernsey, but all I'm seeing are Jerseys or crosses.
What would be a fair price for a nine yo Guernsey cull out of a small registered herd (she's the only Guernsey I've seen in the last year or so).
What happened to Guernseys they were everywhere in the 50's and 60's?

The last "Family Cow" we owned was 1/2 Gurnsey, 1/4 Jersey, 1/4 Ayrshire TALK ABOUT CREAM but she was tiny teeted and a bit hard to milk by hand. I got her in the Amish community as I recall. We tried to pin the calf up at night and milk her 1/2 in the mornings only but that system
didnt work all that great...Mom and baby were always nervous stressed and whining bawling and complaining geeeeeeeeee

I think since the days where its milk production and NOT butterfat that counts, Holsteins have taken over for large commercial dairys, but if I had another family cow Id want a Gurnsey, Ayrshire, or maybe a Milking Shorthorn. They look so peaceful and have more of a mother family cow look lol and besides I dont want such a hugeeeeeeee volume of milk since Im doing it by hand.

John T NOT a dairy kinda guy

You'll want to check out the bag on that cow. I learned the hard way that current breeds of Jersey and Brown Swiss have much smaller teats than they had when I was growing up. Apparently the only people that want them with big/normal teats for hand milking are the Mennonites. The cow we have is very hard to milk by hand for that reason.

(quoted from post at 04:24:18 07/11/13)
What would be a fair price for a nine yo Guernsey cull out of a small registered herd (she's the only Guernsey I've seen in the last year or so).
What happened to Guernseys they were everywhere in the 50's and 60's?

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In my area she'd likely go for $600.00 or so depending on whether you wanted the papers and if she was warranted bred. Maybe a couple hundred more if she's a good looker.

I gave $600 (I think) a couple years back for 2 of the sorriest looking full Jerseys you ever saw. Both were in milk and one was said to be bred. I hid them under an overhang so no one would see them and call the gendarmes. Fogged the 2nd cut to them and wormed them right off. 4 months later I had a heifer calf on my hands and the other younger animal is due to calf a couple days back. I can bump her calf but people are telling me a lot of cows are running over this year for some reason. Just bred the older cow back to a nice Jersey bull. Anyway, I use an old Universal bucket milker so teat size isn't a big deal. We had more milk than we can use. The majority of the milk went to raising bummer lambs. We also have a mess of goats my wife just bought and we're using their milk for the house right now. I like goat milk a lot more than cow milk, doesn't bother my belly at all unlike cow milk.

Getting back on track, I'd see what the Guernsey owner will take. The Channel Island breeds are about perfect for a house cow IMO. I'm pretty sure ours would be happy living IN the house with us! I think I'd prefer them to the dogs most of the time.... but then not everyones wife is a dog fanatic.

As far as where the herds went, they went with the times I suppose. Doesn't make sense to me. As I understand it, being on the periphery of the dairy biz, the Channel Island breeds will produce more butter fat and protein on a lot less feed. But around me everyone is pure Holstein and milking them like quantity is all that matters. Got me. I sure do get tired of seeing black and white though.

Thats how mine was, so small you couldnt do the normal pull down n tug full hand milking method, you had to sorta used the thumb n finger strip down method grrrrrrrrrrr

John T

Do you make goat cheese? I like it on my salad. Hal

I used to milk grandpa's "family cow", Guernsey, when I was in high school. She had the big teats and I could grab all four at one time and make the milk fly, lol.

The Gurensey breed has all but disappered beauce there is no real advantage to have them. Jerseys give higher% butter fat, and Holsteins give more milk. Farmers are paid for their milk by components, not volume. So the higher% of BF in the milk the higher the pay out will be. Holstein cows can give more BF in a lactaion than a Jersey but, She will eat about 30% more feed over that same time to do this. Many dairys that once had all holstein, now will have some Jersys in their herds to raise the tank test.A milk cow that is 9 years old is not worth much more than meat. Is she fresh? Is she bred back? Ask what her Somatic Cell Count is, If her count is over 400scc per mil, I would take a pass, as she could give you a lot of trouble with mastitis.And high cell count milk can have an off taste and reduced storage life. If I can answer any more questions for you , just ask, I would be happy to try. I have a small Dairy farm, we milk 50-60 Jersey cows. Bruce

She's bred back and due to freshen in late Sept, cell count wasn't high, no mastitis problems in herd. Not bad looking but milked down pretty bad, I guess weight about 950# @ .70/ 100#, I figured calf should add $200, so about $800-850

Bit of a resurgence of them here in some barns. The black and whites are getting so big the old dairy barns can't hold them. Big $ to tear up concrete and raise ceilings. Easier to convert herd.

(quoted from post at 08:12:24 07/11/13) The Gurensey breed has all but disappered beauce there is no real advantage to have them. Jerseys give higher% butter fat, and Holsteins give more milk. Farmers are paid for their milk by components, not volume. So the higher% of BF in the milk the higher the pay out will be. Holstein cows can give more BF in a lactaion than a Jersey but, She will eat about 30% more feed over that same time to do this. Many dairys that once had all holstein, now will have some Jersys in their herds to raise the tank test.A milk cow that is 9 years old is not worth much more than meat. Is she fresh? Is she bred back? Ask what her Somatic Cell Count is, If her count is over 400scc per mil, I would take a pass, as she could give you a lot of trouble with mastitis.And high cell count milk can have an off taste and reduced storage life. If I can answer any more questions for you , just ask, I would be happy to try. I have a small Dairy farm, we milk 50-60 Jersey cows. Bruce

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ooks like you're in Ontario?
I milked back in 80 for on a purebred jersey dairy by Paris in a barn similar to the one in the pic.
Maybe you know the guy?, his name is Dean Sales.

The only cows in my family is my brother's wife and daughter.

Yea i know ,went to nascar race not long ago and saw many many of the same breed ,ha

Ouch, that's harsh, Hillside- LOL

About the only "small" dairy farmer left around here is also the smartest one I know- and he converted completely to Jerseys some years ago. He said with component pricing, coupled with lower feed cost of Jerseys, makes them more profitable than Holsteins now.

I gave $900 for a 1 year old heifer, two years ago. She has had two calves and is the best, sweetest, and gentlest cow I ever owned. Man you can"t beat that cream. Yum-yum.

Forgot to mention she is a full-blood Jersey.

We paid $650 for our bred Brown Swiss heifer that was 17 months old - turned out she was only about two weeks pregnant but she was pregnant. She had her calf in mid June - (bred to Jersey bull) and is very friendly (the calf is a bit wild). You walk through the pasture and she follows you around like a big dog - if you stop quick she'll run right into you.

Yes Bison, I know who Brad Sales is.That faimly has a nice herd of cows.

Where have all the Guernseys gone? Sixty years ago Guernseys were the second most common dairy breed. Most areas of the country had some good registered herds and many grade herds too. The Golden Guernsey milk companies returned more $ to their producers. "Choosey mothers choose Golden Guernsey Milk" At some point, the big time breeders- who were more interested in show animals- decided that Guernseys needed to look more like Holsteins. Many Guernseys became tall narrow cows that didn"t last long and were prone to health problems. The move to industrialized agriculture wasn"t good for them either. Guernseys respond best to a pasture based management system- not as common anymore. Jerseys are a little more vigorous and have brought in some imported bulls to bring up their fat test, but they can be high strung. It will be easier to find a Jersey, but if you can find a Guernsey you will really like their temperament and the best milk possible.

I wouldn't pay any more than slaughter price... Local sale today on that kind of stuff was more like 50 cents. 70 cents for the heavier ones. Obviously the sale price can be quite local...

Rod

As someone said the industry switched to Holsteins (volume) or Jerseys (higher test) the breeds in the middle (Guernsey, Ayrshire and Brown Swiss) got pushed out. Guernseys also brought a few cents less per pound at slaughter because of the yellow fat. The Holstein would produce MORE cream & solids non fat than the others, the Jerseys were more feed efficient and had higher SNF & fat tests. By the way if you check the DHIA records I'll think you'll find one of the first herds to break 1000# of fat a year/cow was a Jersey herd near Jackson Michigan. I worked for them in the 80's and their rolling herd average was just over 16,000 pound.

When I was in jr hi and high school we milked a shorthorn part of the year and the rest of the year a jersey. Went 15 years without a cow. then in the 70 and 80's we milked Simmentals I preferred the Swiss lines for milking raised four kids on them and a 800 lbs calf every year. The we quit milking in 1989 don't miss the milking but sure miss the home made cottage cheese.

(quoted from post at 15:14:52 07/11/13) Yes Bison, I know who Brad Sales is.That faimly has a nice herd of cows.

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They had a nice bunch of cows but the old man(Dean's father) was a slave driver and a snake,...he still ows me 2 months of wages.
Dean was OK, brad is his son I take it?

(quoted from post at 19:29:00 07/11/13) When I was in jr hi and high school we milked a shorthorn part of the year and the rest of the year a jersey. Went 15 years without a cow. then in the 70 and 80's we milked Simmentals I preferred the Swiss lines for milking raised four kids on them and a 800 lbs calf every year. The we quit milking in 1989 don't miss the milking but [b:b4ca987e5d]sure miss the home made cottage cheese.[/b:b4ca987e5d]

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I'm trying to get one of my separators working so I can try making cottage cheese. It's always fun working with a machine you almost understand, but not quite, and have no instructions for!

There's a couple milking Guernseys just a few miles from me. Nice people, nice animals.

Unfortunately, the idea of a "family cow" has been gaining popularity over the last few years.

"What do you mean, you've got to FEED it? How much does it eat?"

"I'll just keep it in the garage and let it eat the grass off the lawn (which is the size of a postage stamp)."

(quoted from post at 05:00:37 07/12/13) Unfortunately, the idea of a "family cow" has been gaining popularity over the last few years.

"What do you mean, you've got to FEED it? How much does it eat?"

"I'll just keep it in the garage and let it eat the grass off the lawn (which is the size of a postage stamp)."

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Yeah, kinda sad ain't it? But, that's the way it's been with horses for a few decades. Seems everyone buys a 2.3 acre "ranchette" immediately stocks it with 5 horses before even thinking about a barn or hay or pasture.

Those are the people keeping the feed store in business when milk drops to $13.50 @ cwt.