I had a really fortuitous meet up with a gentleman in our area who is running for local office (I'm now his campaign manager! LOL). He raises Black Angus, and he's going to keep some of his heifer/calf pairs on our farm since we're not using our paddocks. In return, he's going to give me a calf or two every year (a great deal for him, but since I really don't have to do much - he'll be feeding them, watering them, etc. - it'll help me get some stock without any upfront cost to me). I understand that Angus are not exactly known for being a dairy breed, but my calf will be a girl, and I'd like to have her serviced someday, and after she calves, I'd like to bucket feed her milk to her calf and then, once it's weaned, keep her lactating for milk for our consumption. Is this even possible? I'll admit, I'm totally clueless about cows (more so even than I was about chickens!) and this gentleman is going to help me learn the ropes as well, but I can't help wondering if I'm going to be trying to squeeze orange juice out of a lime. I'd just appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!
P.S. Almost our whole farm is hay, and he'll be bailing our hay for us (for half) and giving us the other half for our stock. Anything we don't need, he'll buy from us, all of which is a much better deal than we had before. So - plenty of food, and I'm hoping to exclusively grassfeed if possible.
Getting a Calf - Now What?
I don't know anything about cattle, but I sure do like your spunk. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I'm sure he will teach you and lot and then the help you get from friends here you'll be off to the races. Good luck on your new venture. Hay
Here is someone who has done it!:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_you_milk_a_beef_cow
Depending upon how much milk you need, I think it would be possible to share her with the calf. In fact an Angus may not be a bad family milk cow. Most dairy cows give way more milk than both a family and a calf would need.
Thanks for the link, Catscan. Porkpal - that is a really good point. There is no way my family can go through 2-2.5 gallons a day from a Jersey, no matter how much milk we drank or cheese we made. A half a gallon a day would be perfect. Hmmm...food for thought. I'll post pics when I get her!
And a Holstein will give you 4 gallons!
I know you would never eat your heifer...I wouldn't either. But has anyone every heard of Wagyu beef before?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagy%C5%AB
This message was edited Apr 27, 2010 3:08 AM
I couldn't get the link to work. I've seen Wagyus advertised, never seen/eaten one personally.
It is odd. I am copying the link as I look at the page...but you can't get there from here....
Just google "wiki wagyu". It is heavily marbled and the source of kobi beef.
We have from time to time as a treat; a meat market near my husband's work sells it. It's very tender due to a lot of fat marbling. We buy Kobi hotdogs from time to time as well. The Kobi/Wagyu we get comes from a ranch in Idaho.
I had a cousin who raised 4H dairy cows. He had Jerseys(champions and Grand champions) he always bred them to Black Angus .
I have seen them use that meat on Iron Chef, America.
Your angus won't give as much milk but she should do well if she is gentle. She will make more milk if she is milked twice a day.