Different Types of Dairy Cows – And How Much Does One Dairy Cow Cost?
If you are interested in raw milk you are probably interested in learning about where that raw milk comes from. Normally that is dairy cows or dairy goats, but I recently ran into a very nice gentleman working in Publix who informed me that he orders raw camel milk online. I have never heard of anyone drinking camel milk but he said it was very healthy. I’m still going to pass though.
So what are the types of dairy cows? Well there are 6 main breeds (there are more but these are the most popular dairy breeds) including the Jersey, Holstein, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorn, and Brown Swiss. Any one of these cows will give you wonderful milk and they are all nice breeds. Jerseys and Guernseys will provide you with the most cream, and Holsteins with the least. Holsteins are normally used by the large dairies because they provide a lot of milk. They are probably the most recognizable of the dairy cows with their pretty black and white markings, and they are often used in ads (i.e. Chick Fil A).
When we first started looking for a dairy cow back around March we thought we would buy a Jersey but we ran across a great deal on an Ayrshire so we got her instead. We paid $900.00 and she was already bred back to a black angus with a calf due in August. So I thought it was a pretty good deal.
As far as price, I have seen prices as low at around $750 and on up to $2000 or so for a dairy cow. A friend sold her Jersey (bred back to a Jersey bull) for $850, which is a great deal. Remember that you will be paid back for your purchase price because you’ll be getting milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, etc, once you start milking which you can use yourself or sell (if it is legal in your state). And don’t get me started on how I feel about the government butting in on how and why and where we can drink or sell raw milk. I’m just not going there right now.
But anyway, if you have the land and have the interest, one dairy cow can really provide you with plenty of milk. I have plenty for my cow’s calf, my family, and two of my friends and their family. I’ll have even more when we wean the calf. So you will get a big return on your initial investment. Plus cows are really nice. My cow is anyway. She’s very friendly and also quite intelligent.
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We bought 4 dairy cows/heifers last June at a dairy auction in Sulphur Springs, Texas… prices ranged from $775 for the jersey heifer that is now fresh to $1400 for a jersey/holstein cross cow ( for some reason the Jerseys are cheaper there, must have to do with lower milk production since there are a lot of dairy farms in the area), 2 of the heifers will come fresh later this year, they are also Jersey/ Holstein crosses). None were broke to milk, we had to do that ourself, you can find stainless steel milk buckets at http://www.lehmans.com/store/Tools___Farm___Farming___Milking_Equipment___Pure_Stainless_Steel_Pails___PS2?Args=
These are excellent heavy duty buckets that survive kicks clean easily…. I use a disinfectant bathroom cleaner ( DOW scrubbing bubbles ) on mine and rinse is several times
As it would happen my son’s BEEF show heifer had her calf and it drowned in a storm. We brought her back to the barn and started milking her too…. She is a Simmental/Angus/ Chiannina cross… we have several milk customers that buy raw milk from us…don’t tell the government! Some prefer the Jersey’s milk, some the Jersey/Holstein cross’s milk, and some prefer Daisy’s (the beef cow) milk. We hand milk the 3 cows twice daily, and they graze freely on 10 acres of grass that has no chemicals on it, the cows are not given any hormones and are given antibiotics only if they are sick…. then the milk is given to the dogs and never makes it to human consumption. We feed a mixture of soybeans, a 12% all purpose livestock pellet and an 8% sweet feed, roughly each cow consumes around 6-8 lbs of grain daily plus all the grass she wants… we have a fresh water trough that is filled from our well rather than them drinking from a pond or creek/stream to eliminate any diseases coming in through that route…. no outside cattle are ever put with the milking herd and the bull is health checked before he gets to visit with the ladies. If you will dry your heifer-cow up approx. 100-120 days prior to her calving date, if it is her 2nd calf only, she will increase her milk production up to double what she was on the 1st calf…. this only applies to the 2nd calf after that milk production will stay roughly about the same… whe have seen this with one of our cows… she went from 2 gallons per day to almost 4 per day.
Excess milk can be used in several ways… making your own butter, yogurt, buttermilk… and if you are a football fan, make a 5 gallon cooler of hot chocolate from the fresh milk and sell it at ballgames…. people love it when we bring the cooler to the stadium. Pull the cream and mix 2 quarts cream, 2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon of vanilla and put in an ice cream freezer and you will think you have died and gone to heaven!