Enough space for two or three cows?

[ShadowsFIAL]

I have a 12,300 sqft area, might be a little more. Would this be enough room to keep two cows, and maybe a bull? I plan to raise the cows as pets and for some milk. The calves will be going to slaughter. They will have a 48'x24' barn where I will feed and milk them, as well as give them room to get in and out of the rain. What would be my best breed to go with in this space? I was looking at Jersey, Brahman, Gyr, or Jersey Brahman hybrids. Would these be acceptable?

 

[cjc]

Is that like a 1/4 acre? I have seen people do it in things like feed lots but personally I would never do it on a quarter acre. Jersey's are smaller but I don't know much about any of the breeds you list. We have 10 cows on 10 acres and I consider that maxed out.

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

Is that like a 1/4 acre? I have seen people do it in things like feed lots but personally I would never do it on a quarter acre. Jersey's are smaller but I don't know much about any of the breeds you list. We have 10 cows on 10 acres and I consider that maxed out.

I thought about the mini jerseys as well. My brother-in-law has a horse and two donkeys on 2 acres and they are not making a dent in his grass. He keeps having to now. I also saw someone down the road from him have six cows on what looked like maybe two or three acres. Is it just the grass that is the problem or the space?

 

[Bossroo]

This is just a word for the wise. . . NO !!! Cattle are not pets ! Not if you value your life and want to avoid becoming a grease spot... the bulls of those breeds are notorious for BAD behavior, and have killed many people. Horns on cows are a weapon even on the friendliest of cows and definately not for someone that is new to cattle. You need to give very specific information on your property as to location, soil types and its carying capacity, availability of water, rainfall/ snow, climate, available grasses, etc. You can keep a couple gentle cows on that piece of land but be prepared to supplement it's feed production with hay and grain. Good luck.

 

[cjc]

I thought about the mini jerseys as well. My brother-in-law has a horse and two donkeys on 2 acres and they are not making a dent in his grass. He keeps having to now. I also saw someone down the road from him have six cows on what looked like maybe two or three acres. Is it just the grass that is the problem or the space?

I have seen people do it for sure but I personally would not put 2-3 cows on a piece of land that small. Like @Bossroo says you will be supplementing the feed huge. I really cant imagine even one cow to get even close to enough grass on that amount of land. The problem is you will never be able to give it a rest. We rotate our cows around the pastures to allow the pasture time to rest and regrow. You could perhaps get two mini jerseys but I wouldn't go about adding a bull. If you wanted to breed them you could rent a bull for a few months, drop your girls off to a field with a bull if you know someone or you could use insemination. Cows can be pets for sure I do disagree on that. But it has to be the right cow. We have one old girl now I consider a pet but she is very quiet. I learned quickly to properly care for cows you need a cattle handling system. If you don't have that they better be really quiet cows. Even the gentlest cow will jump when you poke them with a needle or try and help them when they are distressed.

If you really wanted it to work I would get two mini jersey bottle calves. This will give you a quiet cow. Just be prepared to always provide hay. Bulls are easy to rent in our area. I pay $100 per cow bred. Last season I rented one for 6 months and it cost me $400, I have 4 calves from that.

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

I have seen people do it for sure but I personally would not put 2-3 cows on a piece of land that small. Like @Bossroo says you will be supplementing the feed huge. I really cant imagine even one cow to get even close to enough grass on that amount of land. The problem is you will never be able to give it a rest. We rotate our cows around the pastures to allow the pasture time to rest and regrow. You could perhaps get two mini jerseys but I wouldn't go about adding a bull. If you wanted to breed them you could rent a bull for a few months, drop your girls off to a field with a bull if you know someone or you could use insemination. Cows can be pets for sure I do disagree on that. But it has to be the right cow. We have one old girl now I consider a pet but she is very quiet. I learned quickly to properly care for cows you need a cattle handling system. If you don't have that they better be really quiet cows. Even the gentlest cow will jump when you poke them with a needle or try and help them when they are distressed.

If you really wanted it to work I would get two mini jersey bottle calves. This will give you a quiet cow. Just be prepared to always provide hay. Bulls are easy to rent in our area. I pay $100 per cow bred. Last season I rented one for 6 months and it cost me $400, I have 4 calves from that.

I don't mind renting a bull or doing AI. I will probably stick with two cows then. My plan was to get one or two bottle calves and raise them. After that I was either going to keep my cows first calf, or buy an already trained family milk cow. I was planning to get cattle instead of horses, I figured they would be a little more useful. Do cows eat a lot more than horses? If that is the case I might keep throwing the idea back and forth with my husband as to if we will get cows or horses.

 

[cjc]

Renting a bull would make the most sense for you. It makes the most sense for us and works very well. Bulls are hard on everything, you, your land, your fencing. Let someone else deal with the issues.

I would get two heifer mini jersey bottle calves. Cows like the company of other cows as do all animals. We have a horse but I LOVE cows. I am not sure what the difference is between how much cows and horses eat. Our horse lives as a cow haha so he's just in our feeding equation. If we have 10 cows, 4 being under 1 year, one round bale will last them 3 days. We have 3 big cows separated right now and one round bale will last about 10-12 days. I think with two jerseys you would get about 14 days out of a round bale maybe even more. I am in Canada one round bale costs us $60 so that would be about $120 a month in hay for you, when they are grown. We also feed grain everyday. Our cows are also grazing all day. In the winter the bales last a day or two less but your Jerseys would be a lot smaller. My short horns are up to 2,000lbs, so twice the size if not more.

Cows and horses are just very different. I love my horse but I am not really a horse person. You can't go about riding a cow so I think you need to ask yourself what you want out of the animal. Cows are a hell of a lot easier to sell.

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

Renting a bull would make the most sense for you. It makes the most sense for us and works very well. Bulls are hard on everything, you, your land, your fencing. Let someone else deal with the issues.

I would get two heifer mini jersey bottle calves. Cows like the company of other cows as do all animals. We have a horse but I LOVE cows. I am not sure what the difference is between how much cows and horses eat. Our horse lives as a cow haha so he's just in our feeding equation. If we have 10 cows, 4 being under 1 year, one round bale will last them 3 days. We have 3 big cows separated right now and one round bale will last about 10-12 days. I think with two jerseys you would get about 14 days out of a round bale maybe even more. I am in Canada one round bale costs us $60 so that would be about $120 a month in hay for you, when they are grown. We also feed grain everyday. Our cows are also grazing all day. In the winter the bales last a day or two less but your Jerseys would be a lot smaller. My short horns are up to 2,000lbs, so twice the size if not more.

Cows and horses are just very different. I love my horse but I am not really a horse person. You can't go about riding a cow so I think you need to ask yourself what you want out of the animal. Cows are a hell of a lot easier to sell.

Thanks much! That sounds almost as much as our dog food bill haha. I don't think I really would enjoy riding as much as I used to with all of my back and hip issues, so I think I would rather enjoy a small cow I can scratch like a big dog and milk when I feel like it as long as I keep the calves on. I like brahmans a lot, but I think you are right and they are just too big for the space. I am going to look for small jerseys or jersy crosses like they have down the road. Those cows are around donkey size. I am sure it wouldn't be too hard to find a bull to rent when I need it

 

[cjc]

No problem let us know how you make out! I have a bottle calf right now and I am just in love with him! He is a cross bred bull calf so very much a beef cow but he will be my pet. Now that I have raised him like that I am just too in love with him to ever let go. They are just adorable!

 

[greybeard]

I have a 12,300 sqft area, might be a little more. Would this be enough room to keep two cows, and maybe a bull? ............I don't mind renting a bull or doing AI. I will probably stick with two cows then. My plan was to get one or two bottle calves and raise them. After that I was either going to keep my cows first calf, or buy an already trained family milk cow. I was planning to get cattle instead of horses, I figured they would be a little more useful. Do cows eat a lot more than horses? If that is the case I might keep throwing the idea back and forth with my husband as to if we will get cows or horses.

Again--no bull. Even if it isn't a horned one. 2 females won't be enough to keep him from wanting to roam and it's an expense you don't need for just 2 anyway.
1. One acre=43,560 sq ft. You have just over 1/4 acre. If it's a perfect square, you have a pasture area of about 111' X 111'.
2. One adult equine consumes about 2% of it's body weight in hay/dry matter (10-20 lbs) every 24 hrs.
3. One adult lactating dairy bovine will consume about 24-27 lbs of dry matter each day as well, either in hay or pasture forage.
4. Rule of thumb for a cow with calf at side (pair) on moderately good grass is 2-3 acres per pair un-supplemented in feed except for minerals and salt.

Plan on buying lots of good quality hay.
You will be out of green grass in a week. If it is rainy for any length of time, your 1/4 acre will quickly turn into a sea of mud with 2 sets of adult hooves and 2 sets of juvenile hooves walking on it. Even in good weather, they will eat the grass down to the dirt, increase the likelihood of internal parasites (the Ostergia and Coccidia are naturally present in almost all soil). Keep in mind as well, that cattle will generally avoid consuming any clump of grass where they have defecated, further minimizing the amount of green growing forage available to your 2 pair.

A nice sized barn, but except in cold windy wet weather, you will find that most cattle will just stay out in the rain. Cattle naturally come one each with a leather jacket on, and rain doesn't bother them one bit Spring thru early/mid autumn.

I would not recommend any Brahma or Brahma influenced breed as a milk cow. They tend to be 'overly' protective of their offspring, and bad things can happen and their milk output in both quantity and quality won't be as good as a dairy breed.