Prospective Cows

[freechicken]

Hello all!

I was wondering if you would look at some pictures for me and share any thoughts you may have on these cows? We have sold our goat herd and are getting ready to purchase a dairy cow. We have been corresponding with a jersey dairy that is culling some of their older cows. Most of the cows they are selling are on their 6th or 7th lactation. No history of mastitis. Sound on feet. Milk is dhia teated monthly. I have photos of two of the cows we are considering, waiting for photos on the other two.

The second cow is called Hooray, 7th lactation, bred in May. The first is called Lovely, 6th lactation, just fresh.

 

[TAH]

I am no cow person but they look cute.

I will tag people that know @Goatgirl47 @JerseyCattleLover @WildRoseBeef

 

[NH homesteader]

Ahem.. Ignorant goat person here. I just made my husband come look at hhow GIANT those udders are, and he goes... Yeah they're cows.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

I don't want to make any comments yet until I see the other two cows. But a question: What are you hoping to achieve with the cow of choice? Obviously milk is one thing, but are you also hoping to keep offspring off her?

 

[Green Acres Farm]

How much milk does that thing give a day?

 

[Latestarter]

OMG! That first cow, lovely, is UDDERLY ridiculous! That has to be good for 8-10 gallons (or more?) a day! I love milk, but good gosh... I couldn't imagine... I don't know anything about cows, but #1 "looks" younger and "healthier". I know I'm probably out to lunch here, but they both look "malnourished" or "skinny" to me... I know... that's the way dairy cows look... I just can't get used to seeing bone definition under skin with lack of muscle covering...

Kinda neat how they did colored/patterned ankle wraps to identify them...

 

[Goatgirl47]

First of all, are you planning on milking by hand or machine? If by hand, then you need to get a cow with nicer, longer teats.
Do you want one that is a tame, "in-your-pocket" type of cow, or one that is more standoffish?
Do you care about diseases? Getting a cow from a dairy is a little risky. You would be better off getting a younger cow (maybe in her second or third freshening) that was raised to be a family milk cow, and that is tested for diseases such as Johnes, BLV, BVD, and so on. We've found most of our great milk cows on Craigslist. We had the owners test them for us if they weren't already tested.

I think that the second cow (Hooray) has a slightly nicer udder than the first one, and longer teats better fitted for hand milking. As a bonus, that one may already be bred, so you wouldn't have to worry about getting her pregnant. Her udder is below the hocks and that's something I personally don't like in a cow (the udder may get lower and lower with each freshening, which might lead to the cow stepping on/damaging her udder) but besides that she looks like a pretty good cow.

The first cow, Lovely, has a HUGE udder! She has a nice topline (as does Hooray) and a pretty head, but judging by her udder I would not buy her. It is considerably lower then her hocks.

I'd pass on both though, if it were me. But we are very picky with our cows as you may already have guessed.

 

[NH homesteader]

OK so it's not just me. I thought they were huge beyond huge! And the second one is so skinny.

 

[freechicken]

Excellent input. Thank you.

We are hoping for milk for our family plus cheese/yogurt/butter. We also will feed pigs/chickens/and lambs with excess milk. I do not want to keep offspring necessarily, unless it is for my dinner table. I am not looking to start a herd...

I would love to buy a cow that has been raised specifically to be a family milk cow but the price tag here in my area prohibits that. The cost is nearly triple what these cull dairy cows are listed for.

These cows are reportedly treated as "pets" and are supposedly all friendly and docile. The owner will request all testing for us (TB and Johne's for sure).

Here are the other two:

Randi is on her third lactation and is being culled because she lost a teat to a bout of mastitis. Just fresh.

Rhonda is on her 6th lactation, just bred.

Thoughts?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

IMHO I'd pick Hooray if I were you. Her udder is in better condition than the other three culls, and despite the fact that she's in poorer body condition than the other three, that can be easily remedied with some extra TLC in supplementation. Randi would be a close second, followed by Lovely, then Rhonda. Randi's udder is just slightly tighter than Hooray's, but Hooray's got the bigger teats which, as mentioned, make it nice for hand-milking.