Calf Sharing on the Homestead | Once a Day Milking for Family Milk Cow

Are you interested in getting a Family milk cow, but you think you will have no life at all having to milk your cow morning and night? Well, good news, you don't have to be tied down to the homestead with Calf Sharing! If you calf share you can find the freedom and flexibility most modern day homesteaders are looking for while still having plenty of milk for your family and some to share.
On The Way by Vlad Gluschenko | / vgl9
Music promoted by www.free-stock...
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
creativecommon....
Sunshine Day by Mixaund | mixaund.bandca...
Music promoted by www.free-stock...

[@shannonjaros4135]

Such great info for a newbie headed into the family cow journey! Thank you!

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

[@louisecamm9058]

Wow - thank you - best best calf sharing video ever!!!!! Thanks again!!!

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

You are so sweet! We are so glad that you enjoyed it!!!

[@gailsumpter392]

Awesome information!

[@anna-mariahaas14]

Great that it works for you. We also do calf sharing and seperate the calf after some weeks during the night. But at some point the mum is holding her milk back (don' let it down), unless we let the calf drink for a minute. Sometimes we milk two teats and let the calf have the other two in the mean while, but if the calf gets stronger and is pushing the udder, the mum loses her balance and need two step sideways. That can be very dangerous if you don't have a milking parlour, like in our case. But it is hard to seperate the calf from the mum, once it started drinking. So you can be really glad that Autumn is so super chill about it!

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

That is crazy! We have had three different cows so far that we calf share with and it has worked for all of them! I sure hope that girl starts to let down for you guys without having to go through all that trouble!

[@ChristinasHome]

Glad to know y’all can still have a date night, even with a milk cow! 😉 🐮

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

I know right!?

[@rachelborchardt4543]

Just saw your video! You guys are so very cute together ☺️. To clarify for your viewers, colostrum by definition, is the milk collected (or consumed) from the very first milking only. All subsequent milk from the few days post calving is referred to as transitional milk and contains a significantly lower concentration of IgG due to dilution as the cow produces new milk each day. If you are planning to save and freeze colostrum for an orphaned calf, it must be excess from the first milking. All milk after that will have inadequate IgG levels and your orphan calf will end up with failure of passive transfer and be very susceptible to disease. Additionally, after birth, the calf gut wall will only allow absorption of these large IgG proteins for 6-12 hours immediately after birth. So while consuming transitional milk could give local immunity as it transits the gut during digestion, it will be ineffective at boosting systemic immunity to help the calf fight infection. Regardless, I agree it is a good idea to give mom and baby a few days to bond together without bothering them to share milk. Hope your business continues to be blessed! Calf sharing sure is an awesome concept and a few of us have been doing it for up here in Wisconsin too!😂

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Thank you for all of your insight Rachel!!!! God bless you!!!!

[@enilas7]

Thank you for this! We just got out family cow who calved. When we do milk her, do i have to empty her out completely or cna i get a gallon or what i need? May the Lord bless you dearly!

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

You want to Atleast leave her 1/4 full for the calf depending on how you are calf sharing and the age of the cow. Don’t take it all.

[@Thisisit120]

Very informative video enjoyed it. Only one small complaint the music was too loud to be able to hear you without having to strain to hear you. Keep up the good work.

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Thank you so much for the compliment! As for the music, we did get that complaint a few times when we first started making videos. You’ll notice our newer releases no longer have they issue 😜. God bless you Reta!

[@Thisisit120]

Oh I just found you guys this morning so I didn’t know you had fix it. Good work. We are getting a milk cow soon with calf. She hasn’t had it yet so I’m trying to figure this all out on how to do it. Watching a ton of videos. And I really appreciate you guys walking me through this new adventure from the beginning.

[@christinaw2102]

Hey, great video! Our cow just camved a week ago (she's a Dexter) and we are just noticing that she will not let her milk down. She's got a full udder bit we're not able to get much at all. We are hand milking. Any tips?

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Are you calf sharing?

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Cows produce a chemical when they are nervous that causes them to hold their milk. They will only let down whenever they are calm. If they are agitated, nervous or in pain, they will not let down. Once she is in a routine and knows what to expect, she will let down for you all the time. You will have to work with her to get her calm down and not nervous around you. Things like brushing her coat, rubbing her other, feeding her in the stanchion, making sure that her teats are soft and Buttered up, ect… would be a good place to start. You can also tie the calf up next to her while you are milking if you are calf sharing.

[@christinaw2102]

@@OurFruitfulFamily yes we are calf sharing! And thank you so much for your reply! 😊😊

[@benburns5995]

One question I have is How long can you keep the Colostrum frozen and it still have all the health benefits?

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Approx 1 year in general.

[@dc4692]

Hey guys! Glad I found yall. I have a question, hoping yall can help me. I got a jersey heifer about 6 months ago. I'm noticing that she is getting some scabs on two of her teats. Any idea what that could mean? Infection? Just dried and cracked? I'm new to all this, any advice is appreciated!

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Did you ever get a diagnosis on this?

[@sandyeggers7721]

So I don't have to empty her out twice a day in first 30 days?

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Not if you calf share.

[@timothydavid56]

I watched part of the first vid when you got the cow/heifer. Watched most of this one. What you need is a Mentor....Someone that knows what they are doing when it comes to raising Dairy cattle.. . I been doing it for almost 50 yrs. Id be willing to give you some pointers if interested..... Other wise Ill just wish you Good luck. ......

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Hello Tim! We are always open to advice when it comes to anything farm related. We don’t claim to be experts. We are just sharing knowledge as we are learning it here on our homestead. Things that we have researched and found to work well for us that may also work well for others in similar circumstances! I would like to point out is that everything we are doing here on our Homestead has been extensively researched. We by no means jump into any addition to the homestead completely blind with nothing but trial and error. That would be cruel to our animals. With that being said, we are always learning and Any tips are greatly appreciated, especially by veteran farmers such as yourself! Communication would more than likely be much more fluent via email! Our email is [e-mail] Thank you so much for watching and commenting! We look forward to hearing from you!