How to Get Started with Your Family Milk Cow | Shawn & Beth Dougherty | HOA Podcast

The family milk cow is quickly becoming the new backyard flock of chickens. More and more people are realizing the amazing benefits of adding a dairy cow to their homestead.
This month on the podcast, we are focusing on all things dairy cow. Shawn and Beth Dougherty are the perfect couple to lend their voice to this conversation as they have over four decades of experience farming and perfecting the art of grass conversion through dairy ruminants.
If you are considering adding a family milk cow to your homestead or are new to the world of home dairy, this discussion is for you. We dive into the most commonly asked questions when it comes to getting started with dairy cows: breed, acreage, feed, health, and more. If a dairy cow is in your future, start here!
In this episode, we cover:
Making the switch from dairy goats to dairy cows
What breeds make the best dairy cows
Other factors that may be more important than breed
What’s the big deal about A2A2?
Is your land appropriate for a milk cow?
The practicals of feeding a 100% grass-fed cow
Top features to look for when purchasing a dairy cow
What makes a perfect milk cow for a first-time owner
How important is disease testing?
ABOUT SHAWN & BETH
Shawn and Beth Dougherty have been farming together since the 1980’s, for the last twenty-six years in eastern Ohio, where they manage 90 acres, much of it designated by the state as ‘not suitable for agriculture’. Using intensive grazing as the primary source of food energy, they raise dairy and beef cows, sheep, farm-fed hogs, and a variety of poultry, producing most of the food, feed and fertility for humans and animals, on the farm. Concerned that farming is so often dependent upon multiple off-farm resources, from feed, fuel and fertilizer to water and electricity, their ongoing project is to identify and test the means by which farming was done for centuries with a minimum of off-farm inputs. Their research has led them to identify grass conversion, especially the daily conversion of grass into milk by dairy ruminants, as a key to whole-farm sustainability, combined with the integrated nutrient feed-backs that are possible with a community of diverse animal and plant species, domestic and native. They are the authors of The Independent Farmstead, Chelsea Green Press 2016.
RESOURCES MENTIONED
The Independent Farmstead by Shawn & Beth Dougherty: www.amazon.com...
Independent Farmstead Field Guides to Inputs-Free Farming and Homesteading by Shawn & Beth Dougherty: www.lulu.com/s...
How to Raise a Dairy Cow on Pasture by Beth Dougherty: homesteadersof...
CONNECT
Shawn & Beth Dougherty
Website: onecowrevoluti...
The Healing Land Conference: www.thehealing...
Homesteaders of America
Website: homesteadersof...
Instagram: / homesteadersofamerica
Facebook: / homesteadersofamerica
KZbin: / homesteadersofamerica
Pinterest: / homesteadersusa
Join us at the Homesteaders of America Conference in October 2023: homesteadersof...
GET MORE FROM THIS EPISODE
View full show notes and transcript on the blog: homesteadersof...
Listen to this podcast episode: anchor.fm/home...

[@heatherrhodes1703]

I'm an American living on the north island of NZ for the last 2 years. There are hundreds of dairy farms up here. My kiwi partner was raised on a dairy farm, but went into construction instead of following in his father's footsteps. However, he knows cows, he knows milking. Having grown up in Seattle, this is all very new to me. I own 4 Jerseys who all live on a farm not too far from us, but my partner and I are going to buy land and build a small house starting at the end of this year. He is very supportive of my homesteading dream and will be a big help to me when we bring Bon Ton (Bonnie) to live with us (I'm actually in the process of selling the other 3 right now because we're in a seller's market for dairy cows right now). We're also going to raise a few Dexters for meat and milk. I'm so excited and I can't wait to start our homesteading journey!

[@coramdayo]

Shawn and Beth may not realize it but they have been our mentors for several years now both in the preparation for and even during the purchase of our current milk cow, Buttercup. They took the time to speak personally with my husband and me on the phone when we were considering purchasing this cow last October, and based on their advice we decided to go for it, even though at the time she was not bred. We brought her home, had her AI'd, started moving her around the property (we are currently renters on this property) and letting her get to know us and us her. We even have pictures of her grazing our front yard for us when our push mower broke. It was great! Just a few patties to pick up but the yard got mowed for free! Buttercup calved on October 17th of this year and now we have a beautiful calf that we are raising to be our next milk cow. We are calf sharing which has been awesome when I need to go to an early doctor's appointment or be out of town. I am enjoying figuring out what to do with all the delicious milk (3 gallons a day) and the glorious cream! So far, I am making and freezing butter, we are feeding our chickens thus reducing our inputs and even the cats are enjoying a bowl of warm milk in the morning. The only real challenge has developed in the last couple few weeks which is my right hand is experiencing carpal tunnel symptoms but I just don't want to give up hand milking because I don't want to deal with cleaning hoses on a machine. Trying to figure out what I can do to help mitigate this. If anyone reading this has suggestions please comment for me! Having my own milk cow and the freedom from being dependent upon the grocery store for my dairy products has been a dream for 5 years, and it's so satisfying to have finally achieved it. We feel super blessed. Thank you Shawn & Beth! ❤

[@Forage_and_hunt]

Try castor oil ❤

[@coramdayo]

@@Forage_and_hunt It ended up passing as my hands and wrists got stronger with milking everyday. Castor oil is a great idea though

[@SJ-re6et]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful story! We are exploring our options for getting our first large animal for our high desert home.

[@beth4775]

I could listen to Shawn and Beth for hours! Great speakers!

[@bethdougherty4014]

Thank you! Can I share that view with my children?

[@beth4775]

Yes! Yes you can! I will shout it from my Middle TN rooftop,if need be! Lol

[@rnupnorthbrrrsm6123]

Oh how I wish I would have had the chance to have a dairy cow during my lifetime. Blessings

[@jodsterf]

Maybe this has been mentioned before but having grown up on a mixed farm, milking 12 holsteins a day with a herd of simmental and charolais range cattle I can share my experience when it comes to calving. On average we lost over 50% of holstein calves every year due to their size and the difficulty in giving birth those cows have. My dad had been a veterinary assistant and we had to pull every hostein calf. The other cows had no trouble birthing on their own and most of their calves lived. We calved in February in Alberta, the coldest month of the winter. The only cows that gave birth in the barn were the holstein milk cows because they always needed help and we took the calves away into pens right away and started milking mamma

[@rroulette2660]

In my experience I know if you breed any cow with a bull who has high birth weights in thier genes , you will have calves too big for the mama cows to birth. You can AI your cows with smaller birth weight bull sperm

[@doriegeorge6686]

The Dougherty's are such a wealth of information. I try to watch and read everything they put out.

[@barbarabrand190]

Good animal husbandry goes a long way in keeping healthy animals. Common sense is key as well. This vlog has been a great confidence builder for me. I have been keeping cows for 12 years, mostly on dry lot feeding as I live in the dessert. I do have some pasture they are on weekly. I feel like the fresh feed has more valuable nutrients in it, though limited in amount, is the best I can do. God bless.

[@gustyattaway6419]

Thank you,wonderful program.

[@ladyryan902]

Amy I appreciate this information.

[@kathleensanderson3082]

We had a family cow for a while when I was small (a big old Brown Swiss); then I milked goats for most of the last forty years. I also raised a couple of Jersey bottle calves on goat milk in that time, but never kept one past a few months old. Now I'm raising another Jersey heifer on a bottle, and this time I'm seriously considering keeping her, even though I also have Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats. (If I do keep her, when she freshens in a couple of years, the goats will get sold.) So I'm doing a lot of research, trying to decide for sure whether or not to keep Dulcie. She was a sale barn calf, originally from some big dairy up in NY (we are in KY), so probably doesn't have grass-fed genetics.

[@sheilamclaughlin963]

If u put her on grass as soon as u have grass she should adapt, her production may be lower than on hot feed, we fed a gallon of grain, pellets mix, the grains were oats, barley, wheat cleanings, some times a little corn and Milo, some times rolled or ground, made them more willing to go into the sanction and be calm for milking, I got to where I could milk that 2-2 1/2 gal of milk by the time they were out of grain, the Jersey Hereford was a cream machine, 6%+/- butterfat, angus Holstein would run 4-5% butterfat with more production,we milked 4 all the time I was growing up stightered calving times only 4 along as we were drying up one and getting a fresh one along throughout the year, used angus bulls as that is what we had, for the rest of the cows, they got the hay thattherest got, wheat, cane, millet etc worked for years, I had a hard time drinking store bought milk when I left the farm, nothing better than fresh milk!! Calves got the left over milk and provided beef, also fed a few hogs, milk fed hogs were very good pork, big garden and we ate very well growing up!!

[@ka6148]

Our first milk cow was a crazy wyoming Limousin range cull cow With hard work, she became a fantastic milk cow, came in did her milking time and disappeared until the next milking

[@morningglory3365]

I have listened to this over and over. So much knowledge and wisdom. Thank you.

[@spoolsandbobbins]

What was available to us was a Holstein calf 🤷‍♀️ and low-line angus who’s in milk. We’ll grow them together and see how they do. So far we’re loving it. Such a joy!!

[@donobrenski630]

So knowledgeable! Thanks for your help

[@nancyseery2213]

Thank you for this information. It has been very useful. It is a great starting point for getting into purchasing a milk cow.

[@jbbrown7907]

Your answer to the A2 A2 question is just the same as I would answer that question. Good answer!

[@2acarrier303]

Can you expound on the a2 thing. Is it a status of the cow? Bacterial?

[@michaeleeten7783]

This was wonderful. Do you have someone like them who talk about dairy sheep?

[@Longfamily3]

As always, a wealth of information!! Thank you Shawn and Beth!! We're getting closer to this purchase so this was timely and oh, so helpful!!

[@tommartin8155]

What a great interview. Next year we're getting our first cow. This gives me a lot of confidence.

[@FaithNFarmstead]

Super encouraging! Thank you

[@geoffoutdoors]

Met Shawn & Beth last year at Lehman's ... very helpful and local here in Ohio! Two Thumbs up here - Cheers

[@justeph79]

Great video!

[@24-Card]

Did this sort of thing when my wife and I were younger. I am retiring. Looking at options. TY!!!

[@thomasreto2997]

You two are a fantastic resource. I happened to see you at the HOA conference in Va. The book is excellent as well.🤙

[@ThinkAboutIt-2x]

I can understand getting away from goats as many are ornery. It takes going through many to find goats that are less ornery to keep. Goat's milk is 2Xs more nutritious than cows. The Lamancha (earless goats) milk is indistinguishable from cow milk taste. But better than going to cow is going to milking sheep which are 4Xs more nutritious for humans than cow milk & it tastes like cow milk. They are also not ornery like goats. None of the dairy breed sheep are hair breeds but you could try crossing them on hairless.

[@hazelbellefarm476]

Great info and I’ve learned much from this couple. However, a lot of this info is quite personal preference.

[@ladyryan902]

Question for next time: if the cow is not being bred does it produce milk all year. Thx

[@bethdougherty4014]

A cow can produce for multiple years on a single calving, but cows vary, of course. One reason for breeding every year is so you get a calf every year; another is that a cow's milk production tends to decrease over time.

[@melindafox13]

What if you do not have grass to graze on? We only have hay that we grow on a field we lease. We normally grow beardless wheat.

[@JF-ey7yg]

Great video, are the farmstead field guides available somewhere online?

[@sandyhouseman]

How much pasture needed for a mini milk jersey?

[@dagardener]

What kind of cow does best on an all grass/hay diet?

[@spoolsandbobbins]

Probably those cows whose parents were raised on grass.

[@CarisaRealtor]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@amywade1781]

How do you train a heifer that is 10 months old she gets pushy and a little kicking around sometimes she also bullies my Nubian goats a little

[@rebeccagrrrl2699]

Newbie here: How is the cow going to calf every year? Does this assume you have a male on your farm as well? Feels like an obv answer, but I’m a newbie.

[@coramdayo]

Some people keep a bull on their farm but others will take their cow to another farmer's farm to be exposed to a bull for a month or two. Or, they may borrow a bull from a local farmer and bring it to their farm for a couple months then take it back to its originating farm. Finally, you can have your cow artificially inseminated by a veterinarian.

[@spoolsandbobbins]

We AI our cows!

[@jbbrown7907]

I stopped watching the "Homesteady" KZbin channel because of their views on disease testing.

[@janejohnson852]

You can not consider the cow producing all year, there is time that cow needs to be 'dried-up' so they can get ready for a new calf.

[@bethdougherty4014]

This is a very common misconception! Actually, there is no hard-and-fast necessity of drying off a cow before calving. There can be a number of reasons in favor of, or against, drying off a cow before calving. We often keep a cow in milk right through her next calving, depending on how much she's making, what kind of forage she is on, her age, and so on. Just like humans, cows can 'tandem nurse'.

[@daniellehlf]

Loking for dairy cow in Florida Please help

[@antevenio8303]

A2A2? 8282? is what ????

[@ltlwlwl5057]

❤️🤍💙

[@SuperHaptics]

KZbinr humongous microphones should become illegal 😂

[@muddytoesfarm]

Sometimes you need to compromise your ideals for what is best for your cow. For instance, your ideal may be to do grass only, but if your cow isn't flourishing, it ISN'T what is best. Cow health first. Healthy cow, healthy milk. And most grass only cows I've seen are too skinny. There's "dairy" and there is emaciated. Train your eye. I was pleasantly surprised by Shawn and Beth's point of view on several points. I do however disagree on their stance against milk machines. They make hose and inflation brushes and CIP cleaning systems for proper cleaning. Hoses and inflations should be changed at least annually as well. Bravo to them on their disease testing views. If you test for enough stuff you are bound to find a trace of something in your herd. Most are trivial, in some states they are eradicated and false positives are likely; especially with some vaccinations. Good info!