What would you need to do to own a cow(or more)?

Question

like how would you look after the cow? where could you buy a cow? how to milk a cow? what housing conditions does a cow need in order to live in?

Answer 1

You need Old Mc Donald's Farm. <}:-})

Answer 2

you would need at least 3 acres of pasture per cow, a barn, a milking parlor, hay, hay storage, grain, buckets, being there to milk 7 days a week twice a day

Answer 3

A farm and food I guess.

Answer 4

There are dairy and beef breeds.  There are breeds that have traits of both and are known as dual breeds.  For dairy, Holsteins are mostly found in the commercial production.  I have also seen jerseys.  Much more is involved with dairy.  

The goal with dairy is milk production/butter fat.  Most dairy farms will provide buildings to house for better control environment.  This helps with disease control, out of the weather, cattle are not in mud with can cause problems, computerized feeding where each cow has a ID and fed control amount for that cow.  

Dairy cattle produce around 20 times the waste as human do.  Typical systems are lagoons.  When the lagoons are full, the liquid is knifed or pumped onto or in the pasture or crop fields.  The amount applied is based on what fertilizer is available the grass or field crop will use.

That just a small part of dairy.  The other is beef production.  There are several breed used today.  Mostly common in the country where I am at are Angus and Hereford.  They product milk but for the purpose for nursing new born.

Feed.  What most available is grass to feed.  This is true for beef production for the cow/calf operations.  After weaning and as the calves get close to slaughter weight, feed changes over to more grain base ration.  There are business who just buy calves off of grass and finished with grain before slaughter or become hamburger.

It is very common practice that weaned calves are auction off.  With internet today, there are live auction services where you can see and bid on the animal or animals.  The next best are Livestock Auction services.  Livestock are transported to the Auction and sold by individual or by small groups.  You can buy and number.  If it is a large herd, the auction is at the farm.

Of the two, dairy or beef, beef will have the less amount of money to be in business.  If you do not own ground, as many livestock producers don't own all there ground, renting is done.

In last 20-30 years in the USA, Intensive Grazing System is become more popular.  If it is new to you, do a search.  Since the 1900 and maybe earlier, turning cattle into a pasture and leaving them there is known as continues grazing.  Intensive grazing system in a nut shell is offering an animal(s) 5 to 7 days of new growth grass and grazing till there is 3-4 inches.  This is for cool season grasses.  Animals are moved to the next offered area and grazed the same way.  This is done till 30 to 45 day pasted then return back onto the first area grazed.  Offered area is adjusted for the current conditions.  This year it maybe wet - lot of grass to dry, less grass which means more to area offered.  With this system, no hay is baled but instead, grass is not grazed and is held later to graze.  

Hope this will help.  Check with University Extension Service for information on Dairy and Beef.

Answer 5

A cow needs hay and grain to eat and a shelter or barn to sleep in. You can buy a cow at a livestock auction or from a farmer. If you want a milk cow, make sure you get one and not a beef cow. You will also need to have a fenced in area as a pasture. As for milking one, just grab a teat and give it a pull. Cow generally get fed once a day, and milked 1-2 times a day.  

Answer 6

To get the first hand practical and best knowledge the best will be to visit a near by dairy farm and ask the farmer for most learned and experienced advise.

Answer 7

I would start with goats and see if you can handle. cows need a lot of work, including on sundays.

Answer 8

As you've asked this on the UK board, this reply assumes that you're based in the UK.

Firstly, there's an awful lot of red tape.

You need to register with DEFRA to obtain a holding number.  You need your holding number because when you buy (or sell, or even move) your cow, you need to notifiy the British Cattle Movement Service.  This information ensures that her passport is kept up to date.

You will also need to infrom you local Animal Health Authority because there are compulsory TB tests in the UK.  It doesn't matter that your cow is healthy, these tests have to be done regularly (the testing interval is between one and four years, depending on the 'risk area' that you live in).

You will also need to have your cow tested for Brucellosis every two years (although this scheme might soon be ended).

You will need a securely-fenced grazing paddock of at least an acre - if you have company for your cow (which you really should as she is a herd animal and will be lonely on her own), you will obviously need a larger paddock.  A regular water supply and shelter goes without saying.  Plus a good supply of winter feed (hay/silage/fodder beet or potatoes and a grain meal)

You will need handling facilitles (at least a 'crush', preferably also a 'race') to handle your cow safely for veterinary treatment and her regular testing.

Your cow will need milking at least twice a day, every single day  (including weekends and holidays) or you will have a serious welfare issue on your hands.  You are also likely to have a serious milk overload problem on your hands as well, unless you intend to make your own butter, cream and cheese as well as just using the milk as it comes.

Again, assuming that you are in the UK, you can't sell your surplus milk at the gate unless you have the relevant hygiene certificates.

On top of all this, there is more documentation needed to record movements, treatments, calvings plus some way to get your cow in calf (you need to take her to a bull or bring him to her), veterinary treatment as and when needed, and last but not least, commitment.

Not all cows take easily to hand-milking, so you might well need to have perseverance, patience and a strong constitution because your cow will probably weigh around half a ton.  If she isn't co-operative you need to be able to take some knocks and stand up to the bruises, although proper handling facilites (as mentioned above) will help minimise physical trauma to yourself.

If you want all of the milk for yourself, you will need to take her calf away and probably sell it.  Failing that, you will need to share her milk with her calf, although this has obvious health implications.

Which brings us on to buying a milk pasteurising unit.

Buying your cow is a further issue, but really is the least of the problems you're likely to encounter.

Answer 9

Do NOT buy a cow at the auction!!!!!!   Ahhhh the germs and disease!!!  Plus there is a reason they are there.  Unless you get a pregnant heifer, you will be buying a reject, and even then, she could be a reject.  Look in the classifieds of a local farming periodical.

I would recommend Jerseys.  They are small and easy to handle.  They have feisty attitudes but are generally quite friendly when handled regularly.  Expect to pay no more than $3,000 per cow.  Expect 40-60 lbs of milk per day from the average Jersey.  Divide that by 8.7 to get gallons.

Cows need shelter, whether that be a barn or good clump of trees.  (If you have harsh winters, a barn is a must).  They need plenty of good hay or grass and some grain.  Not too much grain though, it can make them sick.  Talk to the person you're purchasing her from.  They will be able to give you the best advice.  Form a good relationship with that person so you will have someone to help you with things in the future such as breeding and calving.  You need a support person who knows what they are doing!  That is the most important thing.  The rest you will learn as you go.

P.S. If you are feeling overwhelmed, goats are a very good alternative.  They are sooooo much easier to deal with.

Answer 10

Having been raised on a dairy farm I can tell you the answers above are right AND wrong.  For a dairy cow you don't need a pasture. you DO need grain of some sort, corn is very popular as well as oats. Hay of some nutritional value, just straw hay won't do, (clover and alfalfa are the best imo) or Silage.

(Silage is a mixture of raw chopped materials such as field corn, sorghum, grass, or clover that is converted into winter feed for livestock through a process of fermentation. Feed can be stored for several years with little loss of nutrients.)

You also need a large water trough, medications, a good vet, you MUST live outside the city limits (farm animals aren't allowed in Cities), the cow, Herefords, Jersey, or Guernsey are good milking breeds. You also need the money to buy all of this...

Total minimum cost, 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 just to get started.  

Answer 11

cows require lots of land and low maintence, the cow needs a place to get out of the weather somewhere and it will need constant access to pasure and/or hay with about a gallon of grain each day

go to a live stock auction is the best place to start, NOT THE 4H AUCTION, it's the same thing only they go for ridiculiously high prices

Answer 12

Well you could buy one at a livestock auction. They are listed in the paper in most states. You would need to be able to feed it (they eat a lot and hay is really expensive right now), and you would probably need at least a 3 sided shelter and a turn out for it to live in.

Answer 13

they have stock auctions all the time i just came from one as a matter of fact. milking is actually very easy once u get the hang of it either way old fashion way with a bucket and ur hands or in a milk barn with machines. a cow needs food and water.

Answer 14

Cows need a balanced diet of hay, corn, oats, and mineral supplements.  Good pasture in the summer, which takes the place of hay.  They also need a lot of water.  

You'd need at least a 3-sided shelter if you live in a warm climate, and four-sided if you live where the winters are cold.  

I know how to milk a cow, but it's something you can't learn by reading about it.  It's a hands-on experience.  Cows need to be "dried up" for a couple of months before their next calf is born.  Do you know how to tell if a cow is in heat and ready to be bred?  No calf, no milk.  

Taking care of cows is complicated.  In short, if you weren't raised on a farm, forget it.  

Answer 15

Of course, the answer to most of your questions is - it depends!!  Cows are herd animals so its best to keep more than one.  They get lonely by themselves.  Are you in the UK or the US?  If you are in the Uk, in theory, you need about 1 1/2 acres of grass to keep a cow.  But you need to divide it so that one section can grow whilst the cow(s) are eating the other part.  Yes you can feed cows entirely on grass, if you get the right type of cow.  But you need some shelter for it/them in the winter.  

Then you have to deal with the bureaucracy.  If you intend to keep cows, you need to apply to DEFRA for a holding registration number, each cow must have a passport registered with the British Cattle Movement Service (no I am not joking) and have two numbered ear tags, you need a herd record book, a drug record book and a fertiliser/pesticide record book.  Then your cow(s) need to be checked for Bovine TB - for that you will probably need a cattle crush.

If all this doesn't put you off why not consider rare breeds, they promote native british breeds that are easier to keep than some of the more modern breeds.  They also provide a support network.  You should be able to buy in-calf cows for £4 - 500 each.

Answer 16

If you want to milk it, it would also need to get pregnant. So...you would either need a bull (borrowed or purchased), or hire someone to inseminate it artificially. You would need to do this annually.