# Milking a Beef Cow



## Ping (Mar 15, 2008)

Does anyone have any experience milking beef cows in general and Highland cows in particular? I've read of other homesteaders who milk their angus and really love the milk--high butterfat and excellent taste. I'm interested in getting Highland cattle because of their hardiness and ability to eat browse and less than ideal pasture. Our property has a lot of brush and rough pasture. I'd like to also milk them. I understand that since they are not a dairy breed, they would not yield as much but this is just for my family's use so not much is required. I'd also like to leave the calf on the cow part time. Anyone have experience with this breed or milking beef cows in general? Thanks for the help.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Most beef cows are bred to give just enough milk for their calves while staying in good condition themselves. Beef/Dairy cross cows are good milkers and usually have a good calf also.


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## harplade (Jul 14, 2005)

I would think if they had any dairy in them, you might be ok. For instance, I have a cow of indeterminate breeding but she looks like a black dairy cow-I would think she might could milk. It has been my experience with goats-some of the best milkers are actually the 'mutts'-they have enough dairy to make them produce well but enough other stuff in them to keep them healthy. I'd give it a try and let us know how it works out.


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## southridgeacre (Feb 5, 2008)

There are several people on the KFC (Keeping a Family Cow) board doing this, try that forum.:baby04: One woman loves her angus best for milk!

www.familycow.proboards32.com


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

There's a woman near me who milks aherd of Herefords. She likes the cheese she makes from it. She says she just has to milk a lot of them to get as much milk as she wants.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## JKB07 (Mar 6, 2008)

You are going to want to look for a daiy breed or at the very least a dual purpose or crossbred cow... Beef cattle are bred to produce calves that will preform well. To do this breef cattle produce only enough milk to raise a good calf, while staying in good condition herself. Yes, you can milk a beef breed, but you could milk a cat too. They just were not bred to do it. If you leave a calf on her you will get very little milk for youself, if any, and if you take the calf off and milk then put the calf with her, the calf will do very poorly. I would go with a dairy breed, like jersey. You could always put a jersey steer in the freezer, or sell a jersey heifer and have enough money to buy a few beef steers.... 


JKB


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## gracie88 (May 29, 2007)

If you're not totally committed to Highlanders, there's this add for Dexter/Jersey crosses on the Eugene CL: http://eugene.craigslist.org/grd/1007100143.html Dexters have similar qualities to the ones you listed.


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## pyrobear (Nov 10, 2006)

we have been milking highlands or highland crossbreds for years.
like dexters and jerseys highlands are a dual purpose breed, you CAN milk them!
thoe the milk is higher in butter fat and you dont get as much milk like you woud get from a holsten! but it makes wandrfull butter and cheese and much moor.


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## Ping (Mar 15, 2008)

Thanks for the feedback. I really like the Highland breed because, from what I've read, they are good on poor pasture and will help clear brush. We are in the beginning stages of clearing our land for pasture. It is covered with a lot of blackberries, scotch broom, and miscellaneous other vegetation. I hoped the Highland would help us out with clearing and also do well once the land is cleared. They seem to be a breed with good mothering instincts that require little/no help in calving and are disease resistant. They are also a smaller breed so require less feed and are easier to handle. I like the quantity of butterfat in Jersey milk and read that Highlands have a similar quantity. 

Has anyone had experience milk sharing with a calf on a Highland? How much milk per day did you get?


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

Wow, your description of a Highlander sounds like it was lifted from the American Dexter Cattle Association page. Those are the very attributes that make a Dexter so desirable.

The people I know who milk Dexters separate the cow and calf at night. They take a gallon in the morning then let the calf have the rest. They get what they want and the calf grows quickly.

Some of the reports of butterfat content in Dexter milk are astounding. It's smaller molecules and almost naturally homogenized. The cream is slow to separate. It's easy to digest.

I have a number of Dexter cows that have been tested to produce pure A2 milk. The ADCA now tests Dexter cattle for A2 milk, so there should be a lot more A2 producing Dexters available soon.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## Happyfarmwife (Aug 3, 2004)

May I ask where in Oregon you are? I live in Coquille. We have a Jersey we just bought this past October.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I am not a cow owner, but here is my take on milk production in mammals. Milk production is a supply vs demand system. The more that is taken, the more milk is produced (if enough feed and water is available to produce that amount). For instance with pups, I make sure that pups nurse, even if they need supplemented...they nurse first. The reason is that if I supplemented and put a pup with a full belly back in the pup would not nurse and stimulate the dam to produce more milk. Then as the dams milk supply increases, I will strip out enough milk to feed the puppy instead of supplementing with formula- that way the ***** is still producing enough to feed all the pups and when the pup is strong enough the supply will be there. The older the pups get, the more they nurse. During growth spurts they about drain her dry...and that in turn causes her to make more milk. So, in my mind, any cow could be used for milk as well as long as you emptied her after her calf was done nursing, she would then produce enough milk for her calf and to replace what you took, then empty her again after calf drinks and she will produce more. Please correct me if I am wrong though, because as I said I have never owned a cow.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Willow, your not wrong at all It's just that beef breeds have been bred to put it on their back and dairy breeds have been bred to put in in their udder and it shows in the different structure between the two types of animals. Dairy cattle are usually lighter boned, and less "meaty" looking than a beef breed.

Having said that, there is no reason whatsoever why a beef breed shouldn't be milked for the house so long as one isn't wanting huge quantities of milk. I have a friend milking a stud Angus cow that lost her calf. She's producing 12 litres a day which is more than enough for two people and some goes to the pigs as well. My own little herd has 3 straight Jerseys, 1 Jersey/Friesian and the remaining 5 cows are all Jersey/beef crosses with one of the better producers being a Jersey/Belgian Blue. At the end of the day you can milk anything you like so long as it produces enough to meet your needs. 

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Ping (Mar 15, 2008)

Happyfarmwife said:


> May I ask where in Oregon you are? I live in Coquille. We have a Jersey we just bought this past October.


I'm about eight miles west of Mcminnville.


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## Ping (Mar 15, 2008)

Willowynd said:


> IMilk production is a supply vs demand system. The more that is taken, the more milk is produced (if enough feed and water is available to produce that amount).


Thanks Willow, that's kind of what I suspected. 

Thanks for all the help everyone.


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## Happyfarmwife (Aug 3, 2004)

Ping said:


> I'm about eight miles west of Mcminnville.


Thanks Ping! We of course are at the other end of the state. I was just thinking that maybe I would find someone close to home that was a fellow homesteader. : )


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## Ping (Mar 15, 2008)

HappyFarmWife, I hear ya. I wish I knew some like-minded people around here too. We're new to the area so there's hope yet that we'll find someone. At least we have this forum! I don't know what I'd do without it.


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## DJ in WA (Jan 28, 2005)

I have recommended a beef cow to a sister who just wants alittle milk. I think it's a better idea for most people than a dairy cow. There's no magic about dairy cows - milk is not free - if they produce more, they need to eat more.

Beef cows are easier to find than dairy cows, and often dairy cows come with problems.

As others mentioned, if you keep taking it, beef cows will produce more milk than a calf needs. A newborn calf doesn't take it all, so production normally drops. If you keep her milked out, production will stay up, even to the point of needing to supplement diet with extra energy.

And of course, all beef cows are not created equal. Some are bred for more milk than others. If you're familiar with EPD's, there are numbers on beef bulls that predict how much milk their offspring will produce compared to average. So you can direct your herd any way you want. Probably wouldn't take too many generations of selective breeding to make your beef herd into a dairy herd.

Fewer problems with beef cows than dairy. And if you want to take a vacation, you can just leave the calf on her.

If you aren't getting enough milk, breed one of your cows to Jersey.

Some have said that beef cows genetically have shorter lactations. Could be true, though my lowline angus/jersey cow is still going strong at nearly 9 months since calving, almost more than I want. Might have trouble drying her up. I guess she could have gotten the jersey genes for length of lactation.


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## JKB07 (Mar 6, 2008)

DJ in WA said:


> There's no magic about dairy cows - milk is not free - if they produce more, they need to eat more.QUOTE]
> 
> 
> This is not true....
> ...


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