We just picked up a milk cow on Saturday. She is a 6 yr old Jersey, due to calve in May. The previous owners, although they fed her hay and grain, had her on an overcrowdeed, grassless pasture.

She is on our pasture, we put her in a smaller one (temporarily) with shorter grass to prevent bloat from too much grass. We are feeding her about 3lbs of livestock blend (in the evening). When should we switch to a dairy blend and is this enough grain?

Can anyone point me to some resources (books, links, etc.) on a family cow? Everything I found has been on large dairy farms.

Thanks, Amy

-- Amy Richards (amysgarden2@earthlink.net), March 21, 2001

Answers

Hi, Amy. I would recommend that you give her her morning hay, then let her out into the larger pasture for oh, say an hour, and then return her to the small one. Just keep increasing the amount of time each day while decreasing the hay. She might get a touch of the green-grass-squirts but bloat shouldn't be a problem. For a book I recommend "The Family Cow" by Dirk van Loon. It's a little dated, but the general information is all good. Hope this helps. Kathie

-- Kathie in Western Washington (twinrosefarm@worldnet.att.net), March 21, 2001.

"Keeping A Family Cow" by Joann S. Grohman is a good one for the new milk cow owner. Go to www.real-food.com for ordering information and to read about the author's Jersey cows. Good luck with your new cow and her baby!

-- Barb (rosemontfarm1@aol.com), March 22, 2001.