I have some VERY, VERY exciting news (and I bet you can guess what it is!) - in a month's time, we are going to become first time cow owners! (Cue the excited squeal!) For months I've been connecting with an amazing farm that raises Jersey cows, waiting patiently to see if there would indeed be a cow for our family. And the answer is yes, yes, yes! She is a registered Jersey in her second lactation, she is in milk and has been exposed to a bull, so we're hoping she'll be bred when she arrives in mid-October. Even though we raised Alpine dairy goats for years, we've never cared for a cow. So, I reached out to my favorite cow-owning homestead bloggers for their VERY BEST tips for a new … [Read more...]
Homestead Dairy Cow Basics
The addition of animals to our off-grid home is what made our beautiful piece of land feel like a real homestead. Even before we moved onto our land, we raised 10 chicks, and we had a chicken coop set up before we had a house to live in! We keep a variety of animals for the joy and companionship they bring to our lives, but more importantly for the food security they provide. We raise chickens and ducks for their eggs, lambs and pigs for their meat, and a homestead dairy cow for her milk. Many people wonder whether a goat or a cow is more ideally suited to a small homestead, and having raised both animals, I think that is a very complicated question that is as much about your personality … [Read more...]