We really like bottle calves. We as in Mommy and Cooper. But they look horrible when you feed them milk replacer from a bag. They just need that constant love and nutrient from a mama. So I did some research and saw that jersey cows make great nurse cows and milk cows (obv). I wanted to try it. And perhaps use the milk for us as well.
So we got a milk cow.
Her name is Margo. She's so sweet. But one problem. She isn't bred. Which means no milk.
So we got another jersey. This time she was bred and due to freshen soon! Her name is Molly and she is equally as sweet and lovable.
...we then sweet talked someone into building a stanchion to milk her in.
And BOY did he deliver. It's perfect. And she went right in it with some grain.
Now we wait. Patiently. For her to freshen.
The plan is once she freshens to keep the calf on her and also milk her because she will make too much milk for one calf. Then when we have an orphan at the farm or one at the sale barn we can stick it on her too. We will also keep the milk for future use for future calves AND hopefully use some of her milk to feed the chickens and ourselves. They say jerseys are high in butterfat so we may even have some homemade butter.
I'm just hopeful it works out how it is in my head. We shall see. It may be a total flop but I'm sure excited to try-because the bottle calves we have right now look like yaks-their hair isn't shiny and they are so gross and I think most of that is because they didn't get real cow milk with all those nutrients. We will most likely breed Margo and sell her because we do not need two. But it has made for easier halter breaking having two around.
