What You Need to Know About Keeping a Family Milk Cow

A single cow provides gallons of rich, nutritious milk—and plenty of benefits beyond the kitchen. Here’s how to get started.

Smaller dairy cow breeds, such as Jersey or Dexter cows, are easier for beginners to handle. trambler58/Shutterstock

Here’s a beautiful sight: a cow meandering through the rippling grass of an open pasture, head sunk amid the waving blades of green, tail flicking. It’s doing just what cows are meant to do: turning grass into creamy, frothy milk.

For those blessed with a few acres of good grazing ground, keeping a milk cow can be a delightful (and delicious) hobby. In addition to the joy of bovine company and the taste of fresh milk, keeping a cow affords children the opportunity to practice responsible stewardship of an animal, developing habits of discipline in tending to the milk cow daily. Finally, the ability to provide for one’s own needs brings with it a deep satisfaction. I’ve kept a milk cow—a Jersey/Fleckvieh mix—on my own small homestead for the past four years, and my family and I have definitely seen these benefits in action.

For those just beginning to explore the idea, here’s a primer on keeping a family milk cow.

Breeds

There are seven main breeds of dairy cows in the United States: Holstein, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorn, and Red and White Holstein. The quintessential dairy cows seen at major dairy operations are the black and white Holstein, but for a family, depending on the circumstances, a Jersey or Dexter might be better. These breeds are smaller and easier for inexperienced or young dairyers to handle. Their milk also contains a higher butterfat content than Holsteins’ do.

Dennis Pronschinske, a veteran dairy farmer in Minnesota—and my father-in-law, who gave us our milk cow—told The Epoch Times that he recommends a Jersey as a family milk cow.

“They’re smaller, they have a higher butter fat, they’re a little feisty, but that’s sometimes good, because they’re hardy, and they usually have nice udders,” he said.

Acquiring a cow is an investment. Homesteaders can expect to pay between $900 and $3,000 for a mature cow. That might sound pricey, but keep in mind that a good dairy cow can be milked for many years, providing hundreds or even thousands of gallons of milk over her lifetime. If a cow is regularly bred—which is necessary for continued milk production—she’ll also produce a calf about once per year, and these can in turn be sold.

Food

Cows are grazing animals and, in my opinion, should be grass-fed as much as possible, at least when it comes to a small-scale, hobby farm operation. Grazing improves the health of the land, the animal, and the humans who eventually consume the milk. They should have access to open fields that they can wander and graze. A homestead should have at least 1.5 acres of good pasture to feed a cow during the warm months. Even more is better. I run my milk cow on about two acres, but if she has a calf with her who’s big enough to graze a bit, it starts to pressure the pasture.

The life of the pasture—how long it can be viably grazed on—can be extended by using rotational grazing methods. This practice involves frequently moving an animal through subdivisions of a pasture known as paddocks. Limiting the cow to one portion of the pasture at a time rests the plants in the other areas and allows them to regrow. The technique leads to a healthier pasture and better grazing opportunities.

In the winter, a dairy cow requires hay. How much? That depends on the particular cow, its size, and the quality of the hay. A general rule of thumb is 30 to 40 pounds per day. For reference, a small square hay bale weighs, on average, 40 to 60 pounds. For my cow and her half-grown calf, I feed an average of 1.5 bales per day, about 65 pounds.

A small square bale in my area costs between $3 to $6 per bale. Hay can also be purchased in larger bale sizes, which is more cost-effective, but more cumbersome to work with.

Some homesteaders supplement with corn, which is higher in carbohydrates. It can help with weight gain, if the cows need more calories in their diets, but isn’t generally as nutritious as quality hay. “Corn will help them keep more weight on,” Pronschinske said, “But if you have really good quality hay, that’s all you really need.” He added that a cow is naturally designed to eat forage, and feeding hay produces better milk.

Water

Cows need year-round access to clean water. I notice that my cows drink more water during the hot summer months, though they can also chug through a surprising amount in the winter when they aren’t taking in moisture from pasture grass.

Water consumption ranges from three to 30 gallons per day, depending on environmental conditions and  the cow’s size and age. The standard rule is to expect one gallon of water per 100 pounds of body weight during the cold months and two gallons per 100 pounds of body weight during the hot months.

If the temperatures dip below freezing, homesteaders should place a deicer in the water tank to keep it from freezing.

Fencing and Shelter

It’s important for the would-be dairyer to install reliable fencing to keep the cow contained. There are a variety of fencing styles and methods—the key is to make sure the fencing in question is geared toward a large animal like a cow and not something smaller like sheep or goats. We use a mixture of cattle panels and barbed wire. A barbed wire fence for cattle should contain at least four strands. Electric fencing is another popular option.

The fencing layout should include gates in and out of the pasture, and gates between paddocks within the pasture.

Ideally, at least a three-sided shelter should be available to a milk cow in the winter. In the summer, shade ought to be accessible as well as a place to get out of stormy weather, but the shelter requirements aren’t as stringent during the warm months. A little grove of trees is often enough.

“Trees are actually the best shade,” Pronschinske said, “because it doesn’t block the wind.”

An important detail: For both the cow and the milker’s sake, the cow’s shelter should include some bedding during the winter. This could be straw, old corn stalks, or wood chips. Cows produce a lot of waste, turning their shelter or stall into a muddy mess. If they don’t have some form of bedding, they’ll end up lying down in their own waste and getting caked with it. This isn’t good for them or for the homesteader who has to milk them. Bedding also helps keep the cow warm during the icy depths of winter.

Milking

I have a secret: Owning a milk cow doesn’t have to tie you down to your homestead day after day. It doesn’t have to force you to get up every frigid January morning and go outside to milk. There’s a way around these inconveniences that lets you milk only when you want to: It’s called calf-sharing.

The strategic dairyman keeps a calf on the cow most of the time and separates them before he wants to milk (say, overnight, for instance). The separation period of about six to eight hours allows the cow’s udder to fill with milk. The farmer takes it for himself. Afterwards, the calf is returned to its mother and continues nursing. This ensures that the cow continues to produce milk without needing to get milked out by the farmer.

Now to the nitty-gritty: The actual milking procedure doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment. My wife and I first tried milking our cow with a milking machine, but soon found that—for a single-cow operation, at least—milking by hand was actually easier and more efficient. To milk by hand, a homesteader needs only a clean bucket (preferably stainless steel), a stool, some rags, and an udder-cleaning solution such as water mixed with iodine.

Generally, the cow needs to be tied up and provided with grain or hay to keep her occupied during milking. First, clean any dirt or grass off the udder with a rag before applying the udder wash solution. Then squirt the milk into the bucket. Afterwards, strain the milk with a thin, clean cloth, such as a flour sack towel.

Some people insist that the milk must be pasteurized to be safe to drink. But many home dairyers prefer the milk raw, arguing that it’s healthier that way. I won’t weigh in on that particular debate, but homesteaders should at least know that, in most states, it’s illegal to sell raw, unpasteurized milk for human consumption because of the risks of contamination and infection.

Final Thoughts

So that’s it: the basic information about keeping a cow. Keeping a milk cow has greatly enriched my family’s experience of homesteading and provided us with gallons of nutritious milk. There’s nothing like taking a long sip of cold, creamy milk while staring out the window at the contented, grazing cow it came from. You know this food was created, as though by magic, from your own soil and grass.

Pronschinske pointed out that owning a milk cow provides an opportunity to work together as a family. In addition, a cow offers many ways to produce healthy food.

“It’s a tremendous product. You have the milk—you can get butter from that, you can make cheese, you can make yogurt. And you have another byproduct, meat—when the cow gets old, you can butcher [her]. And you get a calf out of her.”

Keeping a cow isn’t easy, but it’s worthwhile. As Pronschinske put it, “It’s definitely a commitment, but it’s a good commitment.”