Ayreshires

[Anonymous]

My wife and I raised a couple of pigs last year and want to do it again this year,
this time with 4-6 pigs. We decided to get a dairy cow with friends of ours, for
the milk, the cheese, and primarily -for us- for the milk and whey for the pigs.
All of our pasture land -5 acres of ours and 13 acres of our friends- has been
laying fallow for 15 or 20 years, brush hogged once or twice a year -mostly
just once- and is pretty rough pasture. I’ve heard ayreshires are champs on
rough pasture but can be a little ornery. Does anybody have any advice or
suggestions as to ayreshires or another breed of cow that does well on rough
pasture? I’ve heard that milking devons do pretty well also.

thanks,
Miles and Caitlin

[Plowboy]

I showed Ayrshires successfully for years in 4-H. I found the ones that I owned were very laid back and I had many champion cows. My last year showing I took 14 head to the shows myself. 5 were lactating cows and each morning I untied them and tossed there ropes over their backs to go to the water trough. I would clean up the stalls a little and then go grab one rope. The other four followed to the tie stall milking barn about 200 yards away and filed into stalls. They stood there to be milked untied and then followed me back in single file. I also had the top producing cow on the county fairgrounds that year which really upset the Holstein kids. They are good grazers out eating while the Holsteins were laying in the shade. If you want an Ayrshire you should be able to find a laid back one. After the first couple we bought as calves mine were all bred and owned and used top quality bulls but never had an ornery one. They are a smart breed of cattle and probably just like any other there are ornery one’s.

[OldKat]

@Miles Jenness 4378 wrote:

My wife and I raised a couple of pigs last year and want to do it again this year,
this time with 4-6 pigs. We decided to get a dairy cow with friends of ours, for
the milk, the cheese, and primarily -for us- for the milk and whey for the pigs.
All of our pasture land -5 acres of ours and 13 acres of our friends- has been
laying fallow for 15 or 20 years, brush hogged once or twice a year -mostly
just once- and is pretty rough pasture. I’ve heard ayreshires are champs on
rough pasture but can be a little ornery. Does anybody have any advice or
suggestions as to ayreshires or another breed of cow that does well on rough
pasture? I’ve heard that milking devons do pretty well also.

thanks,
Miles and Caitlin

In what part of the country are you located? Makes a big difference as to which breeeds can adapt and which cannot.

[Theloggerswife]

If you are located in an area that highland cattle can thrive in, they are my suggestion. They will take back over grown pastures quickly. The only thing left in the pasture will be thistles and milk weed. They will even eat burdock…got to love that! The highland will scratch their horns on any tree or bush in the pasture. So your trees will be limbed to the cattles head height.

I don’t have any experience with the devons or other breeds…

[Howie]

The Ayrshire and Milking Devon are both champs on rough pasture. The Ayrshire is a little bigger and will give a little more milk but the two are very comparable. Onery is what you make them.

[Anonymous]

I live in Vermont- so ayreshires and devons would both do well, bu the summers
are pretty hot so I don’t know how highlanders would do.

thanks to all of you for your feed back-
i’d give away my computer if it weren’t for the help I get from this site

[Author]

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