miniature dairy

[blue80]

I am exploring miniature dairy options. Can anyone give me experience on them and the possible market opportunities? It seems from initial research that mini heifers for sale have a great return, actually selling far higher than full size dairy heifers.

I know of some locals who have had a full size cow, and get 7-9 gallons per day. They say too much milk, too much feed. They “share the cow” with 5 families who are each responsible with a day’s chores and milking. It didn’t work, the cow ran the families life and they sold it…..
Both of our sources of raw milk has “dried up” We are back into store milk, which my wife says makes the kids wet the bed more often if they drink it in the evenings:mad:

The miniatures piques my interest as it seems to be a market the “big farmers” won’t exploit. They don’t want to breed for less production or halter train each animal….
Also makes sense to me as smaller acreage, less feed, less fencing, possibly easier handling of the animals are all benefits. Give the people what the need and want?

Thanks for the help,
Kevin

[Rod]

Hi Kevin

The most efficient animal for a home milk supply is a small goat. The give plenty of milk for a normal size family and do not need a lot of feed or elaborate housing. Some goat milk has a strong taste and it varies with the breed. I think Alpines might be a good choice but would recommend trying the milk before buying. Years ago we bought a couple of Toggenburgs for family milk and the seller gave us a glass to try before we bought them . The milk was very good, tasted like cow’s milk which later we became convinced that it actually was as no one in the family would drink the goat milk that we got because of the strong taste.

Dexters are another choice, one to three gallons per day, and I have heard of people sharing the milk with a calf. This frees you up to milk according to your need and schedule allowing the calf to suckle the rest which is plenty for the small Dexter calves.

[jen judkins]

I agree that a goat is a great option. We love our nigerian dwarves and their milk is very sweet….and higher in fat content than most other dairy animals. We get about 2 quarts a day from each. Not being big milk drinkers, we make cheese:D….yummy!

[near horse]

We have a few Oberhasli’s (formerly swiss alpines I think) and agree that the milk is great. Even 2 does milking can keep you “hopping” if you don’t drink that much milk. Like Jen, we did cheese and yogurt.

IMHO – strong flavor is usually related to diet.

[OldKat]

@blue80 22417 wrote:

I am exploring miniature dairy options. Can anyone give me experience on them and the possible market opportunities? It seems from initial research that mini heifers for sale have a great return, actually selling far higher than full size dairy heifers.

I know of some locals who have had a full size cow, and get 7-9 gallons per day. They say too much milk, too much feed. They “share the cow” with 5 families who are each responsible with a day’s chores and milking. It didn’t work, the cow ran the families life and they sold it…..
Both of our sources of raw milk has “dried up” We are back into store milk, which my wife says makes the kids wet the bed more often if they drink it in the evenings:mad:

The miniatures piques my interest as it seems to be a market the “big farmers” won’t exploit. They don’t want to breed for less production or halter train each animal….
Also makes sense to me as smaller acreage, less feed, less fencing, possibly easier handling of the animals are all benefits. Give the people what the need and want?

Thanks for the help,
Kevin

Kevin,

I have known people in the past that would buy a dairy cow, breed her to a beef bull … usually Angus and let the resulting calf stay on her. Whenever they wanted a gallon of milk or so they would pen the calf the night before, milk the cow and then turn the calf back with the cow. Saves having to deal with excess milk. Of course to have year round milk you would need two cows, calving in different seasons. The calf is weaned at the normal age and either turned out to finish on grass or fed out, either way they make a nice deep freeze calf … especially if the cow is a Jersey or a Guersey.

I have considered doing this myself, but with just the two of us at home now we don’t really drink much milk anyway. Just a thought …

[Scyther]

The advice about goats is a good one if space, animal size or milk volume is a concern. Having been in the commercial dairy business, both on the farm and in support businesses for many years I wouldn’t get to excited about the mini’s. My opinion is it’s more of a gimmic. Early on the prices for stock are high and then the market goes flat. Breeding could be a challenge. Milking a cow that has an udder that low will get old in a hurry too if your milking by hand. If a cow is what you want I’d look for a small Jersey. They are much easier to find and to get bred back at a reasonable price. Feed good forage and not much grain and you can keep the production volume at a more manageable level after the first couple months. Feed the extra to a pig or your chickens, or raise an extra calf for veal or beef. Unless you want to make cheese for awhile. The few mini’s I have encountered were nice little animals, mostly angus though, so milking wasn’t an issue. They were costly to get into though, and if you don’t sell some breeding stock at appropriately high prices you’ll loose out financially. The Dexters would be a better option in my opinion than a mini dairy cow if you don’t want a Jersey. Keep the idea of a couple good goats in mind though, that is what we have done and it’s working out good. In the end though, do what you think is best, or most interesting for you. Best of luck.

[blue80]

Excellent helpful information, thanks, and we’ll take it all into consideration.

I don’t like the hype, fads, and gimmicks associated with high priced breeding stock. Emus, alpacas, elk, all wonderful animals but spare me the get rich quick etc. etc.
But the mini dairy cow intrigues me abit more, as some families don’t want goats but want a milk cow and smaller may be more convenient for them. Mini is usually 40% of “standard” size. I see the prices for the minis pretty high, $600 for a yearling heifer to $4000 for a bred cow. Locally in Montana we can get jersey, dexter, longhorn mixes.
I dunno, I have been seeing mini this and that, but the mini dairy cow puts a little different spin on things and makes me wonder.
I had a long talk last year with the only dairy I know of within 50 miles at the local fair dairy barn; The fair dairy class only has one producer left involved in it, but a wonderful multigenerational group all of the same family. The grandpa was inviting people to be involved with the cows, many which were for sale. He spoke with a tear in his eye that they were the “last ones left” locally. Teenagers forked hay, others were washing and brushing. One stall was set up as daycare for the little kids. It was my favourite barn in the fair. It would be fun to get my kids with a couple dairy in the fair with them…..

Like you scyther, I’m leaning toward a guernsey/jersey type. How do the dexters milk by the way?

[Nat(wasIxy)]

The best dairy animal by far for us so far has been a jersey cow. We feed only silage and a couple of scoops of our home grown and milled pig meal to keep her occupied during milking, and we milk once a day or if she has a calf, only when needed. We pick strong bodied, low yielding culls and get them cheap from our local largescale jersey dairy.

The great thing about a cow is that she gives so much milk in one go, a dwarf goat will give you enough, but you have to milk little and often to get it. We can milk just once a week and get enough to drink, some cream, a week’s worth of butter and make some soft cheese! As long as the calf is there to mop up the rest it doesn’t take over your life.

We have also milked our dexters but the milk just doesn’t compare to a jersey’s. It’s average for butterfat at best, and naturally homogenised which makes getting the cream and making butter difficult and quite wasteful. Jersey fat globules are plentiful, and big so they float – you just scoop off the cream with a spoon, easy peasy, and get full fat milk left to drink/for cheese aswell! I think if you are only producing drinking milk, it’s a lot of effort and resources but if you are making cream, butter, yoghurt and cheese it’s much more rewarding all round.

Have you considered a sheep? The milk is divine, they are just as thrifty as a goat but no goaty taste to the milk (and therefore butter) at all. The milk is very seasonal, but it freezes so well so you could intensively milk a whole flock for three months or so and stock up for the rest of the year. Our sheep aren’t a milky breed but can manage 1litre a day if carefully managed.

[Does’ Leap]

Being a goat farmer, I have to put in a plug for them. Off-taste in goat’s milk is almost entirely due to not cooling it down to below 40 degrees in a timely fashion after milking. If you can do that, you should not have any off flavors. Having milked a Jersey for a couple of years, it made me appreciate how much easier goats are to handle. They hop on an milk stand and you are ready to go. Unlike a cow, they rarely (if ever) deficate or urinate while being milked. Also their udder stays much cleaner as their feces are pellet shaped and much drier that cow manure. I remember trying to milk our cow in January trying to contend with manure caked and frozen on her udder despite our best attempts to keep her well bedded. If I were looking for milk for my family, I would milk one or two goats once daily, not twice (same with a cow). The animal will adapt fine, especially if you are not feeding a lot of grain (if any). The only thing I miss about milking a cow is the cream. Like Ixy mentioned, it is right there on top ready for skimming. This is not like goat’s milk which is naturally homoginized.

[Nat(wasIxy)]

Ease of milking surely comes down to the individual, we’ve had cows you can just set down next to with a stool and bucket and off you go, and I know people with goats that stand on their front legs to batter you in the face with their hinds!!

[Author]

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