A BACKYARD DAIRY COW:part I

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Since you'll likely be the person doing the pail filling, pick an "easy milker". That is, look for a gentle animal . . . one whose teats just fit your hands (if you plan to hand-milk, and most small-scale cowherders will) and whose milk flows easily into the pail.

In other words, don't buy any cow until you've tried her. There're few more discouraging ways to start your dairy enterprise than to find that you own a cantankerous old hussy who's nearly impossible to milk without first playing rodeo . . . or whose streak canal (the passage in the teat through which the milk flows) is so small you've got to squeeze the life out of her just to get a dribble of liquid.

Almost all dairy—people maintain good records that'll show you—in black and white-which of the mommas (and which herd sires) are the best producers. Only the offspring of "prize" animals should be used to start any herd, large or small.

II. PLAN THE COWSHED WELL

Unless the weather in your area is particularly severe, neither the bovine mommas nor their babies will need elaborate shelters. Even folks in northern Wisconsin have, for years, been getting along just fine with open-ended cattle sheds. Such structures should face south to catch the sun's warming winter rays, and provide 60 square feet of bedded area per adult, and 25 to 35 square feet per calf. You'll also need to figure about a ton of bedding for each cow annually. (One ton requires 250 cubic feet of storage space.)

For most one- or two-cow operations, fenced pasture is much more economical than a small, enlosed feed-lot. Just how much pasture Bossy'll need during a growing season will depend upon the quality of the fields involved. An acre of top-of-the-line grass may be sufficient for a momma and her calf, but in sparse pastures—such as are found in western Kansas—it may take 40 to 50 acres to support one adult cow.

Most dairy animals are as docile as lambs, so they generally won't turn into fence-wreckers (unless they're in heat, during which time some of them get pretty rambunctious). Any sturdy enclosure of about 39 inches in height will keep the mooers home on your range.

III. KNOW ABOUT BREEDS

There are five major dairy cattle breeds available in North America: Guernsey, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Ayrshire, and Holstein. The following chart shows the approximate composition of each breed's milk:

There are also several breeds that are considered dual-purpose animals (milk and meatmakers). Such types include Milking Shorthorn, Devon, Dexter, and Dutch Belted.

The Jerseys and Guernseys originated in the English Channel islands between England and France. The farms on such isles were generally divided into many small fields, in which the cud-chewers were most often chained or tethered to a stake, and moved several times each day. Milkmaids visited the cows right in the fields, rather than bringing the animals in to be milked. Given such dairying methods, a small cow that gave milk with a high percentage of butterfat and of total solids proved to be more practical than a heavy milker would have been. A Guernsey or Jersey, therefore, typically produces a little less volume than do other major dairy breeds, but the milk-as the chart indicates-contains a higher average percentage of butterfat (about 5 to 5-1/2% versus 3-1/2 to 4%).

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