Homesteading with Heritage Breeds
(Page 3 of 5)
February/March 2008
By Mary Lou Shaw
Although it makes me smile now, we didn’t realize that the need for genetic preservation meant there wouldn’t be many of the Dutch belted cows available for our new herd. The critical status means “difficult to find.” In fact, they’re so scarce that “breeding up” milk cows of other breeds with pure Dutch belted bulls is the method used to preserve this old breed. The fifth generation of daughters, which are 96.88 percent “pure,” becomes registered as purebred. We were fortunate to be able to purchase two second-generation, pregnant heifers. These sisters, Addie and Annie, are 75 percent Dutch belted, and have shown all the characteristics this breed is treasured for — and they stop traffic on our little country road because theyhave the wonderful white-belted “Oreo” look!
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Some people see our cows and think we have belted Galloways because they have the same black and white appearance, but belted Galloways are beef cattle. Our Dutch belted cows give us both milk and beef. Dual-purpose again serves us well. The first year, both offspring were males, but because they weren’t purebred, they were not valued for breeding. Both were able to stay with their mothers, living on milk and grass while playing in the meadow. They were butchered at nine months of age when they became too big for us to keep. We feel grateful that they could have a good life, and that our freezers are now filled with tasty, nutritious meat. On the rare occasion that we eat other meat, we realize why condiments are popular — confinement beef has no taste! Our grass- and milk-fed beef is incredibly juicy, tender and full of flavor.
Dairy products have become a larger part of our diet. Before we got the cows, I hadn’t thought about what a nutritional benefit fresh milk from grass-fed cows would be. We were focused instead on how to milk a cow, and learned by reading a book. The cows might tell you otherwise, but we think the first milking went reasonably well, and we now consider ourselves old pros.
My biggest surprise has been how generous nature is. The milk from the cows is beautiful and full of flavor. It seems much more like real food than homogenized, pasteurized milk. The Dutch belted milk is not as plentiful nor as high in fat as Jersey milk, and I find the 5 gallons a day (from each cow) a manageable amount. Besides drinking fresh milk, I make yogurt and mozzarella, ricotta and cheddar cheeses. The cheddar is waxed and aged in the root cellar. Like good European cheese, our cheese from raw milk has a wonderful potential for flavor. I have a long way to go on the cheese-making learning curve, but we think the results at this point are wonderful! As with the meat, we are grateful to consume a non-processed food that doesn’t contain hormones or antibiotics.
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