Farm Dreams

Homesteading, Organic Gardening, How to Farm, Preparedness, Self-Reliance

Tips on Starting a Dairy Cattle Farm

Fresh cows milk is considered to be the best tasting milk. Wouldn't you love to be able to have the luxury of being able to drink the freshest milk everyday? Dairy cattle farming will allow you to have a milk supply ready for your consumption. Grazing on grass is often not enough for your cattle to produce good quality milk. Having a tract of land that could be used for grazing cattle is required for you to do dairy cattle farming.You would have to closely watch your cattle's diet in order to make sure that they are getting the right vitamins and minerals for milk production. It is critical for you to go to a reliable feed store for successful dairy cattle farming.

To start a cattle farm, you have to purchase cattle of optimum state of health. Reputable cattle breeders could be your best source of stock. Make sure that you are not conned into buying sickly cows that are not well taken cared of properly. It is not all that hard to spot bad cows. Sickly cows are often not active and have glassy eyes. Healthy cows are alert and are often seen walking around in their stalls. Do not hesitate to walk away from sick looking cows lest you give the owners a chance to sales talk you into making a bad purchase.

Dairy cattle farming also requires that you have enough funds to cover the monthly expenses of raising cattle. Apart from the feeds, you have to spend for routine medical care to ensure that your cattle are always healthy. These medical expenses would include vaccinations and disease prevention treatments. If you feel that you cannot handle the physical demands of dairy cattle farming, you might have to keep a regular crew of people to do the chores for you. Keeping a vet on call would also be necessary. There might be instances when you would need medical assistance at odd hours.

The winter season is the most difficult time for raising dairy cows. You will require keeping hay at hand for them all the time. You may also provide them with supplement or crushed corn in order to complete their nutrition. You will need to keep the water from icing up. Every cow will take up a minimum of fifteen pounds of hay per day. Thus, you will need plenty of hay. Be ready and purchase it beforehand in the summer season while everyone is slashing it.

Dairy cattle farming can enhance quality of life and provide great fulfillment and responsibility for families. Discover your alternatives and then decide. If you would like more tips to start a cattle farm and learn how to raise cattle, please visit: http://www.howtoraisecattle.com

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Comment by East West Farm on November 27, 2011 at 9:58am: Was this the source for "tips" on dairy cattle? I would assume that a large number of folks who join this site, are interested in natural farming without resorting to pharmaceuticals.

To say "Apart from the feeds, you have to spend for routine medical care to ensure that your cattle are always healthy. These medical expenses would include vaccinations and disease prevention treatments. If you feel that you cannot handle the physical demands of dairy cattle farming, you might have to keep a regular crew of people to do the chores for you.Keeping a vet on call would also be necessary. There might be instances when you would need medical assistance at odd hours." is down right misleading and discouraging. Vets who service cattle are scarce in my area and if we all thought that we would need to keep one on call, then why even try? I have friends who raise Jerseys and have almost never called out a vet and they are doing quite fine.

I would encourage anyone who wants to farm to seek the advice and help from others who are doing what you want to do. Often times, the knowledge gained from hands experience by a farmer who needs that animal for his livelihood is more valuable that which is learned from books. Usually that experienced farmer had the help of an old school vet who was a farmer himself and no longer practices or has passed on.

As I mentioned before, we have a severe shortage of large animal vets that service cattle in our area. If I needed to rely on having one available for any emergency that came up, then I'd have a nearly dead cow by the time I got one to address whatever issue I'd have. I say, get involved in your local farming community and if you have shallow pockets (like me) start small and make your mistakes on a small scale.