Raising Cows 101
July 31, 2009 – 11:31 pm by MarinaHanes
Cows are gentle creatures that can provide you and your family with a fresh supply of milk. An added plus is that they also produce a valuable source of manure fertilizer, which you can use on your landscaping. Raising cows in your backyard requires more work than chickens, but it’s definitely another way for you to be self-sufficient when it comes to dairy products and fertilizers.
The housing and space for a cow is two-fold, because you need a shelter and a pasture. Each cow will need five to ten acres of land, and you have to be able to rotate the pasture use and manage the waste. The shelter should be able to hold one to two tons of hay per cow, and it will need to be away from rodents and other pests. Also, it’s best to have the stall at least 10′ x 10′ and on an incline plane. The bedding can be peatmoss, sawdust or straw.
A cow’s nutrition consists of 25 pounds of hay per day, 30-60 pounds of plant roots, 5-10 pounds of protein, and various amounts of supplemental root crops (corn silage, kale, cabbages, sugar beets, sugar beet tops, rutabagas, turnips, mangles, fodder beet, pressed beet pulp, potatoes, carrots and barley). On average, one acre of land can produce a ½ ton of wild grass (hay) or three tons of domestic hay per season. It’s important to set aside hay in case the pasture is frozen, wet or dried out, so you will need to harvest it. In addition, for a cow to stay properly hydrated, it will need a 10-15 gallon supply of water per day as well as a salt block.
Between the cow’s shelter requirements and food/water consumption, it’s a large responsibility to keep dairy cows. Also, if you want a continuous milk supply, the cow might have to become pregnant again. However, some cows, if continuously milked and fed the proper nutrients, can produce milk for two to three years.
Tags: backyard farm, dairy cows, fresh milk, raising cows