Our first animals to arrive on the farm!
We moved our cows onto the farm on the 31st of January 2010 and began milking cows in February 2010. We operate a seasonal, grass-based dairy. For those of you who may not be familiar with this concept it means that we have all of our cows calve at the same time (a two month window), breed our cows all at the same time (so that they are all due around the same time), and dry our cows off all at the same time (so that we theoretically get a break from milking). I say "theoretically" because I am not sure we have ever completely stopped milking. (As of 2013)
Our cows when they first set foot on the farm
one cold day in January
We are not an organic dairy. I have a great respect for all of the organic dairy farmers I know, but my husband and I do not currently have the desire (or the financial resources) to make that leap. We DO, however, try to farm as organically as possible, meaning that we don't give our cows rBST and we opt for a more natural treatment first for our dairy cows and calves. It doesn't end there for us, but more on that some other time.
Our cows are grazers. We do not keep them in a barn and bring the food to them. We send them out into the field to get the food themselves for the most part. There are advantages and disadvantages to both confinement and grazing dairies. I used to work for several confinement dairies and they love their cows and try to spoil them in every way that they know how to do. I don't agree with the common stigma that confinement dairy farms are cruel to their animals and the animals are miserable, but I do like the lifestyle that comes with being a grazier and the different challenges that it brings.
We bought our cows from three different herds and all three herds crossbred their animals to at least three different breeds. There are very few dairy breeds that we don't have mixed in the herd, but we are seeking to limit our dairy breeds to two or three different kinds instead of 6 to 9. Currently our cow breeds consist of: Ayrshire, Normande, Milking Shorthorn, Holstein, Jersey, Swedish Red, Finnish Red, Norwegian Red, Lineback, and Dutch Belt. We like colorful cows, but we especially like the red ones (if you couldn't already guess).
My father-in-law used to have 100% registered Ayrshire herd, that was started by his father, I think. This is where the strong Ayrshire influence comes from. We now milk his cows and he raises our heifers once they are weaned.
The farms I used to work on were your traditional registered Holstein and Jersey herds with maybe a few Brown Swiss thrown in and maybe a few Jersey/Holstein crosses. So crossbreeding was another new experience for me.
