How in the World Did we Begin Milking Cows?

If you've been following our blog, you know we milk cows.  We started down this path many years ago.  I know that I might have talked about, at some point or another, about the genesis of this decision, but for some reason, (perhaps to justify to myself), I'll attempt to explain again today.

To begin, I've shown below LuLu, one of our two Jersey heifers.  She's a pretty little thing.  She's healthy and playful and looks to be a great addition to our mini herd going forward.

To the left of LuLu on the other side of the bale, is Rosie.  That's LuLu's mother.  She's getting up there in age.  Clarabelle (not pictured) is the mother of Elsie (not pictured) and she's getting up in age as well.  Our intention is for LuLu and Elsie to replace Rosie and Clarabelle on Our Maker's Acres Family Farm.

LuLu was born on 6/14/21 and currently weighs 440 pounds.  Elsie was born on 4/7/21 and currently weighs 514 pounds.  About every other year, Rosie and Clarabelle give us calves.  When they are bulls, we raise them for a year and a half and then take them to be processed.  They provide meat for our freezer.  Grass fed, no hormones, no antibiotics, and about as natural as you can get, although not organic.  When the calves are heifers, we generally keep them, but have sold them on several occasions.  There is a good market for Jersey cows.  Their milk is rich, having the highest butterfat content in relation to other breeds.

So what made us start this?  Although I was raised on a farm, we didn't milk cows.  Tricia was raised in a city and certainly didn't milk cows.  Prior to getting cows, we got laying hens and daily collected fresh eggs.  It was always a great thing for kids.  I recall my children going out to the chicken tractor with a basket and collecting eggs.  It was a fun thing.  But milk cows?  Tricia and her quest for health, was the catalyst for this decision.  She wanted a milk cow and, well, I got her one.  Buttercup, who we always just called "Mama Cow," (with a calf by her side) arrived and was greeted with much excitement.  One day later after milking, or attempting to milk Mama Cow, Tricia cried, saying, "Can we do this, Kyle?"  Many years later, we're still doing it, so the answer was in the affirmative.

But let's go back and expand on the why.  We had a number of health issues in our family that Tricia researched in the area of gut health, and determined that drinking raw milk provides beneficial bacteria to the gut as well as other nutritive benefits.  Pasteurization heats the milk, killing off good bacteria along with the bad.  We didn't want to do that.  There are many people who are like-minded and seek out raw milk for the exact same benefits.

While we are talking benefits, let's talk about more of them.  Milking cows is a pastoral, peaceful thing.  Many mornings, especially cold, rainy mornings, we don't want to go out there and milk, but once you get out there, you are glad you did.  The cows are glad to see you.  The barn is cozy.  The routine is relaxing.  We hand milk, and that takes about 20 minutes.  When you sit on the stool and begin to milk, it is the PERFECT time to pray.  While the milk squirts in the bucket rhythmically, we talk to God, thanking Him, confessing our short-comings, and calling out our family member's and friend's names in prayer.

A family cow is a great way to teach kids responsibility.  They need to be fed and watered.  They need to be cared for.  Our kids showed livestock.  The nice thing about a dairy cow is that the cows are a continuous project.  You show the same animal year after year.  A bond is made between the child and the animal and a tenderness and sense of care results. 

Having fresh milk is a benefit in the kitchen, having fresh cream for coffee or whipped cream or butter making, having milk for drinking or making ice cream or sour cream, being able to make kefir or cheese, having the by-product of whey for lacto-fermenting.  It is a life long endeavor and we still learn things.  The book, "Keeping a Family Cow," was a great resource for us when getting started.  Living in a small rural town, there are many families that have dairy cows that are a library of knowledge when we have had questions or problems.

There are some drawbacks, to be sure.  Cows don't take weekends off.  Or holidays.  They have to be milked every day.  Vacations must be planned.  Excursions or day-long family events are always planned with the question, "Do we milk before we go or after we come back?"  We've milked many times very late at night.  Although it only takes 20 minutes to milk, you must come back to the house from the barn and pour the milk and sanitize the bucket and rag we use to filter the milk through.  Cows are hard work.  They can be stubborn and hard-headed.  They step on your toes.  They swish a urine soaked tail across your face from time to time.

Cows and calves sometimes die.  As they are around for more than a decade, you develop a sort of friendship with these gentle animals and it is hard when they die.  But that's life.  The positives definitely outweigh the negatives.  We try to live a simple life and milking cows hearkens back to the rural, family farms of times past, and I like that.

Our plans in the next several months is to wean LuLu and Elsie and, when they are breeding age, bring them and their mothers down the road to a neighbor that has registered Jersey bulls, for them to all be bred.  Then the cycle begins again!  It is a journey, for sure.  If anyone has any questions, post a comment below, and I'll be happy to try to answer them.