Brown Swiss make great milkers with the closest protein/fat ratio than any other dairy breed.

That’s it!  You’re on a lifestyle block, you have room for a cow and you’ve decided you are going to get fresh milk – straight from the source so to speak. 

No more plastic bottles to upset the environment, no more insane prices.  Back to nature. Just the joy of experiencing nature and helping keep a tradition alive. And think of all the other things you can make as well – cheese, butter, clotted cream. 

Just imagine sweet summer strawberries bathed in thick, fresh cream. Or the sensation of chilled cream and steaming porridge to start a winter day.  The excess can go to the other animals – four legged ones that is – maybe you could even rear a couple of calves on Ermintrude and make a couple of extra dollars. Not to mention the experience it will provide for the children.  Yes – you want a house cow and you want to get started milking. After all how hard can it be?

Well we don’t want to put you off – the team at Rural Living is all for fresh cream and strawberries (especially if it’s delivered to our desks) – but,  there are a few things you may want to take into consideration first. Let’s begin at the beginning (always a good idea).

Which breed?

Well a lot depends on how much milk you want and what you want to do with it. You can milk any breed of cow if you are really inclined. There are people who do milk Highlands with very good results – but if it’s your first time milking a cow, you might want to think about whether you really want to get started on an animal that is prized for its decorations.

Red Devons, South Devons, Welsh Blacks are all dual purpose animals and make excellent milkers, as do Dexters.

Devons: Devons are considered one of the most fertile cattle breeds and have small vigorous calves, providing trouble free calving, which makes them popular with the dairy sector and beef industry alike. These popular lifestyle cows have compact, problem free udders and are renowned for high milk production, resulting in heavy calves at weaning. This makes them a good choice if you want to rear calves this way. They are also good natured, docile animals, which makes them a good choice for hand milking.

Dexters: Another dual purpose animal, the Dexter’s milk yield depends on what the animal is being used for: dairy cows, sucklers or house cows. For instance, the average daily milk yield for a house cow will be around  8 - 10 litres  while a cow kept as a suckler will raise its own calf as well as a larger commercial calf and both will do well. Kept as dairy cows, Dexters can  yield,  on average, 10 - 12 litres daily  and  some individuals can go as high as  14 litres or more.

Brown Swiss: These cows look as though they have come straight off a chocolate box and have a lovely, docile temperament and inquisitive nature.  They also have the closest protein/fat ratio of any dairy breed. Another quality in their favour is their longevity – Brown Swiss can continuing producing until they are 12-15 years of age.

CHOOSING A COW

Once you have chosen a breed, start looking for a healthy cow. This isn’t just for Ermintrude’s sake – the milk you drink will not be pasteurised so you want to make it difficult for diseases and the like to rear their ugly heads. MAKE SURE THE ANIMAL YOU BUY IS TB TESTED AND CLEAR.

Remember milk production increases with age in cows so if you have a younger animal, her first yields may be lower than you expect – but,  they should increase over time. She will need to get in calf once a year and if you don’ t want her to suckle the calf – take it away at birth.  

This is not the time to start deciding what you will do with it – make those plans when you find out Ermintrude is expecting.  On the other hand if you  want to add an extra calf, do it at calving by pouring some birth fluids on the foster calf. Make sure the calf has at least 2 litres of colostrum (first milk) before 6 hours.

Everybody needs a holiday and Ermintrude will need to be dried off for a month or two during the year, so be prepared to have to drink ‘townie’ milk on occasion.

This leaves the most important thing of all- the milking.

Hand milking will be made a lot easier if you have a quiet, friendly cow to work with. If you have raised her from a calf you can be sure of her temperament but if you are buying her in – ask, ask, ask. Don’t just assume.  Getting a house cow used to handling can take time depending on how much handling it has had previously.

GETTING STARTED

Milk let down is induced by the hormone oxytocin and the impulse only lasts 5-6 minutes. Fast efficient hand milking does take practice so it may take you a while to get the hang of it. 

Don’t try to beat the clock – even your most patient house cow is not going to be impressed if you try to break a world record by yanking on her teats in a mad rush.

The cow’s udder should be completely emptied approximately every 12 hours to maintain lactation and avoid mastitis (udder infection).

One option is to remove any milk by hand that you need for the house, and let a calf suckle what’s left in the udder. The cow may respond with a second let-down response to the calf suckling.

It is a good idea to have a bail along the side of a shed or yard to confine the cow while milking and it should be wide enough for both the cow to stand and you to sit while milking. Have a feed container available and “bribe” her with something to eat and she’ll probably be happy to stand as long as you need her to.

Have some warm water with you to wash down the teats and warm your hands (and milking in gloves might be tempting but probably isn’t practical).  Keep in mind that if your hands are cold, or you are too rough, Ermintrude is going to let you know in the only way she knows how and that is most likely to be a swift kick. After all she can’t exactly say “Too cold! Too cold!”