Well, we did it. We got a cow.
We knew we wanted a cow, we thought we would wait until spring, (when the house was finished!) but things didn't go that way. This cow was everything that we were looking for and she was local and we knew her past owners and they were looking to finishing up milking with the year... SO, we got ourselves a Jersey Cow.
Her name is Maggie, and while she's a little older than we had been looking for, she is a great first cow for us. She is trained on grass, a great milker and a great mother, she is gentle and sweet, and bred to a South Pole and due this summer! We are very happy to have her here as the newest member of our little homestead. She will provide milk for our family, protein for our pigs, cats and dogs, manure for our garden and love for our pasture. She really is a very important part to this whole puzzle.
Before she arrived we had to come up with a mobile shelter and milking stanchion. Since our intentions were to have her be mobile and moving around the property to new grass, we had to come up with something, and quick. Luckily, KZfaq saved the day and we mimicked Ben and Meg Hollar's design from the Hollar Homestead! The recently brought on a milk cow and build a mobile shelter. Ben worked for three days trying to get it just right before she arrived and... she didn't like it! Haha! Figures.
Well, we should have paid closer attention when we met Maggie and saw that she was being milked in a sort of chute. She had absolutely no interest in putting her head between two bars and being held there. Oh well - we improvised and quickly build her something she was more comfortable with. Now the task is learning how to milk her!
We're always learning!
Enjoy the show!
The Holt Family