Tuesday, April 28, 2009

New cow: Tilly the Jersey

Last Wednesday I bought another milk cow. We really like the milk that we get from Josey (our Guernsey). It’s so versatile: milk and cream from which to make yogurt, cheese, and butter. You can’t skim the cream off the top of goat’s milk as easily. Also, cows were created to eat grass; goats do better with brush. On top of that, I’ve never met a goat who would respect a single electric fence wire as a boundary they are not to cross. Josey and Chucky will not touch an electric fence wire if they can help it, whether the charger is on or not.

Anyway, we discussed getting another cow, and we liked the idea of a Jersey. I did a search online for Jersey heifers for sale in Kentucky. I found a listing for someone selling some only 40 miles away. I thought about it some more and then called the number from the listing. I ended up going over the next morning at milking time to see the cows they had for sale. I came home with one.

TillyHer name is Shantilly, or Tilly for short. She’s a blond Jersey about 4.5 years old. She’s currently milking and was with the bull about six weeks ago. Hopefully, she’s pregnant. We’ll find out.

She’s doing well and getting adjusted to life in her new home. She’s not as used to attention as Josey, and she’s not been broken to lead. I’ll work on that and teach her what an electric fence is. She is very gentle and behaves very well while being milked. Her teats are a bit smaller than Josey’s which takes some getting used to, but she milks easily enough.

Hopefully, she’ll provide us with a nice little Jersey heifer next year. If all goes well, Josey, who visited a friend’s Jersey bull a few weeks ago, will deliver a nice Juernsey heifer about the same time. If so, we’ll have more milk than we know what to do with early next year.

4 comments:

Throwback at Trapper Creek

Congratulations - I am as jealous as all get out! I am looking for another Guernsey, but any type of decent family cow is hard to find around here!

The plantings look great and I agree one cannot have too many onions!

dp

I hope you have success in finding another Guernsey. I sure like ours. She's as gentle and sweet as can be. We got her from a local guy whose wife shows registered Guernseys.

Welcome To Wilmoth Farms

Hi there, i came over from your other blog....where did you find her at? We have been looking for a milk cow (other than a holstein) and the price of Jerseys has gone sky high. funny there used to be a time you couldnt give one away, and now they are high dollar cattle. I'm really wanting a bottle calf when i find one! Can you believe the cheapest I've found is $800.00!!! thats High! I'd love some info on where you got yours since I'm so close to you! Sounds like your really doing well with your cattle! We cattle and crop and there is nothing like having cows.....So much fun! good luck with having some preg cows...thats when the fun really starts!!!! With a head of 170 its a busy time for us and i LOVE it! Lots of hands on! Good luck and I really enjoyed reading your blog and look forward to reading more! Nice to read a blog from so close to me!

dp

Thanks for your comments. I bought Tilly from a couple who live south of Columbia, KY. They raise jerseys. I don't know what they have now. I can get their phone number for you if you're interested. I also have some friends close that have a few jerseys, but I don't know believe they have any for sale. I did a search online for "jersey heifers for sale kentucky", and that's how I located the one we bought (paid $1,100 for her). She's supposed to calve about January. I just took our Guernsey to be bred last week -- it'll be a Guernsey-Jersey cross. Hopefully, it took this time.

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