Princess Diary Update
July 28, 2012
Jane continues to improve and gain weight. Yippee!! Currently she is grazing regrowth in a hayfield, and getting grass hay and 2 pounds of COB with added molasses at milking. My best guess for production is between 5 and 6 gallons per day, 3 goes to the house, and the leftover is going to Blake who is growing like a weed.
These two photos were taken the other evening at dusk, so they are a little dark…
These two photos were taken this afternoon – she likes to “help” me move the other cows. Her favorite thing is to itch her imaginary horns on my mirrors 
All in all, she is improving, and two months into her lactation I am glad to be putting some weight on her. Breeding her is next on the agenda!
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Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
Wow, even my untrained eye can see great improvment from her last pictures. How’s her udder rot / mastitis? She seems like such a sweet thing; so glad she’s on the mend!
Barb, mastitis gone, udder rot getting smaller
She is a sweetie, so gentle it’s unbelievable really.
she looks wonderful and can definitely tell she has put on weight! Glad she is such a good girl!
Janet, thanks! How are you?
Jane does look like she is gaining weight, she looks great!
Congratulations!
This post could have been titled Princess Dairy Update!
She is beautiful! I just want to reach out and rub her when I see her picture.
Not just her weight, but look at her spectacular haircoat!
Jane looks like shes gained some fat on her back, she looks well
Nice one.
I don’t know how many are in the house, but 3 gallons seems like a lot of milk. Would you mind doing an article on how you are handling the milk in the house? Also, I would like to suggest a discussion of how planning, experience, and habits fit in to get everything done.
While the world gets more and more abstract, you are holding up the point where thought and reality converge. Thanks.
Tom – Once upon a time when I blogged, I did a post about how we used all the milk:
http://solarfamilyfarm.com/?p=1241#comment-721
Nita does things a bit differently. But when you are making a lot of your own dairy products, you’ll be surprised at how far 3 gallons goes.
Tom, actually if I could squeak 4 gallons out without shorting Blake, I would do it. I want the cream for butter, and it takes 4 gallons of milk to yield enough cream for a pound of butter. We use about 2 pounds of butter a week, so in theory I need to stock up 100 pounds of butter to make it to next year. Milk for drinking accounts for another gallon a day – I drink a half gallon, and my hubby and kid drink a quart a day. Not to mention all the other uses fresh dairy is good for which Kristin outlines in her post. Currently my hens are getting the extra and beyond that, I send all the other skim to my neighbor who is raising my pig this year for me. For another perspective on why not to get a low producing cow here is a good post:
http://cloudtreeandsunfarm.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/i-want-a-milk-cow/
I only have a 3000 sq ft of garden. The first thing I bumped up against a few years ago was the standard modern kitchen – obviously designed for heating canned and frozen food. I since set up a laundry sink and garden hose on the side porch. Next there is a stove problem – not able to take the weight of canners, pressure canners, and 16 qt stock pots, let alone two at a time. When i tried cutting and wrapping meat, I ran into more obstacles.
I’d love to see a photo essay on a workable kitchen where dairy, meat, and produce can be processed readily.
So glad you/she have turned the corner. She looks great, as does all the green! You’ve done a great job with her!
Thanks Fid!
Nita, I’ve been reading (www.grazeonline.com) about feeding molasses to dairy cows for energy, maintaining body conditions, etc. What are your thoughts on this? I’m looking for a way to cut back on grain and/or improve condition on my cows. Thanks!
Sorry, I should note the specific article is here: http://www.grazeonline.com/dairyfeedingwisdom. The article also notes that molasses is high in a number of minerals that corn & other grains don’t have and that it balances lush pasture growth well along with adding minerals during winter stored forage feeding.
Kristin, do you think he is feeding dry molasses since he is stating a weight instead of liquid measurement? I’m not sure but I think dried molasses is made with soy meal or some other kind of grain meal with molasses sprayed then dried.
Any sorghum growers in your area? Could you grow it?
I’m trying to minimize what I bring in, in this case since the molasses comes from very far away, I’m sticking with grains that at least could be grown here with just a top dressing of molasses. It’s definitely a great additive, and the folks that were my milk cow and gardening mentors used molasses on top of chopped hay for winter feed. It was a winter time chore to go to the barn and run hay through the hammermill and bag it for their sheep flock and milk cow. I napped on the gunny sack pile while they did the chopping and bagging. But I know they kept a 55 gallon barrel of molasses for top dressing the chopped hay, and every bit of hay was eaten. They were very frugal and I suspect the molasses supplied the needed minerals that their grass hay lacked.
I think they were feeding liquid in the article. There was talk somewhere at Graze about lick tanks. Of course,I just had my feed guy order dried molasses for me this past week to try it. A nearby cow owning friend is interested too and sent me a co-op label showing the soybean hulls. Sheesh! If I had known! I’m only interested in trying molasses for the minerals and lower use vs. corn or other grains and to feed less supplement in general. But it is a good point (and one you’ve made before) about staying local.
Kristin, I’m “trying” to stay local, but am impatiently waiting for my Azure order of Blackstrap Molasses, which is probably not from this continent. At this point Jane needs it, and I am buying human grade cane molasses so I can avoid the livestock stuff, which could possibly be sugar beet molasses or contain questionable things, labeling isn’t quite so strict with livestock feed. The last batch of feed grade molasses didn’t sit well with Jane. I have a couple of expensive bags of organic COB sitting here with something besides Corn, Oats, & Barley in it. Lovely – some new seed to add to my seed bank
Kristin, I couldn’t afford to feed 7 pounds a day – that would be almost 3/4 of a gallon, since I think molasses weighs about 12 pounds per gallon if it isn’t the diluted stuff.
Nita, I think the 7 pounds/day is for a Holstein. I’m thinking of using a pound or two per day at most. And yes, it is roughly 12 lbs to the gallon. I can get it at the feed store for $2.80/gallon. I did speak with the 2 suppliers of liquid molasses to our local feed store. They both told me that 99.9% of the molasses in the southeast U.S. is from sugar CANE. This is good. I will likely call them back to discuss what grade they have supplied. This varies.
Oh, I neglected the sorghum question. Yes, there are some in this area. But they do command a premium for the stuff. I doubt I could afford to feed it to the cows!
I just finished my Azure order. They deliver out here now. So much for local. Of course importing things like quality salt & olive oil goes way back.
Kristin, Jane is about Holstein size, not quite but she’s big. For her I’m going to concentrate on better grazing, and less purchased stuff. I have the means to grow her better grass, I better well do it.
Sigh, I wish Azure hadn’t gotten so big…local was good when they were, but now it’s kind of gotten out of control. Their headquarters isn’t too far from here, and things used to be a good deal from them, but now that they are trucking everything all over the prices have risen to match the fuel prices. I buy very little from them anymore, since I am able to find the same items cheaper in town. I’m as guilty of not buying local too, imported salt, kelp and minerals for my cattle and olive oil for us
Trust me, I’m focused on improving forages for the cows too. But immediately, prices on all grains are going up. A lot. And it may not be possible to feed my Jerseys on forages alone. But my heifer, now she’s another story. She’s a Jersey Milking Shorthorn cross. They’re supposed to make milk on honeysuckle. And she’s fat and sassy on nothing but forage so far.
So Azure is MORE now? I can’t touch their prices out here, let alone get much of what I’d like to. I don’t order too often. And mostly dried grains & beans I might be able to grow myself IF I were any good at it. As I mentioned, salt and olive oil were always imported. I can do without the oil, but not the salt.
Kristin, hopefully your cross will do good because she got good milk. A neighbor with the same cross had milk fever, then ketosis and the cow is thin. But her upbringing is the unknown. He’s reconsidering selling his fat on grass Shorthorn…
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/grq/3165262158.html
I guess it depends on what you’re used to for price. But we still order because they carry some things that we can’t get in bulk etc. Salt is one of those items!
I know this is ridiculously long but……I have contemplated harvesting herbs to provide minerals the animals need. For example, when I was out of kelp, I fed comfrey. I need to grow more if I’m going to do this. But I’m interested in finding an array of cultivated & wild herbs that may provide them with what they need without having to import kelp. Of course, deeper rooted perennials ala Newman Turner would likely go a long way as well.
I miss my cows having access to the woods, but Jane has hedgerow access most of the time and she needs the most propping up. Here is a good article by Jerry Brunetti ala Turner, and Acres has a good tape by Brunetti called Health from the Hedgerow.
http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/Oct03_Forage.pdf
I would hate to be without kelp, but I fear those days are not too far off.
That’s a big cow. Glad to see she’s doing well. Need some pics of Blake…