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"I wish that there were a very small breed of cow who would produce just a quart or so of milk per day, enough to have milk to drink as well as other dairy products. It wouldn't be necessary to breed the cow as lactation could be induced. "
There is. Its called a goat. And lactation can not be induced. Calves and kids are a requirement.
"I wish that there were a very small breed of cow who would produce just a quart or so of milk per day, enough to have milk to drink as well as other dairy products. It wouldn't be necessary to breed the cow as lactation could be induced. "
There is. Its called a goat. And lactation can not be induced. Calves and kids are a requirement.
Are sheep or goats easier to milk ? Which one requires less work ?
... Perhps two labels would be in order; I could mark one label organic and charge twice or thrice the price. The ingredients would be the same.
Here at local Farmer's Markets and grocery stores certified organic is well within in the same price range as conventional [at the most around 15% more]. But in the city vendors are getting three times more.
"I wish that there were a very small breed of cow who would produce just a quart or so of milk per day, enough to have milk to drink as well as other dairy products. It wouldn't be necessary to breed the cow as lactation could be induced. "
There is. Its called a goat. And lactation can not be induced. Calves and kids are a requirement.
I'm not seeking a source of goat's milk. Breeding isn't necessary for lactation. The following may prove useful as a starting point for others who wish only a farming operation of the smallest scale possible on their estates.
It's almost impossible to make a good living selling honest meat in the United States. Farms are about generational land wealth and bipartisan subsidies, not good ole' hard workin' entrepreneurship.
Take out all farming subsidies, start over with an honest playing field, and I'd quit my job tomorrow.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. Americans had been leaving farming throughout the 19th and early 20th century as the US went from about 80% rural in the 1810s-1820s to more than 50% urban by 1920. Farm subsidies didn't begin until the New Deal in the 1930s.
Farming has always been hard work for little profit except for large scale farmers who were good managers and had enough resources to acquire labor or machinery to produce large quantities of food stuffs or fibers, whether they were slave owning cotton planters in the antebellum South or dairy farmers in New York milking 300 cows or wheat farmers in Kansas combining thousand acre fields.
I'm not seeking a source of goat's milk. Breeding isn't necessary for lactation. The following may prove useful as a starting point for others who wish only a farming operation of the smallest scale possible on their estates.
Apparently, while this study did involve inducing lactation without breeding, it also involved getting these cows pregnant. Furthermore, it was an experiment, and likely not an economically viable option for farmers.
"Mean days-to-first service was greatly reduced in cows induced into lactation compared to nontreated cows, while mean services per conception was similar between induced and nontreated cows. Mean days to conception was lower for induced cows than for nontreated cows. By 150 DIM, pregnancy rate of induced cows was 70%, whereas
than for nontreated cows. By 150 DIM, pregnancy rate of induced cows was 70%, whereas nontreated cows averaged 56% pregnancy rate. "
Thank you, Linda. People can not just give a shot and she suddenly produces milk. These poor estrus induced pincushion cows also only milked for 4 1/3 month. Almost all dairy cows are heat synchronized now so the AI tech does not have to come back in inseminate for each and every cow. I am glad to say that for Daphne, my Jersey milk cow, the romance of bull and cow in the pasture is not over. My cow has a thing about large black objects (Angus bulls). She mounts the tractor tires to show she is in the mood for love. No "estrus detector" needed.
Someone wanted to know which are easier to milk, goats or sheep. I have no experience with sheep. There is a milk breed of sheep, the East Fresian. However, dairy goats are easy to milk, they have large teats and are a nice handful. I used to have pedigreed Saanans, but they were all killed in a fire. I took the money the USDA gave me for each dead goat and bought a cow. Now I had a cow and still have a cow. The milk is better in my opinion and then you also have a calf to sell for a whole lot of money these days.
Re: The original post. Means of production. Somewhere in the last 100 years someone planted fruit trees on the original homestead. Ditto for black walnut trees. Without doing anything we eat fruit in the summer. Same in AK. We had rhubarb plants, raspberries, currents, sour cherries, summer apples the did their thing year after year without much input on our part.
I get that the high plateau climate is a problem but we met all of our leafy green, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage and squash needs in the short AK summer and we grew a year's worth of potatoes in our suburban back yard. If nothing else gardening adds to dietary diversity which is also essential to survival.
I recall that our garden in KS when I was young provided nearly 100% of our vegetable needs. Produce was canned or frozen (in the case of peanuts, popcorn and dried beans) or eaten right out of the garden. Sorry but i really truly disagree with the OP's premise. Raising animals is situational. Gardening, not so much.
Happy in Wyoming & Elk Wallow - try looking for a heritage cow instead of one bred for beef or milk. Our local Pineywoods cow gives a moderate amount of milk and an acceptable carcass. She was not milked all year round; she was dried up before the next calf.
Coming up we didn't have a lot of money, so we had what was known as 'poor man critters'. Dominique chickens (Dominikers), Pineywoods cattle, Pilgrim geese, Catahoula cur hounds, etc.
Our chief hen was named Henrietta (all female 'keeper' hens had names that began with an 'H'). Show her an egg and she went broody. She hatched chickens, ducks and geese. Poor thing would get profoundly upset when the ducks and geese went swimming!
The first rooster I remember was Robert. He tried to spur my dad. The next rooster was Rudolph. He tried to argue the right of way with our tractor. The last rooster was Randy. He was still ruling the roost when I left home.
Any animal that wasn't considered food was named; all others were just food.
We raised just about everything we ate - had to. But, this meant that we were tied down. The animals had to be fed and cared for. The garden had to be cultivated, planted, harvested and guarded from various wild critters.
We had to work things out with neighbors to make sure the farm was cared for while we were away. It could occasionally be a pain in the posterior.
I would not like to live like that now - too much work. I do enjoy my garden. I buy some things from our local farmer's market. Chickens are ok. Geese and ducks are just too nasty for me to fool with right now (can't be trained to a litter box ). Another cow, maybe one day in the future, but not right now.
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). Another cow, maybe one day in the future, but not right now.
