Backyard Dairy Tips and Tricks

Here are some of the tools, tips, and tricks of backyard dairying shared by our panelists at Saturday's Family Cow and Goat Forum:
         Cowshare and herdshare agreements are legal in CT since June of 2015. The bill as shown at the foot of this post, enables small farmers an affordable way to share their animals' milk with members of their community.

http://familycow.proboards.com/ is a great on-line resource for both cows and goats. It has a 911 section where you can post emergency or panic questions any time of day and get immediate responses. The moderator strongly enforces helpful, congenial posting.
        ...started by Joanne Grohman, author of one of our favorite manuals on  Keeping a Family Cow.

Mary's used Hoegger

We saw and heard the amazingly quiet motor of an Ultimate Udderly EZ milking machine. More information about it can be found at http://udderlyez.com/. They also sell a hand-pumped machine. Other sources for portable milking machines are Hoegger Goat Supply Company and Bobwhite Systems. Bobwhite sells mini cooling tanks, too, coming in 14, 33, and 64 gallon sizes.



 Jeffers Livestock Supply sells cow magnets and calving (OB) chains (left). Magnets help prevent hardware disease in cattle by holding any bits of wire or nails in their rumen away from puncturing their stomach or heart sac.


      
Heavy canvas movers' straps help in lifting downer cows.
       After the dry period rest before calving, a cow's udder can heal remarkably. Often dry quarters will come back into milk. 
       If a cow is prone to milk fever, you can help avoid its recurrence by stressing her just before she calves with poor quality feed or by milking her a little throughout the normal dry period.




Milk comes from the animal at the perfect temperature for making yogurt. Just add a tablespoon yogurt/quart of warm milk and set in a warm place to incubate over night. Some set their jars on an electric seed starting mat and wrap them in towels. Others set their jars in an "ice chest" filled with warm water.
       



We sampled a delicious, fine-textured queso fresco made by following a recipe in Ricki Carroll's book on cheese-making. Her company, New England Cheese Making Supply is a good source of recipes and cheese-making products.

The Western Mass Goat Alliance is a great on-line source of support and inspiration for goat owners. 
       We talked about the therapeutic value of farm animals, and VT Chevon's efforts to provide goat meat and work to refugees. 
       Note this kid's Velcro collar.

 

Milkin it for all it's Worth

Thanks to Emily Boutein for these Bovine photos of our June 15th Family Cow workshop!
We tried our hand at milking a Local Farm jersey cow named Pumpkin...

 First we brushed her to get rid of loose hair and dirt so it wouldn't fall in the milk and to help us all relax. A relaxed and happy cow will give MOOre milk!

 We learned where to rest our head so we can keep a cow from kicking the bucket.

In anticipation of getting her own cow, Lynn is VERY MOOtivated!

 Milk comes from the cow at about 100 degrees... the perfect  temperature for making yogurt. Simply mix a little starter from a previous batch into the warm milk, pour into jars and keep warm for 6-10 hours. We set our jars in a cooler filled with warm water.

  The cream rises to the top of whole raw milk that has set over night. One can lower a ladle into the cream and let it slip over the lip of the ladle filling its bowl. Pour the cream into a jar and shake it up.

Vigorously shaking the cream disturbs the surface tension of individual fat globules and join together to make...

 BUTTER!

We learned that only raw milk will make simple "magic" cheese. Heat the milk until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan and stir in vinegar until the mix "magically" separates into curds and whey. Strain away the whey...

 and CHEESE!, There you have it!

Top off a MOOrvalous day with  creme de la creme: hand-cranked ice-cream!

Family Cow Forum

 Lynn Kramer, a wannabe Family Cow Keeper, writes of our forum:
I really appreciate having the opportunity to ask, and have answered, so many of my questions. And meeting folks who are new to the process was particularly helpful. It really highlighted for me that you have to figure out what works for both you and the cow, and there are many choices and options in the process of finding your own path. I can't wait to get started.

Here are a few highlights:

 A COWgregation of Cow-Keepers gathered on Feb 23 to share tails and ruminations about their cows... and were treated to grazing from a breakfast banquet of local foods:
Inspiration Blend coffee and Chai tea made with
milk from Thorncrest Dairy
were generously provided by Coffee, Tea, Etc. of Goshen.
Sourdough whole-grain breads from Bantam Bakery,
A variety of Artisan Cheese from Rustling Winds Creamery,
Nodines' Sausage and Willie's honey.

Alton Earnhart  of Lightening Tree Farm, shared the ins and outs of producing organic feed for livestock, Debra Tyler gave a quick electric fence demonstration with her favorite tricks and tools.

A cow panel described their methods of milking, housing, and caring for their cows.

 Wyatt Whiteman baked an udderly delicious cake for our potluck

Dr Angela Grecco, DMV gave a talk on cow care; pre-, post-, and during calving. She demonstrated using chains to help pull a calf. Chains, versus rope, allow blood to continue circulating through the calf's hooves even when under great pressure. The calf is presenting properly when the front hooves appear first (top up), one over the other followed by the calf's nose. To better distribute the stress and decrease chances of breaking the calf's legs, she takes two half-hitches around the calf's leg below the fetlock and above the hoof. Pull down and to one side so the calf's spine flexes helpfully. By pulling on one leg at a time, the shoulders angle and are less likely to get jammed in the mother's pelvis.

To prevent infection, she showed us how to swirl the calf's navel stub in iodine using a small paper cup.
She emphasized the ideal dry period for a cow is 60 days before she calves, feeding considerations to reduce the chances of milk fever,and preparing an easily accessible birthing site for your cow. 90% of calvings go without a hitch. Only 5% are improperly positioned and 5% are other health problems. Be prepared with the following supplies: a bucket, soap and water, gloves, lube, calving chains or nylon rope,  7% tincture of iodine, thermometer, calcium gel, an easy secure way to restrain your cow, and your vet's phone number!

 Angela recommends this as a comprehensive resource for back yard cow keepers

 

The TAIL-END of our forum!

Family Cow Forum

Family cow enthusiasts gathered on Saturday morning at the UCC-Cornwall CT Parish House to share their triumphs, passions, experiences, and info. Hot drinks were provided by Naren Sonpal of Coffee, Tea, Etc., Goshen. His fair-trade, organically grown coffee, tea, cocoa, and spices along with Local Farm milk made an unbeatable delicious flavor combination.

Alton Earnhart of Lightning Tree Farm in Millbrook, NY, talked about forage analysis. Panelists; Catherine Evans, David and Donna Hersh, Emy Osborne, Joe Benette, and Wyatt Whiteman discussed their discoveries, trials, tribulations, and triumphs as backyard cow keepers. Gund Sonpal of Sonpal's Power Fence (860-491-2290), described the products she sells from her home in Goshen, CT and Kathy Johnson of the Natural Resources Conservation Service gave a non-electric power point presentation about rotational grazing. After a potluck lunch, some participants showed various styles milking machines; from an old fashioned Surge milker that hangs off a strap over the cow's back to hand held plastic contraptions looking not much different from a spray bottle.

Wyatt Whiteman shows us his non-electric E-Z Flow Milker...

A lifesaver for a person with big hands and a tiny cow!

The younger participants enjoyed playing in a watering tub filled with shelled corn and jumping rope.

Desiree Ball demonstrated Tips and Tools for home cheese-making.

... and there we have it, Folks: CURDtains on a lovely day!

CowMOOntary

The following cowmoonts arrived shortly after our September 17th workshop; Keeping a Family Cow.
Debra, I just wanted to thank you again for the workshop last Saturday. It was such a delight to finally meet you! I also felt a sweet kinship, with you personally, and also the work you are doing there with Local Farm. I find it is always a gift to rub elbows with such comrades, especially in these challenging days often imbued with materialism and paranoia. I also want to thank you for helping me to feel so much more confident than I ever thought I would about taking on my own cow, and also for helping me to feel like it’s even possible in the first place. Oh, how I have longed to nurture a close relationship with such a benevolent creature. Now that I have attended your workshop, I am pining all the more! Warmly, Brenda ArmstrongDebra, Thanks again for all your effort on Saturday, our family greatly enjoyed our visit to your farm. We have been talking about it together and with our friends ever since. :) One of the things that we appreciated the most was your willingness to teach and share in such an unintimidating way. (Peter never thought that cows could be calm and gentle, and insisted that he would never milk one) Now he admits that it would be possible and beneficial for our family to adjust to life with a family cow to take care of and milk. We are still discussing some of the fine details of how, when, and where, but I just wanted to share with you our admiration for all that you do to educate and encourage people about cow ownership. thanks Caity
Thanks, Zjeke, for the photos! For Margaret's report of a typical Family Cow workshop, click HERE.

Family Cow Resources

Some resources shared at the February 27 Family Cow Forum are:

The fair trade, organically grown Chai Tea and Coffee we enjoyed come from: www.Coffee-Tea-Etc.com in Goshen, CT. Naren Sonpal started the business in response to the economic and environmental devastation caused by conventional coffee production that he observed while serving in the Peace Corps. He roasts the coffee at his home in small batches. Any electricity used in the process is indirectly supplied by a bank of solar collectors mounted on his barn roof. Call (860) 491-9920 or visit the website to order.

The whole-grain, sourdough bread is hearthbaked at Bantam Bread in Bantam, CT by Niles Golovin. We had his Holiday Bread and his Cinnamon Swirl Bread at the forum. Stop in at 853 Bantam Road or call (860) 567-2737 to be sure he's baking your choice before pick-up.


Brigitte Ruthman at bruthman@msn.com offered to trailer heritage breed milking shorthorn livestock (see photo) from her favorite source in New Hampshire for the cost of gas and a cup of coffee on the way.

Her farm website is JoshuasFarm.com, phone: 860 671 0327.

Visit GardnerBarn.com in Wisconsin for interior barn fittings.

Chuck can be reached at duncan.chuck@gmail.com. His favorite DVD is Training Oxen: Rural Heritage Video 2007 from www.ruralheritage.com. The book Oxen: A Teamster's Guide by Drew Conroy and published by Storey Publishing can be found at Blue Seal Feeds in Torrington, CT. Helpful websites are: the site of Chuck's favorite charity www.CareForCows.com, BerryBrookOxSupply.com and NewEnglandOxSupply.com.


The display on Management Intensive Grazing was supplied by Gund Sonpal of Sonpal Power Fence in Goshen, CT. She has a variety of Gallagherusa.com fencing equipment for sale from her home. Her phone number is (860) 491-2290.

The farmer Micki Pratt works with to impregnate her cows via embryo transplants is Tom Breakell of Goshen, CT 860-491-3085.

Hot tulsi tea (homegrown "sacred basil" from Alicia's garden) and cooling foraged sumac berry, fresh ginger tea were donated for lunch by Cornwall's resident herbalist Alicia North of www.NorthstarBotanicals.com. Call her at 860-672-6854 for all herbal needs.

www.CrystalCreekNatural.com is a good mail order source of organically-approved veterinary supplies.

A few other choice farm supplies including stainless steel milk pails for the price I paid 25 years ago, can be found at MotherhouseMarket.com... and don't forget to visit my favorite: RLocalFarm.com!
Click the highlighted link to read the Lakeville Journal story about the forum.

Visit Motherhouse.us for more events.