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.

 

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!

Family Cow Forum

Motherhouse Presents The Second Annual Family Cow Forum!!
On February 19 at 9:30 attendees started trickling in the door at the UCC parish house in Cornwall, CT. By 10:00 we had a good sized gathering.

First on the agenda was a talk on backyard cow nourishment by Al Earnhart of Lightning Tree Farm.
Al grows, harvests, mixes and sells organic grain for pigs, cows, goats, chickens and more.

Next a panel of back yard cow keepers and one goat keeper answered questions such as How many cows do you have? What is your milking setup? What was your biggest challenge and how did you solve it?
From left to right Dominic Palumbo, Garrick Dinneen, Rachel Gall(goats), Terry Bell, Brigitte Ruthman and Jean Ilsley.

After the panel was done we went outside to see Garrick work with his ox Buck.


Buck works as a single ox, Garrick has been training him since he was a calf.

And then we had lunch. When we were almost done eating we got to hear about Brigitte receiving a cease and desist order to stop farming and how she is dealing with it.

After lunch cow breeder extraordinaire Bob Kennedy talked on how to recognise when your cow is in heat. Also how to pick a bull that will improve on your cow's physical traits.

Good time was had by all.

Family Cow Forum

In one large room put 8 tables, add some chairs, 6 loaves of bread, a dollop of cream cheese, tea and coffee and lots of like-minded cow people, mix and you get? A Family Cow Forum!!
The agenda?

Affordable Do-it Yourself Barn Building
Panel of Family Cow Keepers
A Quiver Full of Fencing Tips
Oxen Tails and Demo
Great Lunch and Chat Time
Back Yard Vet Care

Brigitte Ruthman has built her own barn and had lots of things to share with us.

Brigitte
and her Barn
Brigitte's barn is built on an Alaskan slab foundation, which is a concrete slab poured on packed gravel. She said you can't build very tall on a Alaskan Slab Foundation maybe 1 or 1 1/2 stories. She told us that one of the key things you need to do is to know your land because water is a very destructive element. If you can watch your land for about a year it's a good idea. The siding is southern yellow pine 2" thick tongue and groove laid horizontally. Because the boards are horizontal they also act an insulation. For all the interior fittings www.gardnerbarn.com.

Panel of Cow Keepers
Micki, Emily, John, Vicki

Tracy, Maria, Perry

The panel was then asked a series of questions:
How many cows do you have? What are there names and breed?
Micki: 3, Jerseys, Luna, Marcie, Halle
John & Emily: 2, Jerseys, Rosie & Roxie
Vicki: 1, Miniature Jersey, Brieanna
Tracy: 2, Jerseys, Patches & her companion cow Kokah Rose
Maria & Perry: 1, Randall Lineback, Noreen

How do you tie your cow while milking?
What do you sit on?
How do you deal with breeding?
And much more was discussed.


A Fencing Routine
Debra Tyler gave us her take on easily movable, user-friendly fencing and thoughts on best posts, insulators, wire and routine ideas. The backpack/quiver was designed and built by a fellow cow keeper because it can be very useful to have both hands free. He has nothing against others taking and improving the idea.

Oxen Tails

Chuck Duncan a work week salesman and a weekend ox trainer.

Jolly and Jigger
Chuck has been training two steers from Local Farm for a year and a half.
Chuck showed us how to put the yoke on them. There are 4 basic commands: Hep (forward), Wh (stop), Gee (right) and Haw (left). Then he let us take them for a walk if we wanted to.

FOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!
Lunch and a time to ruminate


Angela Greco talked to us about how to take care of your cow on your own and what the vet needs to know when you call.Angela showed us different cow care stuff.
Bolus Gun for giving pills.
Drench Gun for giving liquid orally.
She then took us outside and showed us how to check a cow's breathing and pulse, how to tell if they're dehydrated or not, take their temperatures, check mucus membranes... and much much moooooore!!

We are planning next year's and hope to see you there!


For more Motherhouse events go to www.motherhouse.us

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.

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