There are many good reasons to purchase a family milk cow, but let us tell you why you should purchase a family milk cow sooner rather than later. You don’t want to miss these incredible benefits. One of those glorious benefits is having fresh raw milk and drowning in all the cream!!
1. Food Security
We have seen the food industry show its foundational instability and take some major hits during these more recent years. Hence, there has been an astronomical amount of people turning back to the old traditions and skills in search of finding stability for their family’s food needs once again.
Having a family milk cow should be at the absolute top of that list if at all possible. They are almost the have-all-do-all when it comes to homesteading animals. They provide milk, cream, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt and ice cream just for starters.
2. Save Money
Food prices are going up. Sometimes when the budget gets tight we unfortunately have to choose to do without some basic food needs. Having a jersey makes sure you don’t have to ever go without, and with growing children it is important that they always have access to dairy products.
According to recent studies, the average family of 6 spends almost $1,100 on groceries per month. The SNAP program estimates $925 in monthly grocery requirements for a family of 6. Depending on how much a family uses in dairy products, that average range is anywhere from $50-$200 of that monthly spending.
We have found that not only does having an abundance of milk help save money in the direct replacement of any dairy we regularly used to consume, but we started turning towards dairy heavy meals which further saved money in the budget.
Can you imagine the torture of eating biscuits and gravy for breakfast every day.. Shesh!
Any excess milk or whey can supplement the other farm animals’ feed like pigs, chickens and bottle calves, drastically reducing their feed bill.
3. Earn Extra Income
The laws regarding selling raw milk vary from state to state, and have some pretty firm consequences when broken. That being said, don’t be so quick to assume that selling raw milk is the only way to earn some money with a family milk cow.
What are other common ways to earn money from a milk cow? Here is a pretty through list of common ways to earn money from a milk cow:
- Sell compost
- Bottle fed calves
- Whey to pig farmers
- Beautiful photography
- Boarding and Care for milk cows
- Purebred Jersey Heifers
- Semen straws
- Hold milking classes
- Selling milk cows
To learn more about earning extra income from your family milk cow, we have a more indepth article here.
4. Compost
Some areas it is actually impossible to find any local compost. These gardeners have to pay high prices to have compost shipped in. Imagine how much they have to pay for good quality stuff.
Having a family milk cow is different than having beef cows. Most homesteaders leave their beef cows in the pasture to either freerange a large pasture or rotational graze on an intense system. Either of these methods is designed to leave the manure on the pasture which is great when that is what is needed.
However, the problem with these otherwise incredible practices, is that you won’t accumulate a beautiful pile of manure to compost for later use in your garden.
Here is where the Jersey comes in. It makes chore time easier to have the milk cow close by the barn. Whether it be locking them in the stall only at night and out to pasture during the day, or long term for several months during the winter in the indoor stall or outdoor small pen by the barn, either way helps compile the manure in a small area. Thus we are able to collect and compost that manure into beautiful black gold.
5. Healthy Nutrient Dense Food
A few of my children no longer get eczema since we have switched to home grown raw milk and milk products. Our family is much healthier overall now that we drink raw milk.
Before introducing raw milk to our family diet, one or more of us would get sick regularly during the winter months just like most other people do. Now we rarely if ever get sick anymore.
Raw milk and milk products are an incredibly probiotic rich food source. We all know with all the antibiotic usage, albeit necessary sometimes, it is important to follow up with lots of probiotics to reestablish good gut flora.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is an incredible food we should all have in our diets. Studies suggest that CLA may be able to fight cancer cells at all three stages. Read more about those incredible findings here.
6. Physical Exercise and Better Posture
Squatting while milking can do wonders for the general person to improve their posture, hips health and general alignment. But more specifically, it does incredible wonders to help in aging gracefully and for pregnant women.
There are entire fields of knowledge that center on both of these topics, in which people spend lots of time and money seeking help in certain issues. Squatting doesn’t fix it magically, but it really truly helps to get the body heading back to a more natural use and capability.
By owning a milk cow I am ensured to get this kind of fantastic daily exercise automatically, and more. There’s the walk to and from the barn, squatting while milking, sweeping, mucking, carrying the milk buckets back and straining milk.
7. Fresh Air and sunshine
Another good reason to purchase a family milk cow is good clean air and sunshine! Every health conscious person today is well aware of how serious the first morning sunlight entering your eyes and cool crisp air entering your lungs is. It affects almost every bodily system’s natural rhythms. It’s absolutely crucial to support good health.
With more and more of us being confined to the indoors, we have to make a conscious effort to make time to get outdoors and hold onto it with both fists tightly clenched!
8. The Enjoyment of Slow Living
Having a family milk cow, locks in a time period in our days to slow down and relax. Before all the high tech electronics, the old traditional ways, had a way to ground us to the physical tangible world around us. As Christians we understand “this is not our home”, but it is a temporary one.
It’s so common for our modern lifestyles to be cluttered, stressful and jam packed with too much. What would happen if we removed stuff instead? Maybe not all of it, but some. It might take sacrifice in one area, but ask yourself what are you actually sacrificing in exchange for being able to enjoy the abundant peace and relaxation a slow living lifestyle provides.
9. More Quality Family Time
There are so many reasons we love our Jersey! One reason why we encourage others to purchase a family milk cow is to have more quality family time. Speaking of these crazy busy family schedules, sometimes it’s hard to connect with our children. Like REALLY connect, not watch-a-movie or sit-on-the-couch-with-our-phones-together, but meaningful-deep-conversations-connect. It can happen if you have a protected set aside appointment with your child. Where there are no distractions or devices. You just have to make it a point.
Milking chores IS that daily quiet time with my kids. It’s my daily appointment with one or two kids. For me it works best between the ages of 6 and 14 years old, because eventually they do grow out of those ideal ages and move onto more challenging work.
Seasons come and seasons go, but for that particular long stretch of time, it really effectively cultivates those incredibly intimate deep friendships I desire to have with each one of them.
10. Structure and Rythm to Your Daily Schedule
Having a milking schedule also adds structure to our day. It helps us to start on time, to start early and it gives us a consistent flow.
Conclusion
The good Lord has blessed us with the ability to have a sweet Jersey. We are able to reap the abundant benefits that having a family milk cow provides us. Our health has improved. Our life is sweeter. And our relationships thrive. We are so grateful for our Jersey! We think you should purchase a family milk cow too!
Question
If you want to own a milk cow, what is holding you back?
Or if you have one, we’d love for you to share your advice!
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Excellent information! Interestingly, your children’s eczema cleared up. I think we all need to move away from commercially produced food. I look forward to your next post!
Hi! I love following your page. You have gorgeous Jersey!
Thanks! We love her!
How old is too old of a cow to buy?
Depends on the health of the cow overall, really. But my general rule of thumb is to expect them to milk till they are 12 years old.
What’s a good price range that I should be expecting to spend on a milk cow?
For a mid range, healthy cow that is bred and in milk, I would expect between $2,000 and $3,000 across the US right now.
If all I can affor right now is a cheap cow about $800 from the sale yard, who has mastitis in 1 quarter. Do you think it is worth the risk? Im not sure if I should wait for a better cow. It might be another year…
That is a little trickier of a question. If its your first time ever owning a milk animal, I would pass. However, if you have have a few dairy animals, feel comfortable treating mastitis and have a good large animal vet nearby it might work out fine for you. You could always have your vet examine her before purchase and give you their professional opinion.