There are many things I didn't know how to do as a farmer before the situation was upon me. Lambing, for example. Do you know how many lambings I'd played midwife to prior to owning a sheep that was lambing? Zero. Definitely learned that one on the fly. Same goes for our breeding Old Spots (who, by the way, are taking their sweet ‘ol time giving me piglets this year). Poor Ginny's belly is practically dragging on the ground and she still hasn't delivered…
Point being, sometimes as a homesteader, you just gotta learn on the fly. We lost Sally before we ever had the chance to properly develop a milk-sharing habit with her and her calf, so this go with Cece was our first take at it. But after 8 months of a successful ritual, I thought I may as well share, lest any of you find yourself it the same position.
Meet Pepper – the calf born to Cece last May and the beautiful and a wonderful combination of her parents. Her mother, my beloved Jersey girl and her father, a beautiful Dexter bull named ‘Hiro'.
Since last May, we've been milk sharing our supply with Pepper. Pepper continues to get nutrient-dense milk that helps to develop a healthy rumen and we get a few hefty perks as well. Milk sharing is just that – we share our milk with the baby.
But how does one go about milk sharing with a calf? I'm so glad you asked. Because that's exactly what I wanted to talk about today. It's like it was meant to be!
Why Would We Milk Share
- Relief from milking: To me, there is one great advantage to milk sharing – you have a built in milker! With Pepper still nursing, we've been able to take Sunday mornings off from milking, leave town for the weekend, or just have a lazy morning and decide not to milk. Without a calf, we're required to milk at the exact same time each day, zero breaks. With a calf nursing, we're able to leave town and milk as we wish.
- Lowers Risk of Mastitis: Mastitis can easily come on when a cow is left with milk in her bag or is milked improperly. You've got to striiiiiip every drop of milk out of the cow to prevent risk of infection and ensure each teat is milked thoroughly and evenly. With a calf, they do the clean up. We milk out as much or as little as we'd like and put the cow and the calf back together. The calf will immediately nurse and strip the remaining milk, should we decide we don't need it. Calves are incredibly efficient at nursing, and thus, help prevent infections.
- We get a healthy calf: Calves that nurse longer perform better. Much like babies! They grow a superior gut-flora that will serve them well for their remaining days. Because Pepper is a heifer that will be kept for breeding and milking purposes, it's important to us that she remain as healthy and vibrant as possible for the long-haul.
The Downside To Milk Sharing
- It's more work: And it is. Milk-sharing requires you to separate the cow and calf for part of the day which means you need at least two pens. It also means that someone (Stuart) has to go out at night in the dark and in the cold to separate the cow and the calf. Even if it's snowing. Even if it's icy. No separation means no milk the next morning, so work we must.
- Calves get the best: Cows have an incredible ability to control their milk and will often do so in favor of the calf, giving them the richest portion. Cece has been pretty easy for us, as far as letting her milk down, but I've heard stories of cows that simply will not let it down for anyone other than the calf. I can always tell she's holding a bit back for Pepper at the end of milking, but that's just her being a good Mama, so I don't mind. I'd do the same.
How To Milk Share
Blah blah, Shaye, we get it. But how do we do it? It's dead simple.
- Separate the cow and the calf for 12 hours.
- Milk.
- Reunite them for 12 hours.
- Repeat.
So here's how that looks for us. We arise in the morning, sip a cup of coffee and eat poached eggs over toast. The world is beautiful and the sun is out. After a deeply satisfying breakfast and another cuppa, we head up to the barn with four littles in tow, because them learning the value of farm chores is of the upmost importance. We halter Cece and walk her to the milking stanchion and begin the beautiful ritual of hand milking into a cold, stainless steel pail. Even the toddler takes a turn. After ten minutes, we're left with a frothy pail of beautifully rich milk, slightly yellowed from the amount of Jersey cream included. Cece and Pepper are then reunited, where Pepper eagerly cleans up what's left in the udder. They'll hang out together all today, Pepper nursing at will, until after supper time, when they're separated into different pens for the night. Pretty easy, huh?
People often ask how we manage to have a dairy animal with normal life commitments. This is how. We only milk once a day, which takes no more than ten or fifteen minutes, and we can take a break whenever we need to. It's enough to keep us flush with as much milk as we'd like and none is getting wasted or thrown to the pigs (enjoyable for them, but not efficient for us). Cece is a first-time Mama and, thus, is producing slightly less than she will as an experienced cow. Even with that, and even with milk sharing, we walk away with a gallon and a half of beautiful raw milk daily.
That's good stuff, baby.
Milk sharing sounds a lot like nursing my baby and pumping for a friend with an adopted baby similar aged. It’s a win all around but there is some extra effort on all involved parties. Nothing that isn’t worth it though! Share on!
I was just wondering how much cream you figure you get a week. We currently have a cow, but haven’t had her bred yet.This sounds like the perfect arrangement for us!
ugh, so much truth in ‘learning on the fly’! we are coming up on 4 years of homesteading & we still learn so much all. the. time. it’s good to learn, but it’s often at the expense of the animal which stinks. but it’s part of it! birthing (at least when it doesn’t go smoothly), hoof trimming, castrating, shearing, wouldn’t get done if we didn’t do it.
also we milk share with our dairy goats as well. but those stinkin’ babies often find a way out of their stall! I’ll come out in the morning to find the milk gone, hahah. crafty little turds.
So if you want a morning off or you’re just flush with milk already, do you just not separate them at night?
And do you have a book that you’d recommend for learning?
We milked a jersey (Sassy) all of my growing up years and into my adult hood (I am now 64) — my oldest child drank “Sassy milk” after he was weaned. My dad was taught by my grandfather about milking. We always let the calf in to nurse the cow for just a few minutes before milking her. That was enough to get her to “let her milk down”. Sometimes it wasn’t easy to separate them before the calf was satisfied, but soon enough it learned that it would get the “leftovers’ if it would just be patient and all went well. We then washed Sassy’s bag and milked our gallon of milk. Then the calf got its turn to finish up and strip her bag. We always milked twice a day and never just let the calf have it all, as our Sassy had so much milk the calf would have had the scours if it got that much milk at one time. Glad that works for you and you can have a break — twice a day 365 days a year get tiring. Not to mention 2 gallons of milk a day.
If Cece is not quickly letter her milk down for you, maybe you would want to try our technique.
Good luck.
Love the article!
Probably a dumb question, but what will you do with the calf once grown? Will it be for meat or be sold or kept around? And at what age do you do this?
I dream of having a milk cow in the future, meaning it’s inevitable that we will have calves… But I already know it will tear at my heart when it’s time to finally separate the baby from mama! Does it get easier with time? Maybe I’m just being a baby and thinking too much into it. ;P
From my research, calf at foot dairy farms do not separate calves from cows. It is doable! Please research more into the calf-at-foot dairy farms and see how they do it successfully.
I feel the same way, Laura….it’s the only thing keeping me from moving forward. This mommas heart can’t take it. ❤️
So how big is the pen need to be that the calf is in only at night? Do you mean a separate fenced area or do you mean a separate lean to in a separate fenced area?
We separate by a corral. It is wonderful! I travel a lot so this way I get the milk when I can.
Do your cows graze in open fields? If so, how does poor Stuart bring them in every night and separate the two?
I’m hesitant to get any kind of dairy animal because of being tied to the homestead, which I don’t mind most of the time, but what about vacations?? This seems like it makes it a lot easier. If you did want to leave town for a couple of days, could you just leave them together while you’re gone so you don’t have to milk?
For going on vacation a lot of time you can find a local 4H teen who has experience with the animals and will be happy to earn some money coming out twice a day to do chores and a bonus for them they often will get to keep the eggs/milk.
Hi Monica,
I never imagined owning Jerseys would be so amazing…. Yes … it is a trade off… and vacations are difficult, but we have trained someone to use our equipment and milk our cows. The joy of interacting with cows will surprise you.
Mark
looks delicious cant wait to try.Your family is so cute
Thank you for sharing! We are expecting calf from our jersey by our dexter any day now! Looking forward to seeing that cross and trying our hand at milk sharing for the first time.
Wonderful post & pictures !! Thanks for sharing. I’m new here & i enjoyed your post.
Sharing with the calf is a blessing. I’m only milking two or three times a week right now. At almost two gallons a milking it is plenty for us. Once I start making cheese and yogurt again I will need to milk more often but not more than once a day. When the calf gets sold and I am forced to milk twice a day the pigs are very happy to get all the excess.
Olive would hold up her milk when I first started milking her. I would tie the calf in the corner of the stall and let just enough slack in the rope for it to start nursing. As soon as she let down I would take up the slack. She doesn’t withhold her milk anymore.
Someone asked about a good book. I would have been lost with out “Keeping a Family Cow” by Joann S. Grohman. https://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Family-Cow-Home-Scale-Producers/dp/1603584781
There is also a forum that has answered many questions for me. http://familycow.proboards.com/
Hello! Either for ned or the Elliot homestead…I have a 3 week old calf. I have not separated them at night yet. The calf is on mom 24-7. In the morning I milk just the hind quarters, being a newbie it takes me an hour to hand milk just 2 quarters. I don’t milk the 2 front quarters as they are pretty empty from having been with mom all night. Is this sustainable? Or as the calf grows she will be draining all 4 quarters. My dilemma is…I don’t want to hand milk for 2 hours in order to milk out all 4 quarters. Thanks for any help/advice!
And I just read your posts about Sally and bawled my eyes out. :'( CeCe and Pepper are adorable!
I just found your wonderful blog. In the comments section, I find dates but don’t see a date at the beginning of blogs. Am I just overlooking them? Bravo on your amazing homesteading journey. Thanks for blessing your readers with your story. God bless!
At what age do you begin this 12 hour with mom 12 not with for the calf?
Hello! I just came across your blog on my search for any information about keeping a dairy cow. I have so many questions and you explained things so well. Do you have any more blogs about cows such as regular maintenance/when and how to wean/slaughtering etc? I want to make sure I know what I am getting into before diving in head first with such a large responsibility.
Many Blessings,
Taylor
How about in the beginning when the calf is little. I milk out 3x day the first couple of days because the calf can’t drink that much. milk. Then twice a day until calf gets big enough for me to go to once a day.
Do you do the same? If so, at what point do you go to once a day?
I keep them together for 6 weeks around the clock before I separate at night.
So important to let the cow keep her calf. That is really who she produced the milk for.
We are getting a cow/calf pair in a couple of weeks – our first large livestock.
We are wanting to milkshare but wondering about when separating the cow/calf in the winter, how does the calf stay warm? We don’t have a large barn as we provide a portable shelter and corral. Is this assuming that the cow calved in the spring so the calf is 6-8 months old by the time winter hits? Thanks for any insights.
I too am wondering about how to separate calf from cow every evening. Our jersey is going to calve in the next few weeks and I am getting nervous about how separation every night is going to go.
Thank you for this information. We are currently sharing with our mom and her baby but we find that she holds back a lot. We have separated her at night but she is being a VERY good momma and it almost makes it less profitable for us to go through the motions for the small amount of milk she lets down. Is there anyway to help her let down a little more? Will this happen as the calf drinks less as she weens?
Learning on the fly like you on this one!
We milk share with our Jersey and her 2 nursing calves. I don’t keep them apart. She gives us what we need for our use and the babies are doing great.
We have a Holstein cow and her calf is 12 days old. We have a orphan calf on her too. Right now her calf is with her full time. We milk our gallon out each milking the the orphan gets his. When can we separate mom and her baby and then let her and orphan both nurse.