Milk cow or milk goat

So you want to milk your animal to become more self-reliant or maybe you just want to get closer to the land and the farm animals that you have.  You know milk comes from cows, goats, sheep, and even yaks, camels, and horses.  So which one will you choose to get your milk from and which one will be best for your family?

Now I have never milked a Yak, camel, sheep, or horse, but cows and goats I have some history with and I am here to help you decide which is better for you.

First of all, you need to have some idea as to what each can do and then the pros and cons can be debated.  You will find a lot of various opinions on the subject and I would be lying if I said that I offered anything of difference.  Now let’s take a look at what a cow and goat are capable of.

A cow just like a goats capabilities are largely dependent on the breed of cow or goat.  For instance, a Holstein cow will give way more milk than a milking shorthorn.  Just as a Nubian will give more than a pigmy goat.  so your choice of animals must be made with this in mind.  You may think that more is better but I’m here to tell you that, that way of thinking will get you in trouble.  You see too much of a good thing is still too much so you will have to decide how much milk you will need daily, day in and day out.  you also will have to decide what you are going to do during the dry periods that every animal will have.  

First, we will look at cows.  Most of my time spent milking cows was spent on Jersey cows.  They put out less milk than a Holstein but the butter fat is higher so you can get more cream with each milking.  Our Jersey cow that we milked for many years was a cull from a local dairy, she had , had mastitis in both front quarters and gave a lot less milk in those than in the back two.

At the time I thought that this would be a problem but being strapped for cash she was the best that I could do.  In time I came to realize that she was more than enough cow to feed my family my parents and my sister’s family.  Carrie put out about four gallons of milk each day and that was with the bad quarters.  That’s a lot of milk 

   Now before you go thinking that sounds good just realize that is twenty-eight gallons of milk a week for about ten to eleven months.  That’s a lot of cheese and milk.  Besides cows are nasty they always poop and pee while you are milking them and even if you are using a milking machine this can get pretty gross.  Also because your cow is so large you will likely need a trailer, truck, milk stall, and tractor to feed her.  Unless you use small square bales of hay which are eight to ten times more expensive than a round bale.  Also, you need to realize that even a single milk cow will eat a lot of hay and feed in a year.  Besides all of this you will have at least two months of downtime while the cow takes a break from milking to calve, so now you need two cows to get milk year round.  That’s over fifty gallons of milk a week.  Now if you are milk sharing that will go to good use but if you are trying to feed your family that is a lot of milk.

Now that we have looked at the pluses and minuses of getting a cow let’s look at the same for a goat.  I have only had two kinds of goats to milk.  Nubian and Oberhasli.  The Oberhasli gave a little more milk than the Nubian but the Nubian seemed to have more cream.  The minuses are that the goats don’t give as much milk but that’s not all bad.  Goats can be hard to keep in but even that can be overcome. Goat milk is naturally homogenized and therefore the cream is harder to separate, you will certainly need a separator to do it.  This also means that you will get less cream per gallon, a consideration if butter and sour cream are high on your list.

The plus is that you can match your needs to the amount of goats that you get.  The average goat will give two to four quarts a day which is a lot more manageable than a cow. and you can easily stagger their births to keep you in milk year-round. Also, it is easier to keep a buck than a bull and he will eat less.  You will feed a pair of goats a lot cheaper than a single cow making those square bales a lot more affordable and easier to feed. goat milk is rich and seldom develops any strong smells or taste even when kept near a buck.  You won’t get as much cream but you will get some and that may be better than the surplus that you will have from a cow.

As you can see there are several pros and cons to each and only you can decide which will be the best fit for your family.  There are also other things to consider.  If you want to raise a pig the excess milk from either will fatten them up fast, making some of the best pork. There are also many other uses for milk like soap and fertilizer so you can get rid of some of it like that.  If your state allows you to sell it you can make a lucrative side income from your excess milk supply. So keep that in mind as well and you can always find a neighbor who will take some milk off of your hands.

Milking any animal is a big commitment you must be there everyday rain or shine sickness or health even on the holidays because the animals depend on you to relieve their swollen teats from their burden.  But if you decide to milk maybe this post will help you decide which is better for your family a family milk cow or a couple of goats, good luck.