At any time we have 10-30 cattle on our property. We have a core herd of nine Angus-cross cows and a small Lowline-cross bull. They have calves that we raise and sell. We also have two dairy cows (Bella and Molly) and their various calves. We usually try to butcher one or two beasts a year for our own use. We are gradually improving our property using the cattle, so that we can eventually increase the carrying capacity and have more to sell. I write about beef cattle and dairy cows.
General cattle care
- A very useful book is Natural Cattle Care (Pat Coleby), which explains the importance of minerals
- We've bottle fed a couple of calves now
- We try to use natural methods for parasite control
- Setting up an electric fence
- Setting up a petrol dam pump
- Cattle psychology
- The beef cattle industry and us
- Vaccine guilt - should we vaccinate our cattle?
- Paralysis ticks and the orphan calves
- Caring for an orphan calf
- Bottle feeding a calf
- How to introduce new cattle to a property
- Cattle terminology
- Buying, selling and moving cattle
- How to give an injection to livestock
- Deadstock
- Animal behaviour and staying safe around cattle
- Branding our cattle - Part 2 - how to brand
- Cattle fencing tips for small farms
- Branding our cattle - Part 1
- Improving our cattle yards
- What type of cattle operation will suit you?
- Why do some cattle have horns?
- When to call the vet
- Supplement feeding cattle in the dry
Beef cattle and butchering
- the great nutting debate!
- butchering at home vs meatworks
- tips for butchering at home
- Homekill butchering
- Homekill butcher day - tips and tricks
- Homekill beef - two small beef cattle
- Getting the best from homekill meat
- Organic sausage mix for home butchering
- Homekill beef - is it worth it?
- Wet aging our beef
- tanning a steer hide
Dairy cows and milking
- We got started with a lovely book called The Healthy House Cow (Marja Fitzgerald) which covers everything you need to know about keeping a cow, although a little out of date now, from the 80s, I just love the tone of the book, and the great care that Marja has for her animals.
- We bought a mini milking machine
- and we work hard to prevent mastitis infection
- Bella's artificial insemination (AI) experience
- You can read more about our house cows here: The story of our house cows
Milk products
- Raw milk - I never knew it was so controversial, but I now have my own conspiracy theories...with more details here
- I have two cheese making books AND I borrowed another from my neighbour, as well as some recipes in the Healthy House Cow (which gave me the courage to use raw milk, rather than the other books that stress the need to pasteurise).
- Home Cheesemaking (Neil and Carole Willman)
- Cutting the Curd, Cheese Making at Home (Katherine Mowbray)
- I prefer to make soft cheese, yoghurt and kefir
- More on yoghurt
- Back up kefir
- No whey?
- Cheese making basics
- Yoghurt - what I've learnt
- Raw milk update
- Raw milk - more complicated than I expected!
- Kefir - a surprising taste....
- Easy Peasy Raw Milk Cheeses
- Raw milk and a cheese-making course
- Raw milk yoghurt attempts and failures
- Making yoghurt from powdered milk
- Making Easiyo yoghurt
- Real food ice cream
I have written an eBook about Our Experience with House Cows, find out more here.