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Getting started with Homestead Dairy - summing up

Over the past few weeks I've run a series of interviews with bloggers about getting started with homestead dairy, including everything from cows, to goats, sheep and cheese making.  This is a continuation of my series on getting started with growing your own (veges) and getting started with chickens, you can find all the interviews about getting started here.

Bella the giraffe cow
I have strung this one out a bit because I was hoping to have my house cow book all ready to launch at the end of the series, but I have found out two things lately, first writing an ebook is taking more time that I expected and, second, just when you think you know everything there is to know about house cows, something else will happen (just about weekly lately) that makes you realise that there is so much more to learn!  I need to add some more sections about drying up your cow, safety around your cow (how to not get kicked), mastitis, calling the vet in to help, how to prepare for your new cow, vaccinations, and what to expect after your cow has her calf, phew!  It is going to be finished soon, I promise.  If you have any pressing cow questions, please ask now, so I can include them in the first edition (I suspect there will be many updates!).

This series of interviews has been particularly entertaining for me because it featured goats (and a sheep), which I have no personal experience with, so I loved to read about them.  I wonder if goats are a better option for those who do not have bovine experience, I'm not sure if they are easier to handle or not, I would be interested in your thoughts on the matter.  I know there's lots of good reasons to get a cow, especially if you use a lot of milk, but they can be very difficult to control if you're not set up for cattle and don't know how to handle them they can be dangerous and just more expensive to look after.

If you would like to revisit and catch up on any of the interviews, here they all are, make sure you leave a comment for the writers.

What do you think?  Did we inspire you to get started with dairy?  Is there more you need to know?  Did you enjoy the series?

 Interview with myself
Interview with Mark and Kate from Purple Pear Permaculture
Interview with Kim from the Little Black Cow
Interview with Rose Petal
Interview with Marie from Go Milk the Cow
Interview with Ohio Farmgirl
Interview with Gavin from the Little Green Cheese

If you want to know more about house cows, my eBook is available for purchase on Scribd.  Its only $4.99, and it includes lots of information about keeping a house cow in Australia.  There's more details about the eBook on my house cow eBook blog.  If you don't want to go through all the Scribd/paypal effort, just send me an email on eight.acres.liz at gmail.com and I can arrange to email it to you instead.

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Comments

  1. MarieNovember 13, 2013 at 8:54 PM

    I think it's a matter of getting a good mannerly animal. I think people should be more fussy about temperament than cow/goat/sheep.
    Then every milking will be a delight :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 14, 2013 at 6:16 AM

    Great advice, thank Marie!

    ReplyDelete
  3. KimNovember 14, 2013 at 10:38 AM

    Hi Liz, I really enjoyed this series. It is fascinating reading how other people do the same thing, but in slightly different ways, all with great results. I think maybe the goat /cow option is whether you are a 'cow' person or a 'goat ' person .... it just depends on the individual and the type of area you have to farm.
    The book you are writing would be perfect for anyone that is looking at just starting out. I know I would have liked a book like this on goats right at the beginning .

    ReplyDelete
  4. TaniaNovember 15, 2013 at 10:20 PM

    I really enjoyed the series and thought it was very timely as I started my own home miking journey. I love the detail you have provided with all your milking posts and you know that it is a blog I come back often to! (Sorry for the lurking. I thought it was high time I made a comment!)
    I'm looking forward to your ebook and will definitely be purchasing it. A few things I haven't been able to find out in books - for the totally inexperienced how do you read basic cattle behaviour and how should you react to it? Crazy heat/cycle behaviour and what to expect? AI costs and details from an Australian perspective. Pregnancy testing? Also the differences between a cow that was raised on it's mother compared to a bottle fed calf. None of it you have to include of course, but they were questions I was wondering and could not find answers to from the available books.

    ReplyDelete

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Thanks, I appreciate all your comments, suggestions and questions, but I don't always get time to reply right away. If you need me to reply personally to a question, please leave your email address in the comment or in your profile, or email me directly on eight.acres.liz at gmail.com

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