Comments on: What Makes Holstein Dairy Cattle Special?

By: Rachel H

Rachel H — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:24:42 +0000

I did a google search for "how to judge dairy cattle" and came up with a lot of stuff. Here is one of those links that looks pretty good:

By: chubs0181

chubs0181 — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 00:13:25 +0000

Go to the breed association that you are interested in, say Holstein, and you can get the pedigree information on the cattle there.

By: dilemmix

dilemmix — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 23:25:40 +0000

Cows seem to get better care than sheep on a ship- have you looked at the torturous journey of sheep to the middle east? This should be outlawed.

By: farm mom

farm mom — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:31:04 +0000

We show cattle and we use Andis. They not only run cooler and they are very light. they hold up very good. We have had them get kicked, fell of tack box and they still keep on cliping.

By: SchumiF1

SchumiF1 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:42:52 +0000

The Pampas is a relatively dry climate that is more suitable to raising beef cattle like they do in the western states of the US. Dairy operations require more green grass and water.

By: ffagirl15

ffagirl15 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:08:03 +0000

try this score card showing what the judges may be looking for:

http://dese.mo.gov/divcareered/AG/CDE/DairyCattleGrading.pdf

By: SchumiF1

SchumiF1 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:42:20 +0000

Dairy cattle require alot of inputs in order to maintain high levels of milk production and are much more sensitive to heat stress. So in general the majority of dairy cattle would be located in north eastern north america, since high quality forage and grains are easily grown there and the temperature is much more moderate.

Beef cattle on the other hand are much more hearty and in general have lower maintenance energy costs and therefore can be maintained on range/marginal lands where forage quality is not as great. There are alot a beef cattle raised on the range lands of the midwest and western range lands.

This is just an over generalization…but it gives you an idea

By: Samantha S

Samantha S — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:36:18 +0000

Holsteins make up the vast majority of dairy cattle for their ability to adapt to confinement methods. Calves are normally 90-100 pounds at birth; weanling weights generally aren't taken on dairy but as yearlings at about 800# they are bred, with adult cows not uncommon at the 1500# mark. Bulls from 1800# to just over a ton aren't uncommon. They can be black and white or red and white.

Ayreshire cows are more like 1200# at maturity – they were developed to be efficient grazers so body weight wasn't as big of a factor.
Guernseys are similar to Ayrshires.

Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorn have more variance because of their dual purpose background. Swiss cattle fall between the Ayreshire and Holstein in size with bulls not uncommon at 1700#+ and cows 1,000-1200. Milking Shorthorns are very slightly smaller…not that many years ago, relatively speaking, they were a single breed – shorthorns. A demand for specialization divided milking and beef cattle into breeding for different traits

Jerseys are the smallest breed – calves 50-60#, adult cows 800-1200# bulls 1600-1700#
The loss of farms that use grazing is threatening all but the Holstein and Jersey.

By: FarmBlitz

FarmBlitz — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:35:39 +0000

Great video, informative, love it

By: GoYankees353

GoYankees353 — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 05:16:12 +0000

pretty cheap. wa state between 25-150$