Does anyone have experience preserving the milk (the excess)?

My family, and most of our neighbors, had family milk cows when I was growing up.  I think it was a requirement that any farm family that had a U.S. Farmers Home Administration (FHA) operating loan had to have a milk cow, garden, maybe even chickens for eggs, we had all those.  After Claribel, our first milk cow, I got my first Jersey heifer as a 4-H project, and I took care of her and my brother’s project animals.  At one point I was milking up to four cows before and after school and had purchased a used milking machine system.  Surplus raw milk was sold to the neighbors.  We also made butter, and raised pigs on the skim milk.

The first factor to consider and research is what it will cost to feed your own milk cow.  Unless you have land and irrigation for pasture and already own the equipment to make hay for winter feed you may find that those store prices for dairy products aren’t so far out of line from the actual costs of production.  You will likely want to offer a little grain: corn, oats, barley (some feed stores offer a “lower cost” mix called COB); wheat can be used also but shouldn’t be more than 40% of the grain mix (I don’t remember the reason).  There should also be a vitamin and mineral package, either in the grain mix or as a top dress.  A family milk cow doesn’t necessarily need cereal grains (or a lot) as they can produce sufficient milk for a family if they have high quality forages (high quality being key), but cows like a bit of “candy” and adequate vitamins and minerals are important.  The modern dairy cows puts out over 100 lbs. of milk per day (8.6 lbs. per gallon), but they are on a very energy rich diet, you won’t need to feed them like that for a family milk cow.

The second factor is pregnancy.  Lactation is a function of motherhood (that’s why liquids from soybeans, almonds, and whatever other plant, are juices, NOT “milk”, and should be labeled as such).  When a calf is born (and every other mammal) the mother begins lactating.  The production of milk will reach a peak, and then begin to gradually diminish until she stops lactating – this is called the lactation curve.  The female needs to become pregnant and give birth again to restart the lactation curve and achieve another period of peak production.  If there is an artificial insemination service available locally (a business I was in for many years), that will be easiest, cheapest, and safest.  Otherwise, you will need to find someone with a bull and have a rig and trailer available to either bring the cow to the bull, or vice versa.  An alternative could be to purchase an already lactating cow, milk her until she no longer produces, then sell her for beef and buy another cow.

Surplus milk can be turned into cheese (there are lots of information resources for homemade cheese).  Cream can be skimmed off and made into butter, the skim milk can be used to feed calves or pigs.  Surplus milk can also be sold to the neighbors, or traded for food products they produce ~ sanitation and hygiene are absolutely critical if you will be marketing raw milk.

Most people would milk their cow twice a day, though some only once a day, with diminished production.  Being an hour or two off from the usual milking time is not a big deal, but you can’t just decide to skip a milking because it isn’t convenient or the family is on a trip.  You will have to have a plan for the cow to be milked EVERY day.

Ideally a cow becomes pregnant again 60 – 90 days postpartum and the gestation period is around 283 days (it varies by breed).  She should have a rest period before the next calf.  Sixty days is standard but some use 30 – 45 days.  She is “dried off” (stop milking her) which allows the alveoli cells in the udder to regenerate.  Since she isn’t lactating she can be feed a milder or less “hot”, less energy dense diet which allows her digestive system to slow down and regenerate (I am being a bit simplistic, but the principal of a rest is valid).  If she has been primarily on concrete it is good to get her onto dirt or a soft pack to give her feet, legs, and joints a rest.  So, unless you have two milk cows there will be this period for a month or two when you don’t have milk being produced.






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My family, and most of our neighbors, had family milk cows when I was growing up.  I think it was a requirement that any farm family that had a U.S. Farmers Home Administration (FHA) operating loan had to have a milk cow, garden, maybe even chickens for eggs, we had all those.  After Claribel, our first milk cow, I got my first Jersey heifer as a 4-H project, and I took care of her and my brother’s project animals.  At one point I was milking up to four cows before and after school and had purchased a used milking machine system.  Surplus raw milk was sold to the neighbors.  We also made butter, and raised pigs on the skim milk.

The first factor to consider and research is what it will cost to feed your own milk cow.  Unless you have land and irrigation for pasture and already own the equipment to make hay for winter feed you may find that those store prices for dairy products aren’t so far out of line from the actual costs of production.  You will likely want to offer a little grain: corn, oats, barley (some feed stores offer a “lower cost” mix called COB); wheat can be used also but shouldn’t be more than 40% of the grain mix (I don’t remember the reason).  There should also be a vitamin and mineral package, either in the grain mix or as a top dress.  A family milk cow doesn’t necessarily need cereal grains (or a lot) as they can produce sufficient milk for a family if they have high quality forages (high quality being key), but cows like a bit of “candy” and adequate vitamins and minerals are important.  The modern dairy cows puts out over 100 lbs. of milk per day (8.6 lbs. per gallon), but they are on a very energy rich diet, you won’t need to feed them like that for a family milk cow.

The second factor is pregnancy.  Lactation is a function of motherhood (that’s why liquids from soybeans, almonds, and whatever other plant, are juices, NOT “milk”, and should be labeled as such).  When a calf is born (and every other mammal) the mother begins lactating.  The production of milk will reach a peak, and then begin to gradually diminish until she stops lactating – this is called the lactation curve.  The female needs to become pregnant and give birth again to restart the lactation curve and achieve another period of peak production.  If there is an artificial insemination service available locally (a business I was in for many years), that will be easiest, cheapest, and safest.  Otherwise, you will need to find someone with a bull and have a rig and trailer available to either bring the cow to the bull, or vice versa.  An alternative could be to purchase an already lactating cow, milk her until she no longer produces, then sell her for beef and buy another cow.

Surplus milk can be turned into cheese (there are lots of information resources for homemade cheese).  Cream can be skimmed off and made into butter, the skim milk can be used to feed calves or pigs.  Surplus milk can also be sold to the neighbors, or traded for food products they produce ~ sanitation and hygiene are absolutely critical if you will be marketing raw milk.

Most people would milk their cow twice a day, though some only once a day, with diminished production.  Being an hour or two off from the usual milking time is not a big deal, but you can’t just decide to skip a milking because it isn’t convenient or the family is on a trip.  You will have to have a plan for the cow to be milked EVERY day.

Ideally a cow becomes pregnant again 60 – 90 days postpartum and the gestation period is around 283 days (it varies by breed).  She should have a rest period before the next calf.  Sixty days is standard but some use 30 – 45 days.  She is “dried off” (stop milking her) which allows the alveoli cells in the udder to regenerate.  Since she isn’t lactating she can be feed a milder or less “hot”, less energy dense diet which allows her digestive system to slow down and regenerate (I am being a bit simplistic, but the principal of a rest is valid).  If she has been primarily on concrete it is good to get her onto dirt or a soft pack to give her feet, legs, and joints a rest.  So, unless you have two milk cows there will be this period for a month or two when you don’t have milk being produced.






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Thanks moneil! Unfortunately, transporting raw milk is illegal here since the 1990s. Yeah, we don't take vacations so being homebound is okay for us. As someone who's nursing, understanding lactation in cows is very similar to humans with "supply and demand" concept. Are there cow breeds that could have a longer lactation period but not produce so much milk everyday (like a Holstein). We would have around 50 acres of grazing land for a cow(s). As for irrigation, not there yet. If the milk cow were to breed with a meat bull, would that be a problem? Yeah, we still need to work on sourcing for oats, barley, etc. and eventually would like to make our own chicken feed so i guess they could eat the same thing.