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You are here: Home / Blog Post / Milk Cow Myths: Part 1

Milk Cow Myths: Part 1

12.29.2021 by Raelene Bradley // Leave a Comment

5 Myths Keeping You From Living The Milk Cow Life

In this series, I’m talking you through, step-by-step-by-step, the 5 most common myths about keeping a family milk cow so you can crush those negative thoughts and set yourself up for success.

By the end of this series, you’ll see that getting a milk cow is not only totally possible, but that it is absolutely within your reach.

Myth #1: I Have To Wake Up At Dawn

This has to be the most common assumption of milk cow owners: that we get up well before the sun, in the dark early hours of the morning in order to milk the cow.

It is true that you can do that, if you want to. And since I’m sharing, my #unpopularopinion is that I’ve come to really love dark cold morning milkings.

It’s the quiet. As a mum of 5, I treasure every ever-loving minute of quiet ’cause they’re rare.

But it is not true that you must do it.

Truth: You should milk about every 12 hours.

Truth: You get to set the schedule and decide when to milk.

Are You An Early Bird? Or A Slow-Morning Person?

If you like getting up early to see the sun rise and get a head start on the day, milk early! Perhaps you’ll milk at 5am and, 12 hours later, at 5pm.

Or maybe you’re not quite that ambitious and getting up just before 6 is more your jam, then you’re going to milk at 6am and, 12 hours later, 6pm.

But if you’re a slow morning kind of person and you don’t want to get out of bed before it’s light, then maybe you’ll milk at 8am, and 12 hours later, at 8pm.

Or you want to get the kids off to school, get some tasks done around the house, and have a second cup of coffee before you head out to milk, so you decide to milk at 10am and then, of course, 12 hours later at 10pm.

Feel Free To Mix It Up

You know as well as I do that not every schedule and every family is cut and dried. And we have seasons when things are busier than others, when we have certain commitments at certain times.

And so you can mix it up.

Truth: You can be flexible when it comes to milking time.

Truth: Aim for no more than 14 hours and no less than 10 hours between milkings.

Milking every 12 hours is a good goal, but you’re not a commercial dairy and you don’t need to maximize your yields in order to make ends meet.

If you want or need to mix up your schedule so that milking isn’t quite 12 hours apart, your cow will adjust.

And once you do decide on a schedule, stick to it. Your cow thrives on routine and consistent milking times will improve her attitude (chuckle), her cream lines, and her production.

A Mixed Schedule

Here’s a real-life example: perhaps you decide to milk at 7am. That’s just right for you – enough time to get in a cup of coffee beforehand and just right to get the kids up and started at a reasonable hour afterwards.

But perhaps you have piano lessons and soccer practice and ballet commitments in the evenings, usually around 6 or 7. So you decide to milk at 5pm instead of the standard 12 hours later at 7pm.

No big deal. Your cow will adjust.

And if it turns out that you need to change it up in another couple months because your commitments change – again, no problem. Just do so gradually.

Squeezing In Even More Flexibility

  • Transition from TAD to OAD milkings

Depending on how much milk your cow is giving and where she’s at in her lactation, it is absolutely possible to transition from twice-a-day milking (TAD) to once-a-day milking (OAD).

Whew! Let me tell you, that shift is a game-changer. It suddenly feels like you have four more hours in the day (ha!)

  • Calf-sharing (when you allow the calf to stay with the cow for at least a portion of the day)

Depending on how much milk your cow is giving and how old/big the calf is, you may be able to leave them together for the day and skip that day’s milking all together.

We’ll talk more about calf-sharing in the next post where we tackle Milk Cow Myth #2 I Can’t Leave The Farm or Go On Vacation.

And you can learn more about how to get started calf-sharing here.

Keep Learning in Milk Cow 101

If you’ve got the gumption to learn something new and you’re ready to dig in and start living that milk cow life (boy is it a good one!), join the waitlist for Milk Cow 101 today.

Bonus: you for sure don’t have to wake up at dawn!

You’ll be the first to know when enrollment opens and you’ll be ready to learn everything you need to feel confident and prepared to bring home your very first family milk cow.

Categories // Blog Post, MilkCow 101 Tags // family milk cow, home dairy, homestead, milk cow

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Recipe Rating




belvederefarms

This time of year I worry about too much grass gro This time of year I worry about too much grass growing too fast before I can get the cows over to eat it down and make the most of it.
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As a grass farmer, it’s the very best kind of problem to have: grass tall enough to get lost in.
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Speaking of which: can you find the baby? Comment with a 👍 when you do!
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#grassfarmer #grassfedbeef #iamyourfarmer #farmraisedkids #intensiverotationalgrazing #grassfed #grassfedbutter #farmlife #homesteadlife #supportlocalfarmers
That milk pail foam tho 🤩🤩🤩. . Those firs That milk pail foam tho 🤩🤩🤩.
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Those first few weeks hand milking can be disheartening. Dribbles and squirts, milk running down your wrist, sticky fingers, and sore forearms. 
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Milking is a skill. No one is good at it right away. It takes practice. The more you practice, the better you get. The faster you get, the more sure and even your squirts.
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And then one day, there will be foam in the bucket and you’ll know you’ve arrived. Your squirts are fast and firm and sure and the sustained pressure of all that milk hitting the pail makes the most gloriously frothy foam.
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Keep at it friend. Whatever skill you’re working on now. Just because you’re not that great at it right now doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing or that you won’t get better.
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Keep working. Keep trying. Keep learning. The foam will come.
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#farmlife #milkmaid #modernmilkmaid #milkmaidlife #milkcowlife #handmilking #rawmilk #homesteadskills #traditionalskills
Transcript of a real-life conversation we had this Transcript of a real-life conversation we had this morning:

Me: Whaa? Why is there a frozen turkey on the counter?!

Seamus (4): Because I like turkey and chicken meat.

Me: So you went out to the barn…

S: …and got in the freezer. And brought in a turkey.

Me: Oh, love. We can’t cook a turkey until we have a stove [kitchen reno still on going 🤦‍♀️].

S: Well, then you can cut it up and cook it piece by piece in the microwave.

Me: Actually, that’s not going to work.

S: (looks outside) Well, it’s raining today but tomorrow when it’s not raining we can make a fire and cook it outside on the fire.
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Ever the problem solver, he was full of ideas. 🤣🤣
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I did finally convince him to put it back in the freezer and wait until we have a stove - with the caveat that we cook it for his birthday.
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#kidssaythedarndestthings
#farmkid #farmlife #homesteadmama #lifeonthefarm #farmraisedkids
We have two cows in milk right now: Sandy (old fai We have two cows in milk right now: Sandy (old faithful and best friend, there on the left) and Clara (new to our farm and momma to Ruby).
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How much work is two cows vs. one? I was so nervous about adding a second cow because the additional time/labor was an unknown, but when it comes right down to it, it’s about 20 mins more time milking. That’s it.
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Everything else is pretty well the same. It takes the same amount of time to bring them in to the milking shed. The same amount of time to move them to fresh grass. It still takes under an hour door to door to milk & do what needs done, and even less for evening milking.
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And since our oldest boy (14) helps milk the majority of the time, that extra 20 minutes doesn’t often figure in. Many hands (and even just one extra pair!) make light work.
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It does take a little more time to deal with the milk: more time straining, more time washing jars, more cream to skim, more butter to churn. But if more cream and butter are the cons, I’m here for it.
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What would you say is the biggest obstacle holding you back from getting a family cow?
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#familycow #milkcowlife #keepingafamilycow #milkcow #homesteadlife #rawmilk
Mud pie hearts. . Just because this day or month o Mud pie hearts.
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Just because this day or month or season or year is hard does not mean you are not heard or seen or loved. There is beauty all around, if we have eyes to see it, hearts open to feel it, and wild, barefoot, dirty, outdoor-loving farm kiddos to deliver it.
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#farmkids #wildandfree #mudpie #mudseason #springonthefarm #homesteadmama #farmmom
My cup - ahem. shirt - runneth over. Same same. . My cup - ahem. shirt - runneth over. Same same. 
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I gather eggs every morning and again every afternoon. Farm life is a constant reminder that there is #alwayssomethingtobethankfulfor 
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#farmfresheggs #farmeggs #rainboweggs #farmlifebestlife
Hello Friends! Jordan here, and it has been a hot Hello Friends! Jordan here, and it has been a hot minute. I went to Las Vegas last week to visit my brother and we made beef tongue tacos. I love using the whole animal and this was a fun process with a delicious outcome. You can check out the blog to get the recipe. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
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#wholeanimalbutchery #wholeanimalcooking #beeftonguetacos #tacosdelengua  #cincodemayo #grassfedbeef #homesteadkitchen
T-minus 3 days until our first frost and we’re s T-minus 3 days until our first frost and we’re spending these lovely fall afternoons gathering in the last of the garden.
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Today: dried beans (Christmas Lima and Cherokee Trail of Tears), Reagan’s sunflowers and luffa, the last of the tomatoes (gah! they just won’t quit!), and the rhubarb.
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Tomorrow: chopping, freezing, cooking, and canning.
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Months from now: bellies full of homegrown garden goodness.
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#homegrown #gardenlife #farmlife #preservingtheharvest #garden #fallgarden #ohiogarden #growyourown #sunflower #familygarden #kidsinthegarden #gardeningwithkids #happyfall #harvesttime #harvest #fallharvest
Hello, fall. 👋 You’re long overdue and oh so Hello, fall. 👋 You’re long overdue and oh so welcome.
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This morning was the first I stayed in a long sleeve shirt to milk and didn’t have sweat dripping down my face.
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It’s the first the temperature has dipped below 60* (even though the humidity is a resilient 100% what with the rain, mist, and fog).
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Technically, our first frost date should have been this week, but Ohio’s holding out and it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen for another two weeks at least.
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In any case, it finally (finally!) feels like fall and oh am I ever so here for it. So much so that once the must-do chores are done (yogourt, butter, beans and laundry), I fully intend to curl up on the couch with a cuppa and read.
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#fallonthefarm #hellofall #fall #fallleaves #fallscene #farmlife #farm #ohiofarm #smallfarmcharm #simplehappycountrylife #homesteadmama #home #ilovefall #october
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