So you have multiple Jerseys? How much milk do you get and what do you do with it all?
Discussion
Milking once per day we get about 2.5 gallons on the one.
Another is calf sharing (so we could leave the homestead for a couple days if we wanted) so we get 1-3 gallons depending on what time we separate the calves.
We sell some milk which I can say publicly because it is legal in Missouri.
We have also been making yogurt and cheese.
The most recent rounds of cheese (about 30 pounds total from several batches) will be ready for us to eat in about a month.
Awesome! Yeah one thing keeping me from ever having cattle is even a mini Jersey makes a ton of milk. I cook with cream and butter all the time and drink a fair amount of whole milk sometimes, but even with that, there would be so much left that Iβd have to sell or make cheese or skyr or something.
Iβm discovering that whey from straining yogurt is pretty good to rehydrate creamy sauces, though!
Look into calf sharing.
You could milk just a gallon at each milking and then quit once you have pulled that.
Then you put the calf back with momma and only milk again when you want to.
Depending on the breed, the calf will stay on momma for well over a year, keeping her supply up. And at the same time, it also grows the calf amazingly well.
Then you can decide if you are breeding the cow again and drying her out once her supply stops.
Then you just start the cycle over again.
Tons of other uses for the milk!
Others we have done or heard of:
-Feeding to chickens (research he American Bresse as an added bonus)
-Homemade raw yogurt
-Supplement for garden plants
-Mozzarella is very easy, cheddar is more work
-know a guy who make smoothies with raw yogurt and liver, he says they are great
-some people will use the excess milk to soak their feet, they say is is great for the skin
And cows are so much better than mowing if you have the grass already.