Keeping a Family Cow: The Complete Guide for Home-Scale, Holistic Dairy

Description

The cow is the most productive, efficient creature on earth. She will give you fresh milk, cream, butter, and cheese, build human health and happiness, and even turn a profit for homesteaders and small farmers who seek to offer her bounty to the local market or neighborhood. She will provide rich manure for your garden or land, and will enrich the quality of your life as you benefit from the resources of the natural world. Quite simply, the family that keeps a cow is a healthy family. Originally published in the early 1970s as The Cow Economy and reprinted many times over, Keeping a Family Cow has launched thousands of holistic small-scale dairy farmers and families raising healthy cows in accordance with their true nature. The book offers answers to frequently asked questions like, 'Should I get a cow?' and 'How Much Space do I need?' in addition to extensive information on: • The health benefits of untreated milk; • How to milk a cow effectively and with ease; • Choosing your dairy breed; • Drying off your cow; • Details on calving and breeding; • The importance of hay quality and how to properly feed your cow; • Fencing and pasture management; • Housing, water systems, and other supplies; • Treating milk fever and other diseases and disorders; • Making butter, yogurt, and cheese, and, of course . . . • . . . Everything else the conventional dairy industry doesn’t tell us! Now revised and updated to incorporate new information on the raw milk debate, the conversation about A1 vs. A2 milk, fully grassfed dairies, more practical advice for everyday chores, and updated procedures for cow emergencies. Keeping a Family Cow has not only stood the test of time, it still remains the go-to inspirational manual for raising a family milk cow nearly forty years after its first publication. Joann Grohman has a lifetime of practical experience that has been bound into this one volume and presented in the spirit of fun and learning. Review: Highly recommended - What a brilliant book and a dose of practical common sense in a world disconnected to where or how our food arrives on our plate. The author makes a good case for keeping a family cow but along the way provides a number of home truths about the modern food industry. If you are thinking about getting a cow and have little experience I would suggest this book is essential. If you are merely interested in the good life and what it might entail it is still a great read. Recommended without reservation! Review: Brilliant read! - This is a fantastic book I plan on keeping a jersey and this book is a great read and really makes me feel a lot more ready and prepared to take on my own dairy cow! Highly recommend if your thinking of acquiring a dairy cow!