Keeping a Family Cow: The Complete Guide for Home-Scale, Holistic Dairy Producers, 3rd Edition

by Joann S. Grohman

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603584784
Publisher:	Chelsea Green Publishing
Publication date:	10/16/2013
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	296
Sales rank:	532,780
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Home food production was Joann Grohman’s lifelong enthusiasm. She started milking cows in 1975 and could no longer imagine life without one. She declared that health and happiness can’t be teased apart and that your dairy cow supports both. Joann found that the prevailing beliefs about farming and nutrition—which can’t be teased apart either—have been generated by people who have never gotten their hands dirty. Very little of what they teach would survive a year on the farm. Real farming and real food leave you feeling there is a tomorrow. “In the morning your cow will be waiting.”

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 A Brief History of Dairying 1

2 What Makes Cows So Important? 19

3 Milking Your Cow 37

4 Making Butter, Yogurt, and Cheese 59

5 Drying Off and Milk Fever Prevention Diet 79

6 Calving 87

7 The Calf 95

8 Breeding 119

9 Feeding Your Cow 129

10 Your Organic Cow 171

11 Fencing 181

12 Making Hay 185

13 Pasture Management 195

14 Housing, Water Systems, and Supplies 203

15 Treating Milk Fever 211

16 Diseases and Disorders 221

17 Safety around Your Cow 245

18 Cattle Breeds 251

19 Your Cow Economy 259

Appendix: Dairy Cow Anatomy 263

Sources 265

Bibliography 267

Index 271

Editorial Reviews

"Many with small rural properties have opted out of the industrial food system by obtaining a family cow. Keeping a Family Cow is the only owner's manual you will need. In elegant, readable prose, Grohman guides the neophyte through all the steps, from choosing a cow, to milking her, to making butter, yogurt, and cheese. Highly recommended for anyone interested in grass-based farming and nutrient-dense food—not just family cow owners—Keeping a Family Cow will instill great appreciation for the sacred bond between domesticated animals and the human beings who care for them."—Sally Fallon Morell, President, The Weston A. Price Foundation

“Joann Grohman is level-headed and sure-footed when it comes to helping families build a lasting partnership with a homestead cow. Her work remains an important reference for anyone considering bringing these gentle creatures into their lives.”—Shannon Hayes, author of Long Way on a Little, The Farmer and the Grill, The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, and Radical Homemakers 

From the Publisher