Post
by farmerjan » Fri Sep 02, 2016 10:20 pm
Wanted to add my 2 cents since I have been a milk tester for over 25 years and have had dozens of "family milk cows". The jersey/holstein cross has pros and cons; yes they tend to be smaller, tend to have more butterfat, most tend to eat a little less, tend to be more fertile and breed back quicker, than the straight holsteins. Some of the next generation do tend to be less proficient but not all. Have one farmer that has used the 3rd cross to a swedish red and gotten exceptional production with a much "beefier" animal that stays in almost fat condition and breeds back well. They are a good animal to keep a bull calf out of for beef if bred beef. One farmer I tested for also loves them but 3 have hated the original jer/hol cross. Many have crummy dispositions, bad attitudes and tend to be more kicky. I have acquired over a dozen over the years when a holstein breeder was desperate to get a cow bred back and used a jersey as last result and didn't want a crossbred heifer calf to raise.
One of the biggest problems I have seen over the years, including in the ones I have raised, besides the attitude problems, they tend to lose their udder support in the 3rd or 4th lactation. The rear udder drops and the center ligament support goes to be nice and the teats will stick out to the sides when fresh. Since they are often shorter than the holstein, they can't afford for their udder to drop. I always breed my crosses back to jersey to try to breed out the hol. or breed them beef if they are not the best producers and if they have a heifer, she will go into the "beef" herd and they always milk alot, but the next generation beef calf will have some of the "finer" traits and will not sell as well as a straight beef calf. Great to eat yourself.
I regularly test 15-20 herds a month, same herds every month and have seen alot of the crosses come and go. Graziers like the swedish red or other similiar cross because they don't lose condition. Jerseys actually do quite well grazing. The bull calves aren't worth much to sell but they are the BEST beef and will weigh 800-1000 at 2 1/2 yrs and don't have alot of fat on them. Meat is tender, and has a sweeter taste and that is all the beef I have eaten for 20 or more years. My favourite breed is guernsey, but they have tried to breed them into super producers and have lost all the vigor. The old style guernsey was a little coarse and raw-boned, not the best producer but the milk is high in beta-carotene with the yellow color and makes the best butter. I have a guernsey, a 1/2 guernsey/hol that is black&white, and a 1/2guernsey 1/2 jersey that is brindle that is being bred back guernsey, 2 jersey cows, 2 jersey heifers, and a blk&white 1/2 jer 1/2 hol, and her blk&white 3/4 jer 1/4 hol daughter. They are nurse cows and raise an avg 3 calves each per year plus I milk the one jersey once a day for the house with her calf getting the rest. She is a young cow off a dairy that got mastitis as a heifer, lost one quarter so isn't the greatest milker but does all I need for her to do. They get a little grain when I am getting the calves established, and no silage, just mostly hay and also some alfalfa when they are getting established and all the pasture they want. I also have milked an angus jersey cross in the past and some holstein angus and holstein hereford crosses, but mostly get a second calf on them and let them raise 2 per lactation. The holstein crosses get thin on just pasture with 2 calves on them, but the jerseys fare better.
Don't know if this is too much information, I guess I got carried away but I like my dairy cows and wished someone had given me more advice when I was younger. Also, if you are into the caesin thing, guernseys and jerseys are the only 2 dairy breeds that are well known for the A2 beta caesin and it is touted to be more digestible and fewer incidences of lactose intolerance with it; there is an interesting article on DR. MERCOLA's website about the 'devil in the milk' and the guernsey breeders website on the properties of guernsey milk.
