Bossie...the Irish Dexter House Cow

 

Meet Bossie (and she is very Bossie indeed). She is a 4 yr old  heritage breed miniature cow. She is well suited for our small barn and barnyard, and reminiscent of our ancestors cows...small and compact, not huge milkers like today's breeds.  As you might notice she has horns.  I was not crazy about that...but tune back in to see my unique solution to this dangerous situation.  Miss Bossie is very cooperative, but not really a love bug...yet. She is all about the feed. You get a scoop of feed or a bag of bread, and she will follow you anywhere.  She is fine with being milked, by hand or with the machine. I prefer the machine...it gets finished in 1/4 the time it would take me to hand milk her.  Her milk is very white and creamy. Once it sits in the refrigerator for 12 hours or more...you will see a thick white line at the top.  This is the wonderful cream that I use for ice cream, butter, sour cream, cream cheese...well, I would make all this if she gave 5 gallons a day like a Jersey. As it is now, she is giving us 1 to 1 1/4 gallon a day being milked once per day, and feeding her bull calf too.  As time goes one, perhaps she will give more once he's weaned.  I love her compact size, and she eats 1/2 or less than our Jersey did, and stays nice and plump.  I highly recommend this dual purpose breed for a family milker...and the calves for beef.