Here at Silver Maple Farms, we raise Jersey cows. The Jersey breed is the second largest (in number) breed of dairy cattle in the world. Jersey's are on the smaller side of the dairy cattle breeds and are famous for high milk production and high butter fat in their milk.
The love of Jerseys started before Dad's family moved to Albion. The farm came with Holsteins when they bought it so the herd became a mix.
For a while when we were younger, our herd was half and half Holsteins and Jerseys. Jerseys were keeping the butter fat high and the Holsteins were keeping the milk tank full.
As the boys got older, the more interested they became in breeding and growing the herd.
We breed our cows by AI (artificial insemination)....look it up ;).
For a long time, Dad was the only one who could do the breeding until Ryan took the breeding class when he was a teenager. Later on, Tyler took the breeding class as well.
There is a lot that goes into breeding! You have to spend time researching bulls,studying traits and genetics to make sure you choose the right bulls for your herd.
Over the years Dad and The Boys have built a strong dairy herd. The Jerseys have slowly taken over since then. We are now about 95% Jerseys. We register them all into the American Jersey Cattle Association. That's where our prefix comes from. SMJ - Silver Maple Jerseys.
We aren't breeding our Holsteins with Holstein semen anymore, we are only breeding them with dairy beef bulls.
We built the Jersey herd up with good breeding that raised their milk production so instead of just pulling their weight in high butter fat, they were now excelling in quantity.
Because of this good and successful breeding, Dad received the Master Breeder award from the New England Jersey Breeders. Quite a big deal in the Dairy/breeding industry.
I won't sit here and tell you that Jerseys are an easy animal to raise. They are very fragile at a young age. Just one gust of a cold wind can knock everything out of a Jersey calf. Their immune systems are weak, so its very important that they get good colostrum and the antibodies they need to have a good start. You also have a very small window to get those antibodies into that calf. If not in the right amount of time, it can be too late. The unfortunate part of farming is that not every calf makes it. Some get a bad start and are behind the mark before life even starts for them. Some have a terrific start, but 10 days later they die. Sometimes you can go months without loosing a calf. Sometimes you go through months that more calves have died than have lived. It's the chance you take. Farming is a risk all around. Thankfully, we have a great Vet team that is always on their A game helping us problem solve during those not so good times.
It takes a patient person to raise Jersey calves. That's Mom. She has solely fed our calves for at least 6 years. Before that, she and my grandmother shared the duties of feeding twice a day.
When a calf is born, we almost immediately take the calf into the barn to a warm pen with hay and sawdust and a heat lamp to keep it dry and warm. Why do we separate mom and baby? No, we aren't being cruel. We are actually keeping the calf safe. We don't want the calf to suck off her mother because there could be bacteria on the mothers udder that will infect the calf before she gets her immune boosting antibodies. Another reason is that when our cows give birth, they are in a group of other mother cows (unless separated due to birthing troubles) who are curious of the new baby and can end up trampling the calf to death. Contrary to popular belief, we are not being cruel by separating mom and baby.
The new calf is given a series of shots that are vitamins to help give her a jump start before she has her first gallon of colostrum. She then gets 2 more quarts within twelve hours of the first gallon.
She'll get bottle fed twice a day for at least 2 days before she would be put onto a pail.
We currently have automatic feeders instead of our previous pail system.
Our calves are given RFID tags in their ear when they are born to read in the feeder. Once the calf is programmed in, her number reads in the computer and it will mix up the amount of milk that specific calf needs. When first put onto the machine, the calf gets 15 feedings a day (equals to about 2 gallons of milk) that they can eat whenever they would like. As they get bigger, the feedings increase to 20 feedings a day ( equals to 2 1/2 gallons of milk) until they are old enough to wean at about 8 weeks old. At that point they are moved from the group feeding pen to a separate pen where they continue to be fed grain and water. Once they are adjusted to that feeding plan, we gradually move them from pen to pen according to age until they are old enough to breed.
What about the Momma cows? What happens to them?
After they give birth, we move them to the milk barn. Their milk is separated from the milk tank for the first couple of milkings because of the dry treatment they got when they were dried off to calve.
Her first milking is saved for her calf. If her colostrum tests high enough in nutrients, we will feed it to her calf or freeze it for later.
Once her milk is clear of the dry treatment, her milk will then go into the tank. Once she comes back into heat ( just like a human cycle) she'll get bred again and if she settles, she will eventually be dried off to have another calf.
Dairy Farming isn't just feeding and milking cows! There is SO MUCH that goes into making it full circle. It takes a team and we are so grateful and blessed to have such an amazing team of family and farm hands that all work together for the same goal.
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