Should I buy a cow?

Unless you’re a farmer, you shouldn’t have a cow.

Cows can get expensive. I worked at a dairy barn for a while. Two things occupy their time. Eating and sleeping. Milkings is tricky at first, but like anything, gets easier with practice. I highly suggest you don’t get one unless you get many and plan to get into the dairy or meat business. Either way, I hope your ready for some work. Good thought for a laugh though.

@Randy – Thanks. lol Milk is $4.15/gal here. I may just start drinking gas. That might be less hassle.

Hahaha, yeah I know what you mean! Just wait, I’m sure gas will catch it soon if it continues on the path its been on. Buy a cow…. The more I think about it, the funnier it becomes! Hahaha!

i think cow poo is a major reason not to get into the dairy business.

Yeah, you need more than one cow to turn a profit, plus all the sterilization, pasteurization, homogenization, and all those other -ization things… Then you’d need the land, feed, stables, and as Sam pointed put, there’s that other stinky matter.

Funny question though… I can picture some random person galloping down the street on a cow…

And if you have one nearby, consider shopping at ALDI for food, it’s all brand name stuff, even though the names are off brand. Milk is a lot cheaper there than any other big name grocery store you go to.

Do you get the milk for free?

You need to do a serious amount of research and then make a decision. I’d recommend seeking out a dairy or agricultural club (?) in your area and spend days if not weeks learning how to properly care for livestock.

If you get a cow, forget about going on vacation or going away for the weekend and staying out all hours. It will need to be milked twice a day. It will poop. It will eat. A lot, in both cases.

Get a goat or sheep and get used to drinking that milk instead. Great question!

Cows are a huge investment, and require some maintenance. They don’t require a lot of time, but they do require a lot of attention, and it’s on their schedule, not yours. It’s very likely that it will cost you more than $4.15 a day to feed and board a cow, even before you start considering veterinary bills and the cost of the cow; do you drink more than a gallon of milk a day?

And do remember that cows have to be bred and to calf yearly or so in order to lactate. Otherwise, you have a large, friendly, fly-covered, and hungry pet.

One ewe or nanny won’t cut it either. And there few things more fun to have around then a billy goat. (Read Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver to see the labour involved in raising sheep.)

@gail: a friend of mine has a flock of sheep that she raises for wool, and I don’t get the impression from her that it’s that much work. Of course, work that you enjoy doing doesn’t seem like work….

Cows are dirty big animals. Best start with chickens you can keep then anywhere even in a small garden in London, we got a donkey they are good to have and well you should work your way up to a cow.

yes, cows are so cute. I wan one now.

Slightly off-topic and better suited for yesterday’s debauchery…

What do you get when you cross a brown chicken with a brown cow?

brown chicken brown cow

if you don’t get it, think “bow chicka bow wow”

Well, if you can’t get the milk for free…

I think cows r really cool!! But it would look pretty random if you bought one!! Haha. And it would kinda pricey! :s

@cwilbur; my neighbors, when they moved from Westchester County to the end of my road, naively bought a small herd of sheep, thinking that the sheep would keep the hillside mowed and would add a charming aspect to the road. Well, charming they were, but so much work (particularly since the three children in the family broke their promise to tend the herd) that after a few years, the sheep were gone. And I learned, sadly, that they were all sold to be slaughtered and turned into chops or stew.

And I made a mistake about “Prodigal Summer.” The woman raised goats (not sheep)for one season only. But she had to have two billy goats to impregnate the herd so that she had enough kids to sell at market.

Hmmm…looks like I might cancel the cow idea. Sounds really expensive and time consuming and my only feebies would be milk and fertilizer for the garden. And did someone say “no weekends away”? HA to that.

Too bad I quite breastfeeding…it would have been cheaper and less time consuming to milk myself. But let’s not go there. lmfao