Why we bought a Family Cow | More than just Milk

We bought a family cow. We ain't playing, are we? We jump right back into it, don't we? Did a lot of driving yesterday. Big day after Carlsbad Caverns. Drove about 250 miles. We're on our way to a fan's house. What? There's kids? Yes, there's kids there. He's very excited about the kids. Finally some kids at one of these farms, right? A vlog fan, a Market Farmer. We got to make sure we get there. So the name of the game is 350 miles to a place called Buda, Texas. Texas. Had some problems with the bus yesterday. Some— those belts snapped again. I'm on the phone with Jeff. He thinks he's got the problem, but— and he's got a friend near Buda, so we just got to get to Buda. We got some belts, we got some belt conditioner. We just got to get the 350 miles to Buda. We made it further than that last time, so— wow, thank you, Jonah. You just about did this. Here we go, Buda, Texas, here we come. Travel's been going good. Just pulling over. We smell a little smoke, like fire smoke. I don't think it's these belts, but we're gonna just double-check. I would rather be on the offense and not the defense. Change these belts before they break. They look fine. Okay, we're going back on the road. All right, we are at the rest stop. Gonna get some lunch. The belt's hanging, hanging tough. Checked it once, gonna check it again here. In other news, it's time to start thinking about home. A lot of you wonder and are saying you miss home, and guess what? We miss home too. Yeah. How bad do you miss home?

I miss it a lot. I miss it way more than I thought I was going to.

Folks say, we— in the comments, you know, we miss you being at home. Well, guess what? So do we. We're hunting a cow.

Yeah.

I'll just get straight to it. We're hunting a cow. We're planning on at this point, now plans change, a Jersey cow for family cow for having our own milk. And if we get a Jersey, we'll get more milk.

Yeah, so we're gonna get— we're thinking about a Jersey, but we're getting a completely grass-fed Jersey, one that has never been fed grain. So her production is going to be a lot lower than a Jersey that has been fed grain. So that's why we're considering a Jersey, because like a Jersey that has been that does get grain and stuff, they can give lots and lots and lots of milk, which we don't want that, but we do want more milk than an American Milking Devon can get. When we were at Full Circle Farm in Florida, Dennis had Jersey cows that were completely grass-fed. He did give them alfalfa pellets, but they did produce less milk, and he recognized that, and—

but still more milk than American Milking Devons.

Yeah, still more milk than we ever got with Willow, um, on once-a-day milking. Now, we probably could have gotten more milk from willow if we would have.

Yeah, and maybe the American Milking Devon is more hardy and can eat more variety. I don't know.

Oh, I didn't think about that.

But, uh, we've been building our grass for quite a while, and I think it's good quality grass. If we're talking about just one and then a bull, I don't see a problem with that. And then supplementing, like Dennis— boy, did I throw something in that you forgot to think about?

Yeah, so one thing with like the I'm just gonna have to read my book more and be more familiar with— well, I guess Dennis does.

We're gonna implement the minerals. We're gonna implement the Greg Judy 16-mineral sled. Uh, maybe we'll call Dennis.

We have Dennis too.

Dennis from Full Circle Farm.

Yeah. So, okay, I'm feeling okay about it again. I was like— so one thing I really liked about the American Milking Devons was that they were a heritage breed and that they were super hardy. And I read the book Keeping a Family Cow when we first got our cow. Or before we got her, there's like all these things that can go wrong with milk cows, and I was like scared to death. And then I talked to somebody else who had an American Milking Devon, and I asked her about these things, and I was like, are we gonna have these problems like this book says? And she's like, no, like, we're— I never have any of those problems, blah blah. And I'm on some milking cow boards and stuff like that, so I see the problems that people have, and I'm just like, you know, it's, it's kind of scary. I mean, all that. So that's why I was thinking like maybe we don't want to get a Jersey, but I think it'll be okay. I think that if we take precautions and we try to, you know, maybe we need to put a call into Dennis first.

But anyway, so we've been contacting this farm. Yes, Judy has, and we found one. We found one that's for sale and they deliver. There she is. That could be our cow, Lily. What would you think? They're small. They're like not even 4 feet tall.

I think, yeah, jerseys don't get super big.

Okay, so we've got an email from them.

I've been talking to them and I got an email.

And what was your last question to them?

My last question was like, oh, will they hold her until they hold her? Because they wanted to sell her. They, they got the health certificate and everything for her already, so Well, now we're dying because they wanted to, you know, they wanted to make sure that there was no problems. And so, yeah, okay, so will they hold her?

Will they share a cow?

Yes. Okay, okay, this would be new to us, but here's how we see it working. We deliver Violet to Fletcher in the first week of January with the 200 miles we offer free for delivery.

January, nothing like hitting the ground running.

So we would pay them for the— so they deliver to a certain mile radius.

Yeah.

And then we asked if they would deliver past that since we're obviously past it. I know we don't have to travel for right now, and she's not on the way home from where we're going. Said that they would do it, they would keep her and all of this. They just wanted to know if it works.

We're gonna pull the trigger. Let's call Dennis first, right? Yeah, you think you want to pull the trigger?

I think you should call Dennis.

Okay, uh, he'll probably be in getting out of the heat in the Florida sun. Call Dennis. Which Dennis? Not that one. Oh yeah, that one. Calling Dennis home. Hey Dennis, it's Justin Rhodes.

Hey Justin Rhodes.

Hey, how are you doing?

We're good, man.

How y'all? Good, actually we're heading east. Well, we're in Texas, we're still filming in Texas, but then We got the other southeast states and then we're heading home. Hey, is it okay with you if I ask you a cow question?

Sure.

We found a Jersey. We're thinking maybe if we got a Jersey we'd get a little more milk.

Family cow, a lot of them are. A lot of them are not. They're too hyped up and too halting. Like, I mean, like my friend Tony says, they're 20 years behind the halting and being hyped up. Oh. Um, so is she AA2 tested, and is she, uh, you know, a long-legged cow, or is she a short grass, uh, looking female?

Come here, Rebecca. Yeah, she is AA2. Can I send you a picture?

Please do.

Well, thanks.

I mean, has she been grain fed before?

Hey Rebecca, has she been grain fed ever? No. Good. Okay, well, Dennis, we'll email you, man.

Yeah, do. And I guess who's visiting us, uh, this weekend?

Uh, he texted me.

He texted me. He's excited. Hey, that was fun. He was talking about David's Pasture. David's Pasture is going to go see them. I hooked them two up because Dennis has been doing this a while. David's Pasture is, is just starting off, and I thought they had a lot in common. And I'm so happy they're getting together. And David's Pasture is traveling from Missouri to go to Florida. That just excites me, you know, thinking about getting into dairy. So I'm glad to make connections like that. Love it, love it. Didn't see that coming with this tour, but I'm glad that's a part of it. What are you doing? I leave for a second go in the back and you're gonna be in a pink dress. Oh my gosh, Walmart. Gotta love her. Got a love and hate relationship with that place. But Becky, what? We've heard back from Dennis. You remember I emailed him? Yes, sending pictures of that cow. Yeah, asked him what do you think. Here, let's pull it up. Are you nervous?

A little bit. You don't—

you don't fluff, Dennis. Oh wow, thank you, thank you for getting some batteries. What's he saying?

He says she's a good— he thinks she's a good cow. Oh, she's not long-legged nor extremely short like I like, but I'm guessing will be a good 100% grass.

But what is his overall rating?

Good.

She'll be good for 100%. Grass-fed family cow. Yep. So you're gonna pull the trigger?

Yeah.

Okay, we bought a family cow. We ain't playing, are we? We jump right back into it, don't we? Don't— coming in January, huh?

Well, I'm excited.

Yes, we're gonna have manure right away. We're gonna have something on that soil right away. Yep. We'll probably have plenty of grass for it. Jonah, we're getting a cow. Have y'all seen a picture? You want to see a picture?

Here she is.

There you guys want to see her?

You like her? You think she'll be a good cow for us?

Well, we've arrived safely. So we are at a great farm near Austin, Texas. I'm gonna move the pigs tomorrow at least.