Should I buy a cow?

Well first having owned more than one cow in my life time. It is going to take a lot to care for the cow. However the by products of having a cow are great. You can buy rennet and make your own cottage cheese and even cheese. As to recipes I would have to go look at my old index file. You get milk, you get cream, you need the cream to make ice cream and you need eggs, rock salt an ice cream machine or old handle crank bucket. You make a custard using cream, sugar and eggs and any flavor you want to add and then using ice and rock salt you make the ice cream. It is quite good. Other by products you get are buttermilk and butter you can whip or churn. Plus you get meat from the calf if you have a bull calf and raise it up or if a heifer you could raise another cow. You get fertilizer for your garden and you get a cow that if your kind is happy to see you especially if you give her carrots or grain. However taking care of a cow is a lot of responsibility, They drink about 30 gallons of water per day. You need pasture for spring, summer and fall and at least a ton of good alfalfa hay for winter, you need medication like bag balm for injuries she does to her udder and teats. You need to watch for mastitis and milk that quarter out on the ground and treat the quarter with hot packs. You need to watch for bot and treat that. Watch for hoof problems too. You will either need a bull o find an A1 insemination person and watch when she comes into season and catch her just at the right time so she will have another calf. You will need to dry her up at least 2 months before her calf is born to give her a rest period and buy milk and things during that time. You need to grain her a 3 lb can of grain twice a day with molasses and give her a warm molasses and water mixture to drink when her calf is born. You need to take care of the calf with shots and feed the calf with a bottle and put it in a pen from it's mother. You need to milk you cow 2 times per day and at the same time or find someone else to milk for you. You can find people who will want to buy raw whole milk though to help with some of the expense. Taking care of the milk is also important. It must be strained through a filter and you need clean sterile jars and containers. You never wash the containers or jars in hotwater first. You must first rinse all containers, glass and metal in cold water. If you don't you will get milk stone. It will make you sick. When milking the cow you need to take a soft warm cloth with you and warm water and talk gentle to her and give her grain. You need to wash her udder and teats off as she lies down and gets manure and dirt on her and it needs cleaned. Watching carefully for cuts, scratches and checking for mastitis an teat hot and hard. Use bag balm to treat the cuts and abraisons and things. Dry the udder and teats off with a soft cloth. Then milk her. Milking in itself takes talent and practice. If she does not like how your milking she will kick you or flap her poopy tail in your face. There are benifits and drawbacks from having a cow. Good luck if you buy one. They are very high maintaince.

lol I don't think paying $200 a week for feed and cubes is worth it. My parents have some cows and it cost over $200 for them to feed the cows every week. Sticking to the $5 pint is a much better option hehe. I tried freezing milk with oreo cookies to make cookies and cream flavor ice cream....but of course it didn't turn out good. I was only a kid at the time and we ran out of ice cream!

That's pretty funny! But, in reality, buying a whole cow isn't worth it because you have to feed the cow a lot of food to get it to produce healthy milk. Also, you have to breed the cow once in a while or the milk dries up, so you have to pay for a stud. And, there's vet bills, too, or the cow might have an infection or be sick on some days. So, unless you want a cow for a pet and can afford it, it's not practical if you are trying to save on milk. If it were me, I would be looking for co-ops or club stores that sell milk in bulk at lower prices since you use so much.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who freezes their milk in the ice cube tray.

Short of buying a cow (which is a LOT of work), I would recommend saving money on milk, cream, and ice cream by buying it at big stores like Sam's Club, BJ's, and Costco. They are much cheaper, and have good quality food.

lol What a great idea!! :)))))) Well, I never wanted to have a cow (my grandparents & uncle have them..) & we get milk from a local farmer.. I have always wanted to have a few sheep or goats though!! & they eat less than a cow! he he.. (though the milk tastes differently...) I really like some homemade sheep or goat cheese/cottage cheese... Now milk or yoghurt frozen in ice-cubes - I never thought of that!! :) lol We only froze a mush made of raspberries (sieved through a cloth), or raspberry-yoghurt/cream combo! (Yummy too!!:)) Frozen strawberries work well as 'icecream' too! :) Did you get an ice-cream machine, & what did you get? Been thinking about one for a while, too!! :)