Dairy animals

Health and Care

Water

Dairy animals should always have free access to clean, fresh water. Make sure your set-up maintains water pressure so that water is always available. Milk is about 85% water, so lactating animals will have greater water consumption than non-lactating animals. For example, a goat producing 1 gallon of milk per day will require about 2 gallons of water per day, whereas a non-lactating goat would only need about 1 gallon of water per day.

Dairy cows consume 30 - 50% of their daily water within an hour of milking. If dairy cows crowd the drinkers at that time, it if important to make sure there is enough space at all the drinkers and a fast enough water refill rate, so at least 20% of animals can drink at once.

Temperature and production level will influence how much water a milking animal will need. A cow producing 40 lbs/day of milk at 40° F temperatures will drink about 18.4 gallons/day while a cow producing 100 lbs/day at temperatures of 80° F will drink about 35.6 gallons/day.

Vaccines

Vaccines can prevent serious disease by stimulating the immune system with killed or modified versions of disease-causing microbes. Generally, dairy animals should be vaccinated for clostridial diseases 4 - 6 weeks before giving birth, in order to pass that immunity on to their offspring. Close partnership with your veterinarian to determine a cost-effective and protective vaccine program for your individual dairy herd is necessary. Learn more on our respective livestock pages (cattle, meat goats, sheep).

Parasite Control

Not all parasites will be a problem in every herd. It is important to work closely with your veterinarian to determine which parasites affect your dairy herd, as well as a cost-effective and achievable parasite control program (which includes pasture management, nutrition, and deworming as needed).

Mastitis

Mastitis is inflammation or infection of the udder and is a big concern with dairy animals. Proper sanitation of the teat, containing milk to buckets, proper milking techniques, and providing adequate and clean bedding for your milking animals will help prevent mastitis or reduce its spread. Signs of mastitis include hot udder, abnormal milk, red udder or teat, and swollen udder.

Figure 2: Dairy sheep grazing on pasture in California. Photo/courtesy Toluma Farms.

Housing and Fencing

Housing

Commercial milk dairy buildings have certain requirements and standards that must be followed. This is important to keep in mind if you are considering selling your dairy products. More can be read in the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) Guidelines for the Sanitary Construction of Market Milk Dairy Farms.

Each adult dairy goat or sheep needs at least 15 to 30 square feet. Each 1,200 lb adult cow needs a stall that is at least 32 square feet.

Ample bedding is important to keep milking animals clean and healthy.

Fencing

Cows can be contained with a single electric wire. Sheep require at least 3 electric wires or netting to be contained. Goats will require full net electric fence because they like to climb more than the other two species.

Having a good, permanent perimeter fence around your property is crucial, in case your dairy animals get out of their stalls or interior fences. For more information, you can look at state regulations and county estray (open range) ordinances for perimeter fencing.

Nutrition

Dairy animals are ruminants, so they convert plant material into proteins and carbohydrates in the form of milk, meat, and fat. It is important to balance feeding forages (with slower digestibility) and grains (with faster digestibility). Hay that doesn't have enough protein or energy will result in poor performance (thin animals and low milk production). Too much grain is not good for the microbes in the ruminant's rumen (causing acidosis) and can also reduce milk production.

Whether you are raising dairy goats, sheep or cows, the nutritional demands of a pregnant or lactating animal will be greater than dry animals. See the nutrition sections on our beef cattle, sheep, and meat goat pages to better understand how these nutritional shifts are reflected in daily % protein and energy requirements.

Figure 3: A dairy cow eats hay from a feeder. Photo/courtesy Sequoia Williams.

Reproductive Cycle and Milking

Flushing

Flushing is the practice of providing extra nutrition (as grain, alfalfa, or high-quality pasture) to female animals 3 - 4 weeks before male animals are introduced and continuing until about a month after males are removed. The resultant increase in body condition due to flushing usually increases conception and birthing rates.

Lactation Period

The lactation period is the period between one calving and the next when the dairy animal is lactating. The dry period is the period between one calving and the next when the animal is not lactating. Technically, a continuous lactating system (without a dry period at all) is possible but comes with a decrease in milk production and animal condition. The recommended dry period allows the dairy animal to improve body condition and build reserves for early lactation, rebuild mammary tissue, and has been shown to maximize milk production in the following lactation. Shorter dry periods will reduce milk production in the following lactation, especially in first time lactation animals.

Dairy Cows

Gestation length for cows is about 9 months. Cows must be bred within 80 - 85 days after calving to maintain a 365-day calving interval. Therefore, adequate nutrition (through flushing) and good planning are crucial with dairy cows.

For dairy cows, it is common for calves to be removed from their moms within 24 hours of birth and raised on milk replacer. They are then raised in hutches until they are weaned off the milk replacer at about 6 - 8 weeks.

Once calves are removed, cows should be milked at the same time every day with no more than 11 - 13 hours between milkings, to get good milk production. Cows have a 305-day lactating period with a 45 – 65 day dry period in a 12 - 13 month reproductive cycle.

Dairy Goats and Sheep

Gestation length for does and ewes is about 5 months. The average birth rate for goats is 2.2 kids per year, while ewes have a slightly lower birth rate.

Does and ewes should not be bred until they are at least 65% of their full weight or older than 7 months of age.

Most goat and sheep breeds naturally can only become pregnant in the fall (short day breeders), with subsequent kids/lambs being born in the spring. In the fall, females will come into heat, or be receptive to mating, every 17 or 21 days (sheep and goats, respectively). Does and ewes will be in heat for about 24 hours and this is the only time they will allow a buck or ram to mate with her.

There are a wide variety of timings utilized for milking goats and sheep. On some dairy operations, ewes and does are not milked until their young are weaned at about 4 - 8 weeks and then fed milk replacer. In another dairy sheep system, ewes suckle their lambs during the day, are separated from them at night and then milked the following morning. After the lambs are weaned at 30 days, the ewes are milked twice per day. Some producers treat goat kids more like dairy calves – they are removed from the dam earlier (around 4 days) and put on a milk replacer. Then, hay and grain are provided to the kids, and they are weaned from the milk replacer once the majority of what they consume is grain and hay.

Goats have a 305-day lactating period with about a 60 day dry period. Sheep have a shorter lactating period (120 - 240 days) because shorter day length will naturally reduce or stop milk production. This leads to a dry period for sheep of about 125 – 245 days. For herds larger than 15 - 20 goats or sheep, it is often more economical and practical to milk using a machine. Sheep and goats have two teats, so any milking machine may have to be modified if it is also used to milk cows (which have 4 teats).