rty007
Lovin' The Homestead
here comes the question:
If you were to choose between 4 cows (of a very diary oriented, well fitted for the region breed averaging 3000 kg of milk per lactation) or 30 sheep, to start a small diary, which one would you choose. I hope you could mention:
1. Initial cost of equipment for milking: couse i figure for 4 cows a small milker would do ( even doing that by hand wouldn't be a problem), while a 30 sheep herd would need some more serious setup, or at least a much more complex milker.
2. Labour: I figure a 4 cow herd would take less time to maintain then a 30 sheep herd, to shovel the poo out, check the herd, trim( or whatever you call the process) hoofs, check for some ugly thingies running around in the wool.
3 Potential profit. even though, sheep yield less milk, they seem to have more fat, which means that they yield more cheese out of a gallon.
4 Feed cost comparison
If you were to choose between 4 cows (of a very diary oriented, well fitted for the region breed averaging 3000 kg of milk per lactation) or 30 sheep, to start a small diary, which one would you choose. I hope you could mention:
1. Initial cost of equipment for milking: couse i figure for 4 cows a small milker would do ( even doing that by hand wouldn't be a problem), while a 30 sheep herd would need some more serious setup, or at least a much more complex milker.
2. Labour: I figure a 4 cow herd would take less time to maintain then a 30 sheep herd, to shovel the poo out, check the herd, trim( or whatever you call the process) hoofs, check for some ugly thingies running around in the wool.
3 Potential profit. even though, sheep yield less milk, they seem to have more fat, which means that they yield more cheese out of a gallon.
4 Feed cost comparison