What is the Best Milk Cow for a Family Homestead?

When you’re looking to find out what is the best milk cow for a family homestead, there are a few different items to consider. You’ll want to decide what your goals are for this family milk cow, so that you can pick the breed that will best suit your homestead’s needs. We asked over 400 family milk owners to weigh in on which was the best milk cow for their family homestead and why.

When searching for answers on which cows are the best breeds to own as a family milk cow, I decided to reach out to homesteaders around the country (and even world!) to see what their opinions would be. What made a good family milk cow? Which breed would be the most popular? Why did families choose the breed that they did? All of these answers will be right for you to read through so you can make the best decision for your own family.

The short answer is this: Jerseys are by far the most popular homesteading breed of cattle because of their smaller mid-size stature, high milk production abilities, docile temperament, and high cream content in their milk.

Even with Jerseys being the most popular pick in the family milk cow world, other breeds were notably recognized for other reasons, and should also be considered.

Which dairy breed is most popular for small homestead dairy cow?

I asked 416 family milk cow owners to see which cow breeds were their favorite for their homesteads. Here are those results in a quick snippet:

Cow Breed	% of Homesteaders That Choose Breed as Their Favorite
Jersey	55%
Guernsey	12%
Brown Swiss	11%
Dexter	6%
Milking Shorthorn	5%
Holstein	4%
Normande	2%
Miniature Jersey	2%
Belfair (Jersey/Dexter Cross)	1%
Canadienne	<1%
American Milking Devon	<1%
Hojo (Holstein/Jersey Cross)	<1%
Dutch Belted	<1%

So what is it that made the Jersey overwhelmingly come in first? Let’s take a closer look at the breed.

The Jersey Family Milk Cow

Jerseys are well known for their beautiful appearances, gentle demeanor, smaller stature, and heavy cream production. Each of these characteristics have helped push the Jersey breed to the top requested when it comes to the top family milk cow.

The History of the Jersey Milk Cow

The Jersey milk cow comes from a heavily protected breed of cattle from the British Chanel Island of Jersey. Before 2008, the Jersey breed was not influenced or altered since the year 1789, when a group from the island of Jersey decided to prohibit foreign cattle from coming to the island in an effort to keep the breed pure. In 2008, the island decided to allow other cattle semen to enter the island, but only semen- no actual physical bull. The Jersey breed has been bred and altered to encourage certain characteristics to become more prevalent here in the United States, specifically with efforts to enhance milk production (source).

Jersey Cows are Small in Stature

One of the leading reasons many homesteaders choose a Jersey cow as a beginner cow is because of its small stature. Jersey cows range from between 880-1100 pounds and are considered mid-size, which means they are about 42″-48″ at their hip bone (also called the “hook”). This makes them a relatively small dairy breed, which can make them a little less intimidating for a first time cow owner. The small stature also helps with feed costs, as they don’t need to eat as much as a larger dairy breed might need in order to stay healthy.

Jerseys are good producers

Jerseys are known for producing lots of milk and lots of cream. One homesteader posted a picture of a gallon of milk, half of which was cream. If you’re looking to use your family milk cow for your primary source of butter and cream, then the Jersey breed is definitely one to consider as a best milk cow for a family.

Downfalls of Owning a Jersey

The Jersey breed does have a few downfalls to consider as well. There isn’t one perfect dairy cow breed, and every cow comes with positives and negatives.

Jersey Bulls are Unpredictable and Aggressive

Firstly, while the cows are gentle and docile, the bulls are notoriously known for being wild, aggressive, and unpredictable. If you’re planning to breed using a bull, you’ll want to be extremely cautious about bringing a Jersey bull to your property.

Cows are prone to milk fever after calving

After calving, Jersey cows are known to be at a higher risk for milk fever. After a Jersey cow calves, she puts so much work and effort into making milk that it can literally drain her calcium, causing major health problems. If the cow’s blood calcium drops too low, it could be fatal. Jersey cows need to be watched carefully after freshening so that intervention can be given if needed.

The biggest sign of milk fever is when a cow won’t get up post-calving.

Calves are fragile

The small Jersey breed produces a small Jersey calf. This small calf will need to be watched closely after birth, as their small stature can cause them to lose body heat quickly, which can be very catastrophic for a young newborn calf. Keeping an eye on them to make sure that they are warm and healthy in their early first few days of life is critically important.

What homesteaders are saying about the Jersey dairy breed

This is what some of the Jersey cow owners had to say about owning a Jersey family milk cow:

My Jersey gives a TON of very nice, rich milk. Perfect so we have enough to drink, make cheese, share with family, and always have a load of ice cream for my kiddos. She’s an excellent producer, docile in temperament, and easy to have. 

I love my jersey. She is so sweet. I can walk out to pasture and start milking her and she’ll stop and spread her legs out wide so it’ll be easy. Lol. She put up with my bad milking from when I first started. She takes great care of the babies. She rarely has health issues. She breeds back well. She keeps weight with grass alone other then when I’m asking a lot of her (for example when she is raising 6 calves I give her unlimited alfalfa and grain etc. But if she is raising only 2 or 3 she does well just on grass). She will let the little kids brush and love all over her. She is just the best. Hah. I can’t say of all jerseys are like that or not though.

My Jerseys have always been so sweet and gentle and they love to be loved on and love back just as well. They have awesome amounts of cream and always plenty of milk. And I never had any problems with milking by hand or machine with any of my girls.

Further Analysis of the Results

While it’s obvious that the Jersey cow came in first for popularity, there are other breeds that were commented upon and noted to be great milk cows for a homestead lifestyle.

Best milk cow for milk production	Holstein
Best tasting milk	Holstein
Best milk cow for dual purpose (milk + meat)	Dexter
Best overall temperament	Guernsey

Holstein

The Holstein cow breed was mentioned multiple times by family cow owners, specifically for their milk flavor and production abilities. One owner commented: “I think Holsteins get a bad rap for their astronomical production. But [you can’t] find more reasonable producers, their cream content is quite good too, and they are “professionals” -less drama, less metabolic issues, big enough to cross with whatever floats your boat.” To echo that quote in terms of temperament, many of the Holstein owners described their cows to be “steady”, “calm”, and “mellow”.

One family cow owner noted a Holstein that was able to produce 10 gallons of milk every day for 10 years, though most of the Holstein owners in the group averaged closer to 5-6 gallons per day. Many of the owners also commented on their ability to have extended lactations.

Dexter

Dexters were humbly selected as a favorite, but those who did own them spoke quite highly of them. Their dual-purpose nature of both milk and meat, as well as their smaller stature and docile temperament, was the main driving factor for farmer satisfaction.

Dexters are known to be a hardy cow, so much so that they even have the potential of being used as oxen (source). They are a small breed, weighing only on average 650 pounds, which makes them efficient in feed to milk conversions. One Dexter commented that she got about 2 gallons of milk per day from her family Dexter cow. She went on to say that a Dexter can also provide around 400 pounds of beef.

Another Dexter owner said that she loves her Dexter cow because “they are scavengers in the pasture and due to their naturally smaller size they eat less, easy calving, great mothers, many produce A2/A2 milk!”

Guernsey

The Guernsey cow was chosen as the best milk cow for a family for 12% of the 416 people who answered, mostly because of their extremely “gentle” personalities. In every note provided, the sweetness of their nature was commented upon. Having a good milk flavor was also shared.

Guernseys are another breed coming from the Channel Islands, on the island of Guernsey. Like the Jersey, the coloring is a fawn, brown color, but differ as they can also be more of a reddish and/or have spots.

They are known as being a mid-size cow that produces a rich, creamy and flavorful milk efficiently.

Contemplating a family milk cow?

Deciding that you want to purchase a family milk cow can be a big step. You might have contemplated, gone back and forth, and asked yourself some big questions. If you’re still in the deciding phase, here is a really detailed post filled with questions and answers that you should ask yourself before you bring that first cow home. When you do decide to purchase and you’re headed somewhere to buy your first cow, make sure to take this list of questions with you so you know what to ask to avoid any catastrophes later.

Be sure to save this for later!

Looking for more on family milk cows?

I have even more great articles on keeping a family milk cow that you can check out here.

Do you own a family milk cow? What is your favorite breed? Leave a comment below!