The Gold-Top-Standard is the ultimate for Calf at Foot Dairy methods
o0o
Ok, so the cows and calves come first, but a true Calf At Foot Dairy is as much about truth and transparency as it is about the cows and their calves. A true Calf at Foot Dairy is an open and honest place with no lies or betrayal to the customers, a true Calf a Foot Dairy has nothing to hide. This also means that no part of the business can knowingly be subsidised by any other unethical operation or business and must not be used front any unethical operation or business!!
o0o oo0oo o0o
At The Calf At Foot Dairy, we’ve found a way to make the world a better place for dairy cows. We call this The Gold-Top-Standard
Cows have been sold “with calf at foot” (meaning a cow for sale with her calf) for years at livestock markets and house cows across the world live with their calf for practicality reasons, but no one was running a dairy business where the cows kept their calves at foot. Fiona Provan set out to change that and now, we want to share our calf at foot dairying method with the world. We want to encourage other farmers to take the plunge and join the mooovement, and we want consumers to be able to set their own standard for the farms where they buy their milk- based on an understanding of the way things are done at the original and founding ‘Calf At Foot Dairy’.
I don’t think cows are here to produce milk for us, I think her milk is for her calf. Just like us, and like all mammals, a cow has to have a baby to produce milk. In the ‘dairy industry’, the farmer takes the calf away from its mum at, or soon after, birth. This way, every drop of milk can be sold for human consumption. In our opinion when you drink milk which has been produced by these conventional dairies you are drinking milk from depressed grieving animals who have had their calves taken away, every year of their milking life.
There is no exact formula that works for every cow in every lactation, - because working with animals and nature we are at the mercy of Mother Nature where nothing is black and white. The following is a basic first year in the life of a CAFD calf. Every year, and for every cow, we can adapt the way we do things to make it perfect for her and us. That’s the beauty of farming in this way- it’s wonderfully adaptable and wonderfully compassionate, and each cow is seen and treated as an individual based on her own quirks and merits, rather than being just a number or a machine. It's all about being flexible and taking each day as it comes as we do with our own human families. This is why our pioneering methods/standards are always under review and will change with experience learnt - everyday is a school day at The Calf At Foot Dairy.
Daily Life
Our cows and calves run together and are always outside with access to sheds and shelter on every aspect. They calve all year round. The cows are milked one at a time in the morning (we milk the cows just once a day) and are unrestrained in the parlour, where they eat their ration of grass or lucerne pellets.
Day 1
Once a cow has calved and her calf has had their first feed of colostrum1 she is asked to come into the milking parlour. If she is overly concerned about leaving her calf behind for five minutes we bring her calf in alongside her while we take the first pressing of colostrum. (This is frozen down in small quantities to be used in the event of having orphan calves or lambs.)
This is repeated every day and the freshly calved cow soon gets into the routine and finds her place amongst the milking herd, taking her turn to trot into the parlour when her name is called, leaving her calf relaxed in the farmyard. We don’t take all of the milk from her while she is still feeding her calf unless the calf is getting too fat. In the first few days we just take a very small amount to ‘soften’ her and make her udder less full and more comfortable- we don’t want to push mum to produce loads of milk while she has a chance to recover from calving.
We then take as much milk as we can while the calf grows- a very young calf will only drink a few litres of milk and we can take the rest, reducing the amount we milk out as the calf drinks more and more.
2 Weeks
Up until now little Calf has been hiding up in long grass or hedges for the whole day/night only coming out to feed from mum two or three times every 24 hours.
The calf by now has begun to explore solid foods and his/her digestive system has already started adapting to a forage based diet (we offer grass, hay, lucerne, lucernage, haylage, grass/lucerne pellets adlib).
Little calf will already be hanging out and will have buddied up with with some older calves and going off playing away from mum exploring their environment. It is at this stage we encourage/introduce the calf to the separation area which comprises of a cosy but roomy gated stable yard with 2 deeply strawed stables. Mother and calf can see, smell, hear, touch, feel, lick and talk to each other through the gates. The calf will stay in here with his/her buddies for maybe just a few minutes if then mum or calf seem at all concerned, they are instantly reunited the separation needs to be seen as a positive thing for both - the calf gets to nibble at some forage with the bigger boys and girls. In no time at all the calf is coming to his/her name when we open the gate of the separation area and trots in freely. After several weeks the length of time may then be stretched out to an hour or two.
6/10 Weeks (ish)
At about 6 weeks old the calf starts to have an impact on the milk yield and they have now got used to coming into their own little yard and start to queue by the gate, by now have got to know their names and come to the call just like their mums do for milking.
These calves will start to stay in the separation area for a few hours after having a drink from mum (this ensures they are not milk hungry and have satisfied the urge to suck for a while).
4/5 months
The few hours become longer until eventually the calf stays in the separation yard overnight. The first few mornings of an overnight separation can then be a little noisy as the calves want to drink and mum's bag is filling up with milk so they call for each other. This can be more stressful for us. The cow, who is not yet used to her calf being off her overnight, is first to be milked in the morning and as soon as she is finished in the milking parlour, she and her calf are reunited. It just takes a few days for them to adjust to this new routine.
When milking, the foremilk -the first milk to come out at the beginning of milking- is the watery drink component of milk, whereas the hind milk is the creamiest and most nutritious part. We often leave a full quarter for the calf (the udder is made up of four sections and each section is called a quarter) as this way the calf gets a whole meal, rather than leaving some milk in all four quarters, which would be just hind milk. Leaving the calf with just the cream (hind milk) will give you a fat calf and a less creamy product to sell.
9/10 months
As the calf reaches natural weaning age and is spending every night in the stable without its mum, it no longer needs the milk and it is time to start thinking about weaning. We begin to reduce the amount of suckling time that the calf gets with its mother. Eventually they are apart all of the time, and after a few days to adjust to this insulting lack of milk, we take the little group of “weaners” to a separate field or marsh. They create their own little herd and after a few days of calling between them and their mums as the cows walk to their grazing, they settle down into their new life of independence. Exactly when we wean is one of the more variable aspects of calf at foot dairying- it can be brought slightly forward or delayed depending on the needs of the herd and individual cows or calves. This is explained more in the ‘Adaptations’ section below.
What next?
We leave our 'weaners' separate in another field/holding they form a mini herd of their own. This is for as long as we can so they lose the urge to suck and drink milk. Normally this is 5-6 months of total separation (for some this maybe longer)before we rejoin the weaners to the main herd and hope that by the odd chance, they don’t go straight to suckle from their mums! If (rarely)they do suck again, we then have to separate them again and repeat the weaning process. (which we consider a bit of a cock up on our behalf) It's important to get this right as this calf may never lose the urge to suck so will need to be away from mum for a very long time.
Once the calf is ‘off’ of their mums, we continue to milk her once a day, taking all of the milk. Some cows can stay in milk in this way for another year or so after her calf is weaned. This allows us to slow the whole process down and only put our cows back in calf on average every 2 years rather than yearly like in conventional systems, putting less stress on our cows’ bodies. One of our cows, Bella, is actually almost impossible to dry off2, even 2 years after calving. She lets us know when to dry her off before her next calf by starting to refuse milking - kicking at us when we try - reading this is being tuned in with your cows.
2 months before the cow’s next calf is due, or when her milk yield drops so low it’s not worth milking her, we dry her off, so she can prepare herself for her next baby.
Steers are raised on grass until they are about 2 years before I take them to the local abattoir. Sometimes they are a little bit younger but the older the better if we have the grass and space to spare. We sell the 'Purely-Pasture-Fed' Gold-Top beef from our farm.
We allow our maiden heifers (young cows) to mature to 2 years old before they are allowed to be ‘served’ by the bull for their first calf. We run a bull with the herd some of the time but a bull can cause problems as they don't respect human morals of not breeding with their own under age daughters or younger sisters and their mothers., subsequently a heifer too young to breed will die trying to deliver a calf at full term. With this in mind we sometimes feel the need to use AI (artificial insemination) so eliminating the problems of unwanted and dangerous pregnancies.
Bus Pass
When our darling milking cows get too old to cope with the stresses of calving, or their bag (udder) is too saggy for milking (or for a calf to suckle from), we retire them and they live out their days alongside the rest of the herd. We don’t move the ex-milkers on or sell them as cull cows, instead they play the role of matriarch amongst the weaned yearlings.
Buying and Selling
While we try to maintain a closed herd for disease prevention, we are not against buying animals from conventional systems- we see it as rescuing the cows. However, we would not sell live animals to anyone but another Calf At Foot dairy who is following our standards. We certainly never sell young stock on to be fattened or sell into the cull cow trade!!
*Adaptations
Calf At Foot Dairying works so well because it can be easily adapted to fit each cow’s individual needs while still adhering to the basic principles of the system. Some examples of when we’ve done things a little differently to normal are below, but this list is not exhaustive- you just have to judge each situation to do the best for the cow and her calf.
*Supply and Demand
Sometimes we have plenty of milk to fulfil our orders and farm-gate sales and supply begins to exceed demand. In this instance we allow mother and calf exclusive access to each other and if she does not have excess milk we don’t milk her at all. I call this ‘turning away’. In other words the cow is refused access to the parlour (much to her annoyance!) but she still gets her rations of lucerne/grass pellets with chaff and seaweed as she is still working just as hard feeding her calf.
This is useful not only when the cows are producing more milk than you can sell but also if you wanted to just milk what we call ‘Skeleton crew’. For example, on Christmas Day we just milk the cows that we can’t turn away with a calf so we aren’t spending all day in the parlour.
*Struggling mother
Choosing when to wean requires assessing the condition of the mother and calf and picking your moment before the calf gets too fat and the cow too thin. If the mother is putting all of her energy into producing milk to feed her calf, she begins to loose condition very quickly, called ‘melting’. In this situation it’s better to wean her calf (who at this stage can be a bit of a brute) earlier and let her look after herself her milk and because she supplies milk according to demand we reduce how much we take, so she can convert her forage into herself more efficiently rather than into milk production until she gets back in good shape.
Jessie’s calf was about 2 and a half months old when she went down with metabolic deficiency a week after being stuck in a dyke overnight. She was a downer cow for 5 weeks (before we miraculously found her on her feet). During this time her calf, Ralph, drank from her while we lifted her leg for him. Jessie was in poor condition by the time she was up and about so we weaned Ralph (an already chunky Hereford cross) at about 4 months. While this goes against our normal principles of keeping the calf on until natural weaning age, it was more important that Jessie recovered.
*Poor Calf
Equally, when weaning, if we have a calf that is looking a bit thin or in poor condition, we delay weaning as the calf benefits from another month or two of its mother’s milk (provided the mother is not losing too much weight). With heifer calves, they’re better off if they don’t get too fat on their mother’s milk, as it can cause problems with their development into a mature cow..
*Bastard cow
Another beauty of calf at foot dairying is the freedom to turn a calf away with its mother for an entire lactation. Having the option to not milk a cow can be a saviour for your sanity. Primrose was a complete bastard in the parlour so to save us time, injuries and much frustration, we turned her away with her calf for her first lactation and planned to try her again with her second calf. Where milk is the bread and butter of the dairy, beef is the jam, so leaving a cow to raise a good beef steer can work out just as profitably as milking her.
*Bullies
Some cows are bullies and it usually runs in a family due to genetics - they are always given the chance to 'come good' when she cannot cooperate and is having an adverse affect on the dairy, big conversations are had of all the scenarios and possibilities of keeping her safely within the herd but usually the end result is that the decision is finally made for me to take her to the local abattoir and sell the beef from the farm.. These decisions are never taken lightly!
*As if by Magic
Doing pioneering work such as ours can be filled with surprises. We were being lazy with weaning Lily’s calf, Magic, and he was still with his mum at a good 10 months. We never actually got around to separating him from his mum because he self-weaned and just stopped drinking!
*Tricky separations
However we do recognise that sometimes there may be the odd time when a yearling (between 1yr-2yr) beef heifer/steer cannot be physically separated without stress to him/her or mother and on these occasions. They may be taken in early as beef.
Selling Calf At Foot Milk
We sell our milk raw from our self-service fridge sitting right next to the little milking parlour. Customers can stop for a chat while they watch us milk or even go into the yard and meet the herd. We also have a UK wide delivery service, sending our milk out by courier.
It can be difficult to run a successful business when calf at foot dairying. Having enough milk available for the customers at all times without pushing the cows to produce large volumes can be a struggle. However, spreading calving out across the year so we always have cows in milk and balancing calf separation with sales means our self service fridge is always stocked 24/7, 365 days of the year (we really do get customers in the middle of the night!).
We'd hope any other calf at foot dairy would be able to sell their milk for at least 8 months months of the year allowing for a .60 day dry period for block calving. You just have to be in tune with your herd and be adaptable to changing demand and yield- the girls will always time their peak in production with your drop in sales!
.....and Beef
We take the beef animals (usually about 2 years old)to our local abattoir ourselves, this is as stress free as it can possibly be, the animal is stunned with a captive bolt so is unconscious before killing. We have proved beautiful 'Purely Pasture Fed' Gold Top Jersey Beef to be viable deeming veal in any form to be redundant we do not recognise dairies selling veal as true Calf at Foot Dairies.
.....Death is part of life
We have come to terms with death being part of life but still feel it could be better and would like to eliminate the having to travel the animals to the abattoir (which is the law) to be killed for meat. We are making strides towards our own killing on farm but that is a long way off and this really needs to be powered by the consumer so come on we need to start lobbying our local MPs. Please watch this little film it would be a good start to have something like this in the UK especially if it were run by women. https://vimeo.com/118519110
Dairy School
It's very important to us to share our work and the cause of Calf at foot dairying. We welcome both visitors and volunteers and feel we have a responsibility to help train people up - especially youngsters from towns who may never otherwise get a chance to enter a brave new world of responsible farming.
One of the caveats I put to others who we teach (for free) here is that they may go on to run a calf at foot dairy is to pass on the cause and the method to others, to train encourage and to give hope to those who may not be fortunate enough to be born into farming or land.
Whole-istic management The project Calf at Foot Dairy initially was to set up a cow kind, calf friendly dairy. We try to practice responsible regenerative farming methods, looking after the ecosystems in the land under our care. Which to us means several things one being not to use antibiotics wormers on our animals or artificial fertilizers or chemicals on our land unless absolutely necessary as in case of welfare for our animals. The other is not to feed our cows on unnatural feeds such as grains or other cereals and concentrates which are not healthy for her you me or the planet. However sometimes you are stuck with poor grazing a tricky farm tenancy and the wrong breed of animal to cope with such. So for the animals welfare it is understood that a Calf at Foot Dairy doesn't have to be 100% purely pasture fed - the welfare of the animal always comes first.
If it feels right for you - follow your heart but be aware it's not something to go into lightly, it is not just a hobby or a craze, but a way of life and an unwavering want to do the right thing . You need to be brave, 100% determined, and absolutely bloody minded..
o0o
Ok, so the cows and calves come first, but a true Calf At Foot Dairy is as much about truth and transparency as it is about the cows and their calves. A true Calf at Foot Dairy is an open and honest place with no lies or betrayal to the customers, a true Calf a Foot Dairy has nothing to hide. This also means that no part of the business can knowingly be subsidised by any other unethical operation or business and must not be used front any unethical operation or business!!
o0o oo0oo o0o
At The Calf At Foot Dairy, we’ve found a way to make the world a better place for dairy cows. We call this The Gold-Top-Standard
Cows have been sold “with calf at foot” (meaning a cow for sale with her calf) for years at livestock markets and house cows across the world live with their calf for practicality reasons, but no one was running a dairy business where the cows kept their calves at foot. Fiona Provan set out to change that and now, we want to share our calf at foot dairying method with the world. We want to encourage other farmers to take the plunge and join the mooovement, and we want consumers to be able to set their own standard for the farms where they buy their milk- based on an understanding of the way things are done at the original and founding ‘Calf At Foot Dairy’.
I don’t think cows are here to produce milk for us, I think her milk is for her calf. Just like us, and like all mammals, a cow has to have a baby to produce milk. In the ‘dairy industry’, the farmer takes the calf away from its mum at, or soon after, birth. This way, every drop of milk can be sold for human consumption. In our opinion when you drink milk which has been produced by these conventional dairies you are drinking milk from depressed grieving animals who have had their calves taken away, every year of their milking life.
There is no exact formula that works for every cow in every lactation, - because working with animals and nature we are at the mercy of Mother Nature where nothing is black and white. The following is a basic first year in the life of a CAFD calf. Every year, and for every cow, we can adapt the way we do things to make it perfect for her and us. That’s the beauty of farming in this way- it’s wonderfully adaptable and wonderfully compassionate, and each cow is seen and treated as an individual based on her own quirks and merits, rather than being just a number or a machine. It's all about being flexible and taking each day as it comes as we do with our own human families. This is why our pioneering methods/standards are always under review and will change with experience learnt - everyday is a school day at The Calf At Foot Dairy.
Daily Life
Our cows and calves run together and are always outside with access to sheds and shelter on every aspect. They calve all year round. The cows are milked one at a time in the morning (we milk the cows just once a day) and are unrestrained in the parlour, where they eat their ration of grass or lucerne pellets.
Day 1
Once a cow has calved and her calf has had their first feed of colostrum1 she is asked to come into the milking parlour. If she is overly concerned about leaving her calf behind for five minutes we bring her calf in alongside her while we take the first pressing of colostrum. (This is frozen down in small quantities to be used in the event of having orphan calves or lambs.)
This is repeated every day and the freshly calved cow soon gets into the routine and finds her place amongst the milking herd, taking her turn to trot into the parlour when her name is called, leaving her calf relaxed in the farmyard. We don’t take all of the milk from her while she is still feeding her calf unless the calf is getting too fat. In the first few days we just take a very small amount to ‘soften’ her and make her udder less full and more comfortable- we don’t want to push mum to produce loads of milk while she has a chance to recover from calving.
We then take as much milk as we can while the calf grows- a very young calf will only drink a few litres of milk and we can take the rest, reducing the amount we milk out as the calf drinks more and more.
2 Weeks
Up until now little Calf has been hiding up in long grass or hedges for the whole day/night only coming out to feed from mum two or three times every 24 hours.
The calf by now has begun to explore solid foods and his/her digestive system has already started adapting to a forage based diet (we offer grass, hay, lucerne, lucernage, haylage, grass/lucerne pellets adlib).
Little calf will already be hanging out and will have buddied up with with some older calves and going off playing away from mum exploring their environment. It is at this stage we encourage/introduce the calf to the separation area which comprises of a cosy but roomy gated stable yard with 2 deeply strawed stables. Mother and calf can see, smell, hear, touch, feel, lick and talk to each other through the gates. The calf will stay in here with his/her buddies for maybe just a few minutes if then mum or calf seem at all concerned, they are instantly reunited the separation needs to be seen as a positive thing for both - the calf gets to nibble at some forage with the bigger boys and girls. In no time at all the calf is coming to his/her name when we open the gate of the separation area and trots in freely. After several weeks the length of time may then be stretched out to an hour or two.
6/10 Weeks (ish)
At about 6 weeks old the calf starts to have an impact on the milk yield and they have now got used to coming into their own little yard and start to queue by the gate, by now have got to know their names and come to the call just like their mums do for milking.
These calves will start to stay in the separation area for a few hours after having a drink from mum (this ensures they are not milk hungry and have satisfied the urge to suck for a while).
4/5 months
The few hours become longer until eventually the calf stays in the separation yard overnight. The first few mornings of an overnight separation can then be a little noisy as the calves want to drink and mum's bag is filling up with milk so they call for each other. This can be more stressful for us. The cow, who is not yet used to her calf being off her overnight, is first to be milked in the morning and as soon as she is finished in the milking parlour, she and her calf are reunited. It just takes a few days for them to adjust to this new routine.
When milking, the foremilk -the first milk to come out at the beginning of milking- is the watery drink component of milk, whereas the hind milk is the creamiest and most nutritious part. We often leave a full quarter for the calf (the udder is made up of four sections and each section is called a quarter) as this way the calf gets a whole meal, rather than leaving some milk in all four quarters, which would be just hind milk. Leaving the calf with just the cream (hind milk) will give you a fat calf and a less creamy product to sell.
9/10 months
As the calf reaches natural weaning age and is spending every night in the stable without its mum, it no longer needs the milk and it is time to start thinking about weaning. We begin to reduce the amount of suckling time that the calf gets with its mother. Eventually they are apart all of the time, and after a few days to adjust to this insulting lack of milk, we take the little group of “weaners” to a separate field or marsh. They create their own little herd and after a few days of calling between them and their mums as the cows walk to their grazing, they settle down into their new life of independence. Exactly when we wean is one of the more variable aspects of calf at foot dairying- it can be brought slightly forward or delayed depending on the needs of the herd and individual cows or calves. This is explained more in the ‘Adaptations’ section below.
What next?
We leave our 'weaners' separate in another field/holding they form a mini herd of their own. This is for as long as we can so they lose the urge to suck and drink milk. Normally this is 5-6 months of total separation (for some this maybe longer)before we rejoin the weaners to the main herd and hope that by the odd chance, they don’t go straight to suckle from their mums! If (rarely)they do suck again, we then have to separate them again and repeat the weaning process. (which we consider a bit of a cock up on our behalf) It's important to get this right as this calf may never lose the urge to suck so will need to be away from mum for a very long time.
Once the calf is ‘off’ of their mums, we continue to milk her once a day, taking all of the milk. Some cows can stay in milk in this way for another year or so after her calf is weaned. This allows us to slow the whole process down and only put our cows back in calf on average every 2 years rather than yearly like in conventional systems, putting less stress on our cows’ bodies. One of our cows, Bella, is actually almost impossible to dry off2, even 2 years after calving. She lets us know when to dry her off before her next calf by starting to refuse milking - kicking at us when we try - reading this is being tuned in with your cows.
2 months before the cow’s next calf is due, or when her milk yield drops so low it’s not worth milking her, we dry her off, so she can prepare herself for her next baby.
Steers are raised on grass until they are about 2 years before I take them to the local abattoir. Sometimes they are a little bit younger but the older the better if we have the grass and space to spare. We sell the 'Purely-Pasture-Fed' Gold-Top beef from our farm.
We allow our maiden heifers (young cows) to mature to 2 years old before they are allowed to be ‘served’ by the bull for their first calf. We run a bull with the herd some of the time but a bull can cause problems as they don't respect human morals of not breeding with their own under age daughters or younger sisters and their mothers., subsequently a heifer too young to breed will die trying to deliver a calf at full term. With this in mind we sometimes feel the need to use AI (artificial insemination) so eliminating the problems of unwanted and dangerous pregnancies.
Bus Pass
When our darling milking cows get too old to cope with the stresses of calving, or their bag (udder) is too saggy for milking (or for a calf to suckle from), we retire them and they live out their days alongside the rest of the herd. We don’t move the ex-milkers on or sell them as cull cows, instead they play the role of matriarch amongst the weaned yearlings.
Buying and Selling
While we try to maintain a closed herd for disease prevention, we are not against buying animals from conventional systems- we see it as rescuing the cows. However, we would not sell live animals to anyone but another Calf At Foot dairy who is following our standards. We certainly never sell young stock on to be fattened or sell into the cull cow trade!!
*Adaptations
Calf At Foot Dairying works so well because it can be easily adapted to fit each cow’s individual needs while still adhering to the basic principles of the system. Some examples of when we’ve done things a little differently to normal are below, but this list is not exhaustive- you just have to judge each situation to do the best for the cow and her calf.
*Supply and Demand
Sometimes we have plenty of milk to fulfil our orders and farm-gate sales and supply begins to exceed demand. In this instance we allow mother and calf exclusive access to each other and if she does not have excess milk we don’t milk her at all. I call this ‘turning away’. In other words the cow is refused access to the parlour (much to her annoyance!) but she still gets her rations of lucerne/grass pellets with chaff and seaweed as she is still working just as hard feeding her calf.
This is useful not only when the cows are producing more milk than you can sell but also if you wanted to just milk what we call ‘Skeleton crew’. For example, on Christmas Day we just milk the cows that we can’t turn away with a calf so we aren’t spending all day in the parlour.
*Struggling mother
Choosing when to wean requires assessing the condition of the mother and calf and picking your moment before the calf gets too fat and the cow too thin. If the mother is putting all of her energy into producing milk to feed her calf, she begins to loose condition very quickly, called ‘melting’. In this situation it’s better to wean her calf (who at this stage can be a bit of a brute) earlier and let her look after herself her milk and because she supplies milk according to demand we reduce how much we take, so she can convert her forage into herself more efficiently rather than into milk production until she gets back in good shape.
Jessie’s calf was about 2 and a half months old when she went down with metabolic deficiency a week after being stuck in a dyke overnight. She was a downer cow for 5 weeks (before we miraculously found her on her feet). During this time her calf, Ralph, drank from her while we lifted her leg for him. Jessie was in poor condition by the time she was up and about so we weaned Ralph (an already chunky Hereford cross) at about 4 months. While this goes against our normal principles of keeping the calf on until natural weaning age, it was more important that Jessie recovered.
*Poor Calf
Equally, when weaning, if we have a calf that is looking a bit thin or in poor condition, we delay weaning as the calf benefits from another month or two of its mother’s milk (provided the mother is not losing too much weight). With heifer calves, they’re better off if they don’t get too fat on their mother’s milk, as it can cause problems with their development into a mature cow..
*Bastard cow
Another beauty of calf at foot dairying is the freedom to turn a calf away with its mother for an entire lactation. Having the option to not milk a cow can be a saviour for your sanity. Primrose was a complete bastard in the parlour so to save us time, injuries and much frustration, we turned her away with her calf for her first lactation and planned to try her again with her second calf. Where milk is the bread and butter of the dairy, beef is the jam, so leaving a cow to raise a good beef steer can work out just as profitably as milking her.
*Bullies
Some cows are bullies and it usually runs in a family due to genetics - they are always given the chance to 'come good' when she cannot cooperate and is having an adverse affect on the dairy, big conversations are had of all the scenarios and possibilities of keeping her safely within the herd but usually the end result is that the decision is finally made for me to take her to the local abattoir and sell the beef from the farm.. These decisions are never taken lightly!
*As if by Magic
Doing pioneering work such as ours can be filled with surprises. We were being lazy with weaning Lily’s calf, Magic, and he was still with his mum at a good 10 months. We never actually got around to separating him from his mum because he self-weaned and just stopped drinking!
*Tricky separations
However we do recognise that sometimes there may be the odd time when a yearling (between 1yr-2yr) beef heifer/steer cannot be physically separated without stress to him/her or mother and on these occasions. They may be taken in early as beef.
Selling Calf At Foot Milk
We sell our milk raw from our self-service fridge sitting right next to the little milking parlour. Customers can stop for a chat while they watch us milk or even go into the yard and meet the herd. We also have a UK wide delivery service, sending our milk out by courier.
It can be difficult to run a successful business when calf at foot dairying. Having enough milk available for the customers at all times without pushing the cows to produce large volumes can be a struggle. However, spreading calving out across the year so we always have cows in milk and balancing calf separation with sales means our self service fridge is always stocked 24/7, 365 days of the year (we really do get customers in the middle of the night!).
We'd hope any other calf at foot dairy would be able to sell their milk for at least 8 months months of the year allowing for a .60 day dry period for block calving. You just have to be in tune with your herd and be adaptable to changing demand and yield- the girls will always time their peak in production with your drop in sales!
.....and Beef
We take the beef animals (usually about 2 years old)to our local abattoir ourselves, this is as stress free as it can possibly be, the animal is stunned with a captive bolt so is unconscious before killing. We have proved beautiful 'Purely Pasture Fed' Gold Top Jersey Beef to be viable deeming veal in any form to be redundant we do not recognise dairies selling veal as true Calf at Foot Dairies.
.....Death is part of life
We have come to terms with death being part of life but still feel it could be better and would like to eliminate the having to travel the animals to the abattoir (which is the law) to be killed for meat. We are making strides towards our own killing on farm but that is a long way off and this really needs to be powered by the consumer so come on we need to start lobbying our local MPs. Please watch this little film it would be a good start to have something like this in the UK especially if it were run by women. https://vimeo.com/118519110
Dairy School
It's very important to us to share our work and the cause of Calf at foot dairying. We welcome both visitors and volunteers and feel we have a responsibility to help train people up - especially youngsters from towns who may never otherwise get a chance to enter a brave new world of responsible farming.
One of the caveats I put to others who we teach (for free) here is that they may go on to run a calf at foot dairy is to pass on the cause and the method to others, to train encourage and to give hope to those who may not be fortunate enough to be born into farming or land.
Whole-istic management The project Calf at Foot Dairy initially was to set up a cow kind, calf friendly dairy. We try to practice responsible regenerative farming methods, looking after the ecosystems in the land under our care. Which to us means several things one being not to use antibiotics wormers on our animals or artificial fertilizers or chemicals on our land unless absolutely necessary as in case of welfare for our animals. The other is not to feed our cows on unnatural feeds such as grains or other cereals and concentrates which are not healthy for her you me or the planet. However sometimes you are stuck with poor grazing a tricky farm tenancy and the wrong breed of animal to cope with such. So for the animals welfare it is understood that a Calf at Foot Dairy doesn't have to be 100% purely pasture fed - the welfare of the animal always comes first.
If it feels right for you - follow your heart but be aware it's not something to go into lightly, it is not just a hobby or a craze, but a way of life and an unwavering want to do the right thing . You need to be brave, 100% determined, and absolutely bloody minded..
1 Colostrum- The first milk that a mammal produces. It is very thick and rich in nutrients and antibodies, providing their baby with the energy and immunity needed to survive the first few weeks of life.
2 Drying off- Stop milking a cow so that she stops producing milk. Done before calving so she can use the energy normally used on milk production for the calf’s development.
3 Bulling a cow in season (ready to be served by the bull)
N.B. It has been brought to our attention that there are a few other dairies selling their produce in or using our name! I would hope these dairies have the same intentions as we do here at CAFD and that is with the aim to make the world a better place for dairy cows whilst making a living. When sourcing your milk from a dairy ask difficult questions and expect them to be answered with pride and with pleasure, .Do turn up unannounced at the dairy and ask to see the cows and if you feel you are being fobbed off then maybe this isn't a truly transparent business which is willing to share its values and difficult sides with you who, as a compassionate consumer is willing to invest in the story and the new humane practices. Are they what they say they are ie if they say their cows are grassfed ask exactly what or even ask to see their feed. Are the cows living in an environment which is fulfilling and enriching for them such as together as a herd, a cow needs her herd mates just as she needs to keep her calf, Do the cows have access to shelter and is there a soft dry draught free space to lay down? Is there forage and shade available at all times?
A true Calf at Foot Dairy is not funded by unethical business or by a factory farming enterprise.
o o o o o o o o o o oo o o o ooo oo o o o o o o o o oo o oo o ooo o o o o o o
If you don't drink milk but love what we do you still can can help make the world a better place for dairy cows & contribute to our good work by making a small donation to:
Co-operative Bank
ACCOUNT 1 1 1 1 37 1 1 SORT 089300 REF donation
or by following the link below
paypal.me/TheCalfAtFootDairy
thank you
2 Drying off- Stop milking a cow so that she stops producing milk. Done before calving so she can use the energy normally used on milk production for the calf’s development.
3 Bulling a cow in season (ready to be served by the bull)
N.B. It has been brought to our attention that there are a few other dairies selling their produce in or using our name! I would hope these dairies have the same intentions as we do here at CAFD and that is with the aim to make the world a better place for dairy cows whilst making a living. When sourcing your milk from a dairy ask difficult questions and expect them to be answered with pride and with pleasure, .Do turn up unannounced at the dairy and ask to see the cows and if you feel you are being fobbed off then maybe this isn't a truly transparent business which is willing to share its values and difficult sides with you who, as a compassionate consumer is willing to invest in the story and the new humane practices. Are they what they say they are ie if they say their cows are grassfed ask exactly what or even ask to see their feed. Are the cows living in an environment which is fulfilling and enriching for them such as together as a herd, a cow needs her herd mates just as she needs to keep her calf, Do the cows have access to shelter and is there a soft dry draught free space to lay down? Is there forage and shade available at all times?
A true Calf at Foot Dairy is not funded by unethical business or by a factory farming enterprise.
o o o o o o o o o o oo o o o ooo oo o o o o o o o o oo o oo o ooo o o o o o o
If you don't drink milk but love what we do you still can can help make the world a better place for dairy cows & contribute to our good work by making a small donation to:
Co-operative Bank
ACCOUNT 1 1 1 1 37 1 1 SORT 089300 REF donation
or by following the link below
paypal.me/TheCalfAtFootDairy
thank you
Copyright © 2017 Fiona Provan doing business as The Calf At Foot Dairy
All online content, including that of this website, is protected under copyright by law. BUT Unfortunately for the law, WE WANT OUR METHODS SPREAD. Please, spread the word, link to our website, share on social media, tell your friends and shout it from the rooftops. Together, we can make the world a better place for dairy cows, and together we will make calf at foot dairying the norm. NO copyright here!
All online content, including that of this website, is protected under copyright by law. BUT Unfortunately for the law, WE WANT OUR METHODS SPREAD. Please, spread the word, link to our website, share on social media, tell your friends and shout it from the rooftops. Together, we can make the world a better place for dairy cows, and together we will make calf at foot dairying the norm. NO copyright here!
