To think that having a pet cow might be possible?

[ArsenalsPlayingAtHome]

Are there any farmers out there?

It's probably an insane idea, so if you know about these things, please advise.

Thank you.

That's exactly what we did - formed a pig club. I live rurally and found someone with a small holding and a spare pen. He appreciated the extra help with his animals in return.

We did it for 3 or 4 years but it got quite hard work. Now I just buy from a friend who keeps pigs in the same way, she borrows a big of land from a friend who's a farmer.

Goats make good pets (and great cheese, once they're milking)

It would be a bit of a pain in the arse if you fancied a weekend away. You can't just drop a cow off at your mums house or the kennels.

I really want a pig and I totally appreciate that they would make the best bacon (was not being judgemental about eating it by the way, since clearly it would have had had a brilliant life unlike supermarket meat), it's just that I don't know that I could go that far once I had named the creature and cuddled it etc.

OP what would be you be thinking of getting - a couple of bullocks? You say cows but surely they would be harder for you to look after than young boys. What breeds are you considering? They are difficult beasts to look after though - quite destructive and round here would need to be housed for 5 months of the year..

Piglover it's not generally advisable to cuddle a pig.

That would have been a far less weird sentence if you had a different user name.

I was going to say the same as PP. you'll need to winter them indoors which can be very hard work. (Think of the clean up! It's not like mucking out the horses)
Then the paperwork is crazy. Holding numbers and herd numbers etc. You need them to be tagged and the cost of standard veterinary care for one animal can be very expensive. Farmers can only do it as they buy the treatments for a full herd, not for just one or two.

On the other hand though, home reared meat is by far the best. You know they lived really well (not that animals aren't treated well on farms, the UK has some of the strictest livestock care rules).

Scrowy - a couple of friend of mine have some pet pigs and they are surprisingly cuddly when they feel like it! But in a purely Platonic way, I should add.

If you know nothing about livestock then yes, it is insane.

Benjamin has covered most of it but in short cows are huge, strong, willful and not especially good at cuddling up on the sofa.

And as has been pointed out you would need at least two.

If you have land and time (and the google) something like pigmy goats might be better (and they at least are unlikely to accidentally trample you to death if you fuck up)

LaContessa..that is a very good question. I know there used to be a cow here, back in the day when there was a barn. I'm charmed by tales of how it used to be our friend's job to go and milk her. I've always loved cows, but I know that the vet bills would be huge, and that you need a lot of knowledge, expertise even, so am aware that it's probably not possible.

So two female cows would be enough? As long as it isn't a lone cow?

www.minijerseyfarm.com/

I so so want one!

And calving does sound way beyond my capabilities, not to mention getting them impregnated to begin with!

ghosty

Gribbie I think you're supposed to be talking me out of this..you're just making it seem more possible .

ghosty Ha ha!

Goats...yes I've thought of goats, too. They do, on the face of it, seem to be lower maintenance. I also know someone who has a couple, so would have access to advice xx

We have pet cows. They're lovely. Not milking cows though. (Can't specify breed as would probably out me.)

Goats do not make good pets for someone with no livestock experience. You need to do all the DEFRA paperwork, movement books etc, know how to trim their feet and so on, but a couple of castrated pygmy goats are a lot less trouble than a cow, for sure.
My parents had dairy goats (we also had calves, pigs, lambs in the interval between being given them/buying them and killing them out for meat), and we did have a pygmy for a few years that someone locally had bought as a pet and then realised it was rather harder work than they thought. He was a dear little thing, and liked to ride in the front passenger seat of dads van.

Goats are lovely. But eat everything, and billies sometimes get a bit pongy. They can be buggers with fences too.

Livestock in general is a) a lot of work and b) involves a lot of regulations - it's not like popping to the breeder for a new puppy, and should be taken even less lightly than that. Holidays - or even long days out - require massive planning and proper cover.

It's not for everyone, and definitely not to be done on a whim. Get yourself to your local college and do some animal husbandry courses, OP, and go from there.

ProfYaffle, thank you, that's the kind of thing I have been considering. I'm moving more rurally in a few weeks; hopefully I can track down a farmer who would be positive about the idea.

Sorry to interrupt your thread OP. I would go with a goat - there was one in my neighbour's yard were I was brought up in SW London. A pair might be better, so they don't get lonely.

You would need two as they are social animals. You would also need a huge amount of land to let them roam and graze happily.

It's not the worst idea but I think most people in ordinary houses would never be able to do this. If you live in a house with a huge plot and have the money needed to pay for vet bills etc then why not

FlyingDuck, don't forget to look into where you would get your pig slaughtered, its not as easy as you might first think. I know that from my parents, its a 50 mile journey to the nearest one that accepts single animals. And then you have to butcher it, cure bacon (not that hard to dry cure) etc. The meat is fantastic though

As mentioned, you'd definitely need two cows are they're herd animals and need company.

The paperwork is insane! You'd also need to TB test which is incredibly stressful in itself. You'd also need appropriate handling facilities for them. Saying that, they are amazing creatures and bring me a lot of happiness (and worry)!

@Flyingduck - yes butchery is a consideration. We're lucky that there's an abattoir just down the road. It's a pretty smooth transition from slaughter house to butcher, ours had a butchery attached or you can pop into a local butcher and get them to collect your carcass and butcher it there (we used to do that with a favourite butcher who had a smokehouse and did good bacon)

You could get a Dexter heifer with calf at foot. If the calf is male, castrate him and raise him for beef, female you can kill or sell but use semen to get the cow pregnant again so she has given birth to the new calf before the first calf goes. Dexters are very milky so will have enough milk for the calf and plenty for the household too.
You do need to look at info on your local animal health website and defra to see what FB testing and restrictions are in your area but overall it's pretty simple.