Getting started with Homestead Dairy - summing up

Over the past few weeks I've run a series of interviews with bloggers about getting started with homestead dairy, including everything from cows, to goats, sheep and cheese making.  This is a continuation of my series on getting started with growing your own (veges) and getting started with chickens, you can find all the interviews about getting started here.

Bella the giraffe cow

I have strung this one out a bit because I was hoping to have my house cow book all ready to launch at the end of the series, but I have found out two things lately, first writing an ebook is taking more time that I expected and, second, just when you think you know everything there is to know about house cows, something else will happen (just about weekly lately) that makes you realise that there is so much more to learn!  I need to add some more sections about drying up your cow, safety around your cow (how to not get kicked), mastitis, calling the vet in to help, how to prepare for your new cow, vaccinations, and what to expect after your cow has her calf, phew!  It is going to be finished soon, I promise.  If you have any pressing cow questions, please ask now, so I can include them in the first edition (I suspect there will be many updates!).

This series of interviews has been particularly entertaining for me because it featured goats (and a sheep), which I have no personal experience with, so I loved to read about them.  I wonder if goats are a better option for those who do not have bovine experience, I'm not sure if they are easier to handle or not, I would be interested in your thoughts on the matter.  I know there's lots of good reasons to get a cow, especially if you use a lot of milk, but they can be very difficult to control if you're not set up for cattle and don't know how to handle them they can be dangerous and just more expensive to look after.

If you would like to revisit and catch up on any of the interviews, here they all are, make sure you leave a comment for the writers.

What do you think?  Did we inspire you to get started with dairy?  Is there more you need to know?  Did you enjoy the series?

Interview with myself
Interview with Mark and Kate from Purple Pear Permaculture
Interview with Kim from the Little Black Cow
Interview with Rose Petal
Interview with Marie from Go Milk the Cow
Interview with Ohio Farmgirl
Interview with Gavin from the Little Green Cheese

If you want to know more about house cows, my eBook is available for purchase on Scribd.  Its only $4.99, and it includes lots of information about keeping a house cow in Australia.  There's more details about the eBook on my house cow eBook blog.  If you don't want to go through all the Scribd/paypal effort, just send me an email on eight.acres.liz at gmail.com and I can arrange to email it to you instead.