Anyone here have any experience with owning a jersey family milk cow? We are serious thinking about getting
one.

Not a straight milker but have been around a few. Mostly dairy young stuff half breeds or bull calves raised off for meat.

The cows if handled regularly can become big pets the bulls you should never turn your back on. The bulls can be as dangerous as a brahma.

We had a Jersey that we used to graft calves on. A few years she would raise 4 calves. She was always first to food and was smarter than your average angus beef cow. Great mother and easy to work.

We had one when I was a kid. Good cow and great milk. I remember when we started buying store bought milk. Thought it was terrible. Wasn't near the quality we got from our cow.

Been around several no problems with them that I remember.

My neighbors have a Jersey A2A2 milk cow and I milked it for a week this winter while they went on vacation.

Having a nice milk house with a automatic milker made it easy to milk, a large sink made everything easy to clean up.

The milk was awesome, we went through a pile of milk while they were gone. We made soft cheese, yogurt and butter in addition to drinking milk, it was all top notch. I would have trouble getting a cow unless I had someone to back me up while milking, I was married to a farm as a kid and I enjoy traveling to much now.

Best milk I ever drank was when I was living in St Heliers.

Dairy bulls can get mean when they get older. Over the years there have been several people killed by them around here. About all of our local dairy farms are gone now. There’s only 1 left in the county.

Neighbor milked about 250 Holsteins when I was a kid. His bulls were definitely way more intimidating than our beef bulls.

Used to own a few Jersey Cows while in HS. Worked on a farm where we had Jerseys, Holsteins and Guernseys. Worked at the UW Madison Dairy farm for 4 years where we had all the breeds.
Jerseys are smaller then the other 4 major breeds, running about 1,000 lbs when mature compared to 1200 to 1400 for the others. They milk on average the least but test for fat and protein the highest. Their milk is much more yellow looking then most of the other breeds due to higher levels of carotine in the milk. They are more active and alert then most. They are good grazers. As to short comings, their teats may be smaller making hand milking more difficult and they can be nosey, but that may be an asset when wanting them to come with you. They eat hay and grain like other breeds. Their heat cycles are the same and they carry calves for 9 months like others and have the easiest calving of all breeds due to good pelvic structure and small calf birthweights. To ge the best production you should breed them back about 80-100 days after a calf and let them go dry about 2 months prior to the next calf. Using AI will help you know those dates and times. Depending upon family size and milk usage you could let the new born suckle the cow for 2-4 months to use milk and grow well.
A typicall 3-4 year old Jersey cow on a standard diet will probably milk about 4-6 gallons of milk per day.

Bryce

Grew up milking Jerseys.
They can have napoleon syndrome
Will eat as much as a big Holstein
Easy calvers
Great grazing breed
Calves are prone to over feeding/over eating
Not a meat animal
Bull get meanier younger

I disagree on the no meat. I have eaten a lot of Angus-Jersey cross steers/neifers and I actually prefer that flavor over some of the others.

Don't need a bull if you use AI
Day in and day out they will eat 20-25% less then a Holstein as a cow and youngstock.

Bryce

I had 45 jerseys and 6 Holstein
The jerseys consistently ate a higher percentage of body weight as compared to the Holstein.
Also, pure bred jerseys gain weight slower than other breeds and have a yellow fat compared to the beef breeds beef crosses

If you want real milk get a standard size Jersey, that means it maybe isn't crossed with stein, if you can find one get a A2-A2 genes, Jerseys have real milk not watered down like the Holstein, do your research you'll find out that's a very true statement, as far as meat you can get good and bad from any breed , it's hard to beat a good ribeye from any breed if it's been taken care of. Also jersey calves are hardy and easy to care for, I leave my calf on the cow and pull her off overnight when I need milk other wise the calf takes care of her.

Personally were I looking for a milker I'd look at a milking shorthorn, particularly if you plan on eating the calf.

Some of the finest beef we put in the freezer was off a shorthorn cow dad had. Seemed like any of the three beef bulls crossed well angus, hereford or charlais.

Heck, the milking shorthorn is in many of the composite beef breeds like santa gertrudis and beefmaster.

I have one I milk if I don't have orphan calves on her. I breed her to a Charolais bull every year and butcher every calf off her for beef. You won't find a nicer marbled steak.

It really doesn't take much to be smarter than the average angus. Angus are the jocks of the bovine world. More muscle than brains and get more credit than they deserve. Most of our dairy herd has a little jersey mixed in. They are my favorites.

Yes a Jersey will eat more dry matter per CWT of weight but a 950 lbs. Jersey milking 50 lbs. of 4.8 fat will not eat nearly the feed per day as a 1350 lbs. Holstein milking 70 lbs. of 3.7 fat.

Bryce

Lots of good in put fellas I appreciate it. I'm just now looking into all of the information that is out there. My wife loves the idea of getting one. We just need to find the right one. There is a farm in Southern Missouri that Is advertising theirs at 1500-3000 dollars. Anyone have any input on what a good one that milks nicely and is a2-a2 should cost?