Keeping cows at home - a difficult task. Feeding and caring for cattle takes a lot of time and requires financial costs. A cow is a large animal, unlike poultry or rabbits, so before you start one, you need to think about whether it will be possible to cope with the entire volume of work, and calculate whether there will be a profit. Let's consider whether it is profitable to keep a cow on your farm, what the costs and possible income will be.
Who is breeding suitable for?
Keeping even one animal, not to mention several, means almost constantly being with it. It is required to feed and water it, clean it, graze it, and milk it at least 3 times a day. All this requires a huge amount of time. Moreover, this must be done every day, without weekends or holidays. This must be taken into account before purchasing an animal. If there are several cows, one person will not be able to pay attention to everyone, and an assistant will be needed.
You also need to take care of food for the cow, a place to store hay and root crops, and, of course, the barn where she will live. Find a pasture to graze on. If the animal cannot be provided with something necessary, it is not worth having. Any deviation from maintenance standards results in the cow reducing productivity, starting to get sick, and this entails additional expenses.
Keeping cows for milk and meat and getting calves is beneficial only for those who have land to build a home for them, have somewhere to graze, since in the summer cows can live by eating only grass, which makes the products obtained at this time cheap .
You need to immediately resolve the issue of selling products; this is important, because the total income from a home farm directly depends on the cost of milk and meat. If you find regular customers who are willing to pay a good price, you can make a profit every day throughout the year.
Purchasing animals
Whether or not it is profitable to keep cows depends on the number of heads and origin. The more animals, the higher the cost of feed and work performed, but the resulting products are cheaper.As for the pedigree of cows, in any case, it is more profitable to breed purebred animals, because they were selected specifically for the necessary agricultural characteristics, for dairy breeds - for milk yield, for meat breeds - for live weight. Outbred individuals will never be able to compare with purebred individuals in the amount of products they can produce, no matter how well they eat.
The cost of purchasing animals should also be included as an expense item. You can buy an adult dairy cow (on average, 50 thousand rubles) or a heifer (from 15 thousand rubles), calves for fattening. Their cost will be different, depending on age, gender and breed.
Premises and necessary equipment
One cow can live in a small room, but it must be warm, clean, and bright. You can't keep an animal anywhere. At the same time, expect that, being in a dark, damp, stuffy room, it will be able to realize its full potential. Each stall should be equipped with individual feeders and drinkers; it is advisable that the floor be equipped with a drain through which the slurry will be removed from the barn.
In addition to the premises for cows, in a private house you need to take care of where hay, root crops, vegetables, and mixed feed will be stored. Why is this important: if you buy feed after collecting it at a minimal price and store it yourself, keeping a cow will be profitable. If you buy in small quantities throughout the year, the feed will cost more.
How to calculate food costs
It would be a good idea to make a preliminary calculation of the cost of feed that the cow will need.Cattle feed on grass and hay, grain and processing waste, root crops, vegetables and silage, and pulp. The most expensive product from this list is grain, of which the animal will need at least 1 ton (10-15 thousand rubles).
You need a lot of hay - 4-5 tons (5-6 thousand rubles), 1-2 tons of potatoes and root crops (fodder is inexpensive - 6 thousand rubles). You can grow vegetables and root crops yourself, cut hay by hand, this will reduce the cost of food. If you buy, it will naturally increase. If there is no cheap food, you can, of course, feed with compound feed, but this is expensive and not suitable for everyone.
The cost of feed largely determines whether it is worth keeping cows or not. If it is possible to purchase relatively cheaply and in large quantities at once, then it is profitable.
4 thousand for pulp and 10 thousand for grain. Total – 20 thousand rubles per year. In addition, you will have to spend money on a shepherd (about 700 rubles per month) and vaccinations (500 rubles annually). The cow is grazed only when it is warm: usually from late spring to early autumn.
What additional expenses might there be?
If the cow is grazing in a herd, the shepherd will need to be paid. You also need to take into account the costs of lighting the barn, gasoline for transporting feed and products, veterinarian services, vaccinations, drugs for the preventive treatment of animals and the barn. If you plan to breed cows, you will also need to spend money on insemination.
Sale of calves
Every dairy cow has a calf that can be fed or sold at an early age. The price of young animals depends on age, sex (heifers are more expensive) and breed. Pedigree animals bring the greatest income. You can sell manure, fresh or rotted. Hides, offal, hooves and horns left over after slaughter.
Profit from milk sales
Cows belonging to dairy breeds can produce 3.5-6 thousand liters. in year. Owning a cow and selling milk can be profitable if you sell it directly to the end consumer at prices that are higher than store prices. If you donate milk to a dairy plant, profits will decrease significantly.
From milk you can make cottage cheese, sour cream, soft and hard cheese, which are more expensive. It takes time and effort to produce products, but this way you can expand the range and sell products faster.
The benefits of a large population
One family can keep 2-3 cows, using their own resources to care for them, prepare feed, and so on. In livestock farming practice, it has been established that a farm can have 10-15 animals, but to care for the animals it will be necessary to hire additional personnel, find where to graze the livestock, and take care of the feed for it.
Ways to increase profits
The profitability of keeping cows depends on the genetic potential of the animals, nutritional value of the diet, housing conditions and the average cost of feed and products.
It is unlikely that it will be possible to influence the price of feed, milk and meat, but a livestock breeder is quite capable of organizing proper maintenance and feeding, purchasing high-yielding or good beef cows.
The cost of the daily ration ultimately affects the cost of milk. If it is formulated correctly, even taking into account expensive products, such nutrition will pay off in increased productivity. It has been experimentally established that with the effective use of feed, milk yield increases.
The quality of milk also depends on the nutritional value of the feed. Product components affect fat content, protein content, vitamins, and mineral elements.They change the taste and other characteristics. The correct ratio of all components can only be achieved through balanced feeding.
Nutrition also affects the health of animals. Well-nourished cows rarely get sick, do not remain barren, produce strong calves, and are less likely to have postpartum problems. Due to irregularities in feeding, animals are often culled due to mastitis, infectious diseases and metabolic diseases.
Whether it will be possible to make a profit on a home farm also depends on whether preventive measures and disease treatment are carried out. Preventative treatments, vaccinations and veterinary examinations, although they cost money, help maintain the health of the livestock and its safety.
Keeping a cow or several is beneficial for those who live in rural areas permanently, have the opportunity to buy a purebred animal or at least a crossbreed, have access to cheap feed or prepare it themselves, can graze animals on pasture and sell milk or meat at a good price. If any of these conditions are not met, you should not count on big profits. But, in general, any cow can provide the owner’s family with homemade milk and meat, which will cost less than purchased ones, and the quality, naturally, will be much higher.
