 Sources of milk are from goats, camels, llamas, sheep, reindeer, and water buffalo.  Dairy Cattle are the main source of milk in the USA

 First brought to Jamestown Colony in 1611  Farms had only 1 or 2 cows  Lack of refrigerator was the reason  The second part of the 19 th century brought pasteurization, homogenization, refrigeration, and bottled milk  9.1 million dairy cows in the USA on farms  165 billion pounds of milk are produced by US cows each year

 Each cow produces nearly 18,000 pounds of milk per year  One cow can provide for 25 people with their dairy needs  Dairy farm numbers have declined since 1950, by 95%  Herd sizes range from to as much as 10,000 cows  High tech milking equipment is used

 Growth hormones are used to increase milk production  California leads in total milk production, Wisconsin is 2 nd, then New York  Calves are used for veal (males)  Older cows are used for bologna and hamburger

 Kingdom – Animal  Phylum – Chordata – vertebrates  Class – Mammalia – warm blooded  Order – Artiodactyla (Even toed, cloven hoofed)  Family – Bovidae – Ruminants  Genus – Bos  Species – taurus and indicus

 Should appear angular  Lack muscle development  Well shaped udder  Four teats

Seven Top Dairy Breeds:  Jersey  Holstein- Friesian  Brown Swiss  Guernsey  Ayrshire  Milking Shorthorn  Red and White

 Selecting Sires – One per herd  Artificial Insemination  Nutrient requirements – Look at their rations  Feeding calves – Colostrum first 6 hours  Feeding young stock – creep feeding  Feeding Dry cows – no concentrates only roughages  Feeding lactating cows – one pound of concentrates for every 3 pounds of milk produced. Roughages are fed at a rate of 2% of body weight.

 Animal/Human interaction  Stress modification – space (housing), feed on time, milk on time  Climate Modification – temperature, humidity or precipitation, wind, and radiation

 Metabolic Health Disorders  Milk fever – overfeeding calcium  Ketosis – Blood sugar low  Mastitis – inflammation of the mammary glands

 Cold Housing  Warm Housing  Milking Parlor  Mechanized feeding  Manure handling systems  tons manure is produced per dairy cow  Solid manure system – low cost – daily labor  Liquid manure system – high cost – move every 4-5 months  Lagoons (ponds) lots of land needed, odor problems

 Training  Washing  Grooming  Clipping  Trimming  In the Ring