Hoard Jerseys see the appraiser

Earlier this month, the Hoard Jersey herd which now numbers 101 cows (plus 11 heifers) was appraised by AJCA appraiser, Blake Renner. We purchased the Jerseys from three Wisconsin herds, and they are housed in our old tie stall barn that recently made a complete transformation into a free stall facility. The barn is scraped twice a day with a skid loader, and cows are fed outside with drive-by feeding. The Jerseys make their way to our three-year-old parlor three times a day to get milked.

When we were done, the American Jersey Cattle Association put scores on 50 head. The entire group averaging just shy of two lactations averaged 80.3 points which is down one-tenth of a point from our December score. That average included the 50 cows that previously were scored in the current lactation and did not change in score. When looking at the herd by lactation number, we had:
• 22 first-lactation (first-score cows) averaged 78.2 points
• All 36 first-lactation cows that averaged 78.7 points
• 41 second-lactation cows that averaged 80.8 points
• 23 third-lactation cows and greater that averaged 82 points

Overall, the second-lactation group was one point higher compared to last December. And that was with 22 more cows in the group. Our second-lactation average scores is right at breed average.

For those who follow the Hoard Farm Guernseys: Numbers are near an all-time high. We have 333 Guernsey cows and 292 Guernsey heifers, of which 95 are safe in calf, 67 are unbred yearlings, and there are 141 calves.

The Hoard Farm Jerseys get their first score

This October and November we added 71 Jerseys to the Hoard Farm herd. Those cows which came from three Wisconsin herds are settling in quite well in our old tie stall barn which we are operating as a free stall barn. The 68 lactating Jerseys in the group are fed in the existing outside feed bunks and milked in our 2-year-old parlor. They are adapting quite well even with the one foot of snow we received the prior week and the subzero temperatures we are now experiencing. (To read more about the Jerseys, download the PDF with an editorial from our November issue at the bottom of this page).

On the afternoon of December 15, we appraised 68 Jerseys (did not score the dry cows). It took about 2 hours and 15 minutes to put scores on the cows as we milled around the feeding area on the very cold, but sunny, winter day that had temperatures eventually drop below zero later in the evening. The cows had about 10 to 12 hours of milk in their udders as we evaluated them just before milking time.

When we were done, the American Jersey Cattle Association put scores on 68 head. The entire group averaged 80.4 points. When looking at the herd by lactation number, we had:
• 32 first-lactation cows that averaged 80.4 points
• 19 second-lacation cows that averaged 79.9 points
• 14 third-lactation cows that averaged 79.6 points
• 3 fourth- and fifth-lactation cows that averaged 86.7 points

When looking at the three groups of cows we bought, it was quite uniform with Group A's 19 cows averaging 82.2 points (1.95 lactations); Group B's 30 cows at 79.3 points (1.6 lactations); Group C's 20 cows at 80.2 points (2.2 lactations).

Like our Guernsey 2-year-olds, our first-lactation Jerseys have taken to their new environment the best with their 305-day ME (mature equivalent) at 20,142 milk, 1,121 fat, and 773 protein. The second-lactation cows are just shy of 18,000 milk, while the third-lactation-and-greater group is just short of 17,000. By the way, the cow shown in the photo went VG-85.
hdm-2009-11-10-0-704.pdf