Hi all
this is not for experts
an ameteur to ameteur advice
mods and experts please correct me
let me go step by step
about me : i “was” a failed dairy farmer. I learnt lessons from my mistakes i started with one cow and now i have 4 cows and am inching towards profit
conception of idea
most amateur dairy farmers start calculation even before they have seen/touched a cow 
they read about some tall claims ,some farmer becoming stinking rich just with few cows…etc etc
idea is always good but its has to be properly executed
dairy needs meticulous planning,hard work
first of all, all dairy enthusiasists should undergo a training/first hand knowledge
where do you get training?? 
KVK baramati
kvkbaramati.com/training_programs.html
NDRI karnal
SLBTC bangalore
slbtc.kar.nic.in/training.html
monthly training website has not been updated :d
enquire near by kisan vikas kendras for more details
…to be continued
Well said, every one interested in dairy first go and work few days in any dairy or spend some quality time with farmers and should have hand on experience.
Episode 2
Assuming you have had good training lets go further
Step wise approach
first know exactly what you want, how much you want ,what do you want to do with what you have
things to think before starting a dairy
1 market for your product
2 availability of trusted labor
3 availability of veterinary doctor
4 availability of raw materials like concentrates, medicines,
5 what should be done if there is surplus of product
6 what should be done if there is shortage
7 alternate for all the above mentioned
What are all the pre-requisites
- Land : ideally one acre of land is required to maintain 5 adult cows and 3 calves
if you are optimizing resources you can have 7-8 adult cows/acre
what to do with the land?
depending on your intended herd size shed has to be constructed and fodder is to be grown
shed construction:
loose housing system :see attachment
if you are going for TAIL to TAIL system
my personal opinion is tail to tail system is best for small-to -medium dairies(1-20 cows)
head to head system is better for larger dairies
points to consider
read this agritech.tnau.ac.in/animal_husba … using.html
in simple
1: select an elevated area
2 long axis of the shed should be north south direction
3 sufficient ventilation
4 at least 10 feet height peripherally and 12-14 feet height centrally
5 concrete flooring with or without rubber mats
6 allocate area for calves
7 allocate area for dry cows
8 allocate isolated area for sick cows
9 plan for proper drainage considering rainfall,elevation etc
fodder management
read attachment
to be continued…
Loose housing cattle -buffalo shed design.pdf (786 KB)
Feed & fodder management in dairy animals.pdf (1.37 MB)
Episode 3
continued from previous post
loose housing system
see attachment
now coming to the most important part of dairy
selecting the cattle
A1 and A2 milk 
?
well most people would not have heard of it
only people in metro cities ,techies and extremely health conscious people will know the difference and rest of vast general population does not care.they want good milk A 1 or A 2
go through these
agritech.tnau.ac.in/animal_husba … breed.html
agritech.tnau.ac.in/animal_husba … ction.html
Construction of Israel Type Farm.pdf (3.42 MB)
continued…
prices mentioned in kvk Baramati files were 6 years old
current pricing is astronomical
everything mentioned above is theory and under ideal condition
next i will come to practical aspects of cow selection, difficulties, how people get cheated etc etc
Breeds of cattle buffaloes in english presentation.pdf (2.57 MB)
Selection of animals kvk baramati.pdf (1.24 MB)
Episode 4
Ground reality
it is very difficult to get freshly calved milking cows
Only few farmers with genuine reasons sell milking cows
pros and cons of milking cows
pros
1 you will get milk from day 1
2 need not spend on vet for calving
3 you can actually measure yield and then purchase so not much of cheating is possible
cons
1 calving date will be unreliable( farmers/sellers may claim freshly calved but in actual it may be months
2 there might have been troubles during calving like uterine inversion, retained placenta etc which will affect successive reproduction
common malpractices adopted by farmers/sellers while selling milking cow
1 lies about date of calving
2 lies about number of calvings
3 lies about yield -even though you milk and yield is less farmers claim less yield is due to stress caused by strangers etc etc
now a days in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu sellers/farmers are selling only pregnant cows
reasons being
they can always make tall claims about yield as you cannot verify and if the yield is less after calving they can always blame your maintainance
they don’t have to worry about calving date and calving associated problems
cow selection in practical
you have read the general characteristics of an ideal cow
unless otherwise you are purchasing from a reputed modern “breeders” there wont be any records for any cow ,even if there is one dont trust such records
purchase cow according to their teeth
please read this cowboyway.com/HowTo/CowAgeTeeth.htm
now you know the aapproximate age of the cow
now udder
udder must be large proportionate with good attachements a good udder attaches from just below vagina of the cow and is uniform well placed teats
feel of the udder: spongy just like water balloon/
milk vein
thick tortuous milk vein with branches spread over udder is good
heifers will have small milk vein
milk vein becomes prominent only before milking
beware of edematous udders in pregnant cows
in such cows udder looks big and tempting but edematour uddder will be prone for mastitis and milk yield will be poor
spend some time with the cow see if it is eating dry fodder 
almost all cows love green fodder
few cows may not like dry fodder
observe cow dung especially in milking cows as ppl may feed very high quantity of concentrates so that milk yield is high during selling period in such cows cow dung is loose
ideal cowd ung is darkish little odor and when falls on ground makes “thupp” sound 
watch for urine color
watch for its behaviour with other cows- very important as some cows hate “other cows”
now you have selected a cow
next
Transporting
one more important factor
if distance is more than 100 kms it is better to transport at night
transportation must be slow taking care of curves and have a watch on cows minimize stress as much as possible
give special attention to pregnant cows as transportation stress may cause premature delivery and loss of income
to be continued…
Episode 5
now you have selected cow and brought your cow to your farm
there are 2 situations
1—> pre-existing dairy— no need to explain they will be knowing
2—>lot of things to be done
if you have purchased all the cows from single source then you can keep them together
if you have brought from different sources then you have to keep them separate for observation
first few days are critical as cows may deliver prematurely because of transportation stress, in such case calves will be weak and milk yield will be less
caring of individual cow
since it is highly unreliable about the dates of calving it is always better to assume calving to be less then a month more likely to be less than fortnight so it is better to start feeding cows with concentrates
go through this
agritech.tnau.ac.in/animal_husba … ation.html
and this
agritech.tnau.ac.in/animal_husba … ement.html
you will get general idea and individualize according to your market needs and labor availability
FEW TIPS
Recent research suggestions: during last 3 weeks of pregnancy keep the cow on low calcium diet so as to avoid milk fever
( i know this sounds absurd at first but it has sound scientific base-
references
government of canada research gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livest … evers.html
australian government depi.vic.gov.au/agriculture- … ia-in-cows
UK ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1764183/
to be continued…
Episode 6
signs of calving
read this
http://www.fao.org/ag/Agp/AGPC/doc/publicat/PUB6/P603.htm
Care during calving
first calving is always difficult and you should be extra careful
for safety call vet/experienced farmers
DO NOT ALLOW COW TO EAT PLACENTA
be prepared for high yielding cows- milk fever
in many training and almost all western sites it is adviced to seperate cow immediately after birth
feed the calf with colostrum as early as possible
delay in feeding colostrum will cause poor immunity
i wanted to add my own observation- though for very few cows in and around my village
incidence of mastitis was less in cows which were allowed to feed calves
---- reasons being 1----> complete suckling by calves
2---->saliva of the calves contain antibodies against common pathogens
3----> stimulates Oxytocin release
do whatever suits you
FOr those who have no experience in dairying please watch these videos you will have basic understanding about dairy
part 1
youtube.com/watch?v=u5dxC-plKr0
part 2
youtube.com/watch?v=b6F4durpRnw
… to be continued
Episode 7
Now that your cow has calved, it is milking time
two ways of milking
small scale few cows dairy
hand milking:
ANY COW, ANY METHOD OF MILKING, MILKING SHOULD BE COMPLETED IN 7-8 MINUTES
reasons being milk let down by cow (Oxytocin release) is for 8 minutes
just for those who want to try ,see these videos
remember milking is an art , master it
youtube.com/watch?v=oD2hx0uyhMo
and this
youtube.com/watch?v=g6u-hGnCYsI
by the way i like the girl 
wish i had a girl like that in my small farm 
NOT A PROPER WAY OF MILKING
youtube.com/watch?v=iNzJMNcqx8o
points to remember in hand milking
1-------> ensure complete milking to prevent mastitis
2------->do not cause pain ( two finger milking will cause pain) yield will decrease
3-------> keep the udder clean
4-------> clean the udder after milking
5------->filter milk before supplying
will add personal videos of milking and other things when i get time
… to be continued
Hello Khane ji
After doing training from KVK baramati & visiting 4-5 farms.
Can I start my own dairy farm with 5 HF cows?
Shall i have enough knowledge ??
Thanks
Hello
Which is best training between KVK, Baramati or NDRI, Karnal ??
At KVK, baramati Delaval is knowledge partner …
I am planning to do training , anybody please suggest me…
Thanks