The icelandic cow is an ancient breed, rather
small but comes in all sorts of colors. The first cows came to iceland
with the settlers, before year 1000 AD, and ever since there has been
little or no import of dairy cows.
This breed,
because of its purity and isolation, is unique in the world.This breed is
the only breed of dairy-cows in Iceland, and because of the import-ban we
are free from most of the diseases so frequent in many countries.
They use feed very efficiently, which is good in a country where
other feed than grass-hay is expensive. Usually they are only fed
grass-hay, and less than 4 kg (8 pounds) of cereals per day (usually a
concentrate-mix with minerals in it).
Most farms in Iceland have
tie-stalls, but milking-parlours are becoming more frequent. The summer is
short here, and the cows have to be in the barns from the beginning of
october to the beginning of june, at least here in the northern part of
the country (so they are housed 8 months per year).
The pasture is
mostly timothy and other kinds of grass. Often cabbage, ryegrass, turnibs,
barley or oats are grown to prolong the growing season. Then the cows can
eat this in september, when grass has stopped growing. It is most common
to harvest hay in plastic-wrapped roler-bales here, or dry hay bales, so
usually the hay here has at leat 50 % dry matter.
The icelandic
cows are healthy, often they are in full milk production at the age of 9.
95 % of the icelandic cows are born without horns.
The icelandic
cow is a dairy-cow, and as a meat-producer it is light, usually 380-450 kg
(760-900 lbs). The average yield is near 4500 kg per year (9000 lbs) but
individuals can milk up to 11.000 kg (22.000 lbs) per year. In spite of
being small, they have good, deep bodies, and a large measure around the
barrel, so they can eat a lot of hay. Most icelandic cows have naturally
no horns, but a small percentage (3-5%) are born with the genetics for
growing horns. They are not docked, but this genetical tendency is being
worked against by selecting only horn-less bulls as insemination bulls.
All dairy-cows in Iceland have individual names.
YOU'LL FIND A COW GALLERY
HERE
FUN
STUFF
You might be a dairy
farmer:
1. If your backyard ends at an electric fence.
2. If the kids drinking glasses are milk replacer cups.
3. If
manure is a dinner table topic.
4. If you know the price of milk per
hundred weight but not by the gallon..
5. If your kids sandbox is an
old tractor tire.
6. If you have three pairs of Tingley boots and two
pair all go to the same foot.
7. If the medicine cabinet in your house
contains a container of bag balm.
8. If you’ve ever gotten an award
for fat (and were proud of it).
9. If your idea of a power lunch is a
sandwich on a tractor.
10. If your idea of carpentry work includes a
chainsaw and bent nails.
11. If fence repair is second nature.
12.
If you can fix anything with baler twine, a piece of wire, duct tape and a
pair of vise grips.
13. If your idea of a neighborhood watch is
someone calling you to let you know your heifers are out.
14. If the
front door on your house has the key in it all the time so it doesn’t get
lost. 15. If your idea of mass transit is moving your cows to the crowd
area, a holding pen or pasture.
16. If most of your good headgear
advertises semen or seeds.
17. If you have more than a dozen cats.
18. If you have more pictures of your cows than of your kids.
19.
If your idea of overnite delivery is pulling a calf at three in the
morning.
20. If you can remember the name of every cow on the farm but
the names of your children elude you..