The Family Cow Handbook: A Guide to Keeping a Milk Cow

Milking your family cow and experiencing the simple joys that comes with it are explained in this guidebook by veteran dairy farmer and cheesemaker Phil Hasheider.This book leads you through all the steps needed to make your dream a reality and the processes involved to make your own dairy products. You will learn the practical do’s and don’ts of buying a cow, milking, feeding, and assisting her when she gives birth to a calf. You may not have the experience yet, but time will take care of that as you learn. Your adventure starts here and this book will guide you along your journey with your family cow.

Philip Hasheider is a fifth-generation farmer raising pasture-grazed livestock with his wife and two children near Sauk City, Wisconsin. A former cheesemaker's assistant, his interests in agriculture and history have led him to write eleven books, including Voyageur Press' The Complete Book of Butchering, Smoking, Curing, and Sausage Making and The Hunter's Guide to Butchering, Smoking, and Curing Wild Game and Fish. He has also penned how-to books for raising livestock, which include How to Raise Pigs and How to Raise Cattle. Hasheider has written numerous articles for national and international dairy breed publications, and his diverse work has appeared in the Wisconsin Academy Review, the Capital Times, Wisconsin State Journal, Sickle & Sheaf, and Old Sauk Trails.