In case you haven’t already heard us shout it to the rooftops on facebook and instagram, I’m going to take one more opportunity to really hammer the message home — WE GOT A COW!
And now that she’s here, it’s hard to imagine how we went so long without her big brown eyes, her loud “MOOOOOOO”, and the massive cow pies that she leaves all over the pasture.
Oh, and did I mention that she’s pregnant!?
You know what that means — lots of delicious, raw, beyond organic, grass-fed milk come April. Yup, we’re pretty excited about Maybel around here. Here’s a few more reasons why:
Why We <3 Maybel
- MAYBEL FACT #1: She’s a Jersey. The Jersey breed comes from — you guessed it — New Jersey! Researchers aren’t quite sure how Jersey cattle were first brought to Jersey Island, but they generally suspect that Jerseys originated from the adjacent coast of France (cattle resembling Jerseys are found in Normandy and Brittany).
- Greater fertility and little to no calving problems.
- More nutritious milk that contains 18% more protein, 20% more calcium, and 25% more butterfat than milk from other cows.
- A2 Milk (read more about this in #3).
- MAYBEL FACT #2: She’s a sweetheart.
According to this website, “Jerseys are thought to have one of the best temperaments among the dairy breeds.” If this picture isn’t proof of that, I don’t know what is.
- MAYBEL FACT #3:
Milk — raw, delicious, beyond organic milk! This could be an entire blog post in itself (and probably will be at some point). But for now, a summarized version of why Maybel’s milk will be a-mooo-zing will have to do.In addition to having a higher protein and nutrient content, Maybel’s milk also contains the beta-casein A2 (not A1). I knew nothing about this distinction until we got Maybel (and am still learning the details of it), but I do know that ALL cows produced A2 Milk back in the day. Around 8,000 years ago, and a new type of milk (A1) came about as the result of a mutation.
There’s compelling research that links A1 milk (most of what’s available in the U.S.) to a slew serious health problems including heart disease, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, autism, schizophrenia, and more (check out this video series by Sean Croxton for more information on the difference between A1 and A2 milk).
Maybel’s natural diet of organic grass along with the raw, unpasteurized state of her milk (pasteurization destroys the good bacteria in milk that allows our bodies to digest it properly) will also contribute to it’s nutritious and wholesome goodness.
We couldn’t be more excited to try her milk and pass it along to our neighbors in So-Cal!
- MAYBEL FACT #4:
Maybel is (and will always be) a very happy and healthy cow.
She’ll spend the duration of her life on fresh pasture, soaking up the sun and grazing on delicious green grass. It doesn’t get much better than that!
The Jersey breed are said to be more efficient producers of milk, less susceptible to a number of diseases and conditions, and can adapt extremely well to a variety of climates. They also have…
Anything else you want to know or share about Maybel, milk, or the Jersey breed? Ask/share it with a comment!
Great news! Does this mean there will be raw milk for sale??
Yes ma’am!!
I LOVE MAYBEL!!!!
She’s the best!
So awesome, B!
I read this a while back: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/03/a1-milk-a2-milk-america and it totally enlightened me about milk, too!
Wow – awesome resource. Thanks for sharing, Maggie!!
Are you a milk drinker?
No prob! Not a milk “drinker” but I put it in my coffee, on cereal, and I love yogurt, cheese, ice cream etc. I had bad ear infections as a kid so my mom took me off all dairy and so I just never developed a taste for it. And still, if I have too much milk, it upsets my stomach (even Organic Pastures raw milk). So mild lactose intolerance I guess?
I feel ya! I drank milk constantly growing up and also felt horrible constantly. After giving it up (among other things) I started feeling a LOT better. The few times I’ve had it since, it has upset my stomach. So I’m pretty curious to see how my body reacts to raw, organic A2 milk! Do you know if Organic Pastures is A2?
i’s excited for you guys and really want to “like” this… not a milk-drinker, i recently tried raw butter (for my bulletproof coffee), and it smelled like feet! is this normal? i’ve since switched back to kerrygold… :-/
Haha!! That’s hilarious. What kind of raw butter did you try? I haven’t ever experienced that with raw butter!
it was from Organic Pastures. i thought i got a “bad batch” but was told they all smell like that. as expected, it’s kinda pricey ($16/lb)… i couldn’t handle it. according to their website, they do not test for A1/A2, but that their milk comes from a wide variety of cow-breeds, and is thus, nutritionally superior (paraphrasing here).
Organic Pastures FAQ says they have 10 different breeds that produce their milk so they don’t know, essentially. http://www.organicpastures.com/faqs/
They probably have some A2 cows for sure but the milk likely ends up being a mix.
Ooops, forgot to “reply” 😛
Do you know if Maybel will be delivery a boy or girl and what will become of her baby?
Hi Anne! We aren’t sure what the gender will be yet, and what we do with the baby will probably depend on the gender…if you know what I mean! But either way, her calf will be with her long enough to fully reap the benefits of her milk until he/she is old enough – and probably for awhile after that as well!
A recent post with some updates on A1 A2 milk…http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/a1-a2-milk-do-cow-genetics-even-matter/