A Sign Of The Times

[Henry]

Last night on Channel 3 News they had a brief segment on Vermont's Dairy Farm of the year and their Jersey Cows.  Apparently they had not been down to speak with the winners yet and they had videos of cows in a barn as they talked about the farmer having Jersey Cows.  Unfortunately they were showing Holstein cows.

I thought of calling the station and telling them about their error, but didn't want to miss the rest of the news.  Apparently others did not wait and at the end of the news they acknowledged their error.  Just want to make sure that everyone here on the forum knows the difference between a Holstein and a Jersey.

Many old time Vermonters of course will tell you that a farmer only had Jerseys if he couldn't afford to buy real cows.

[Suzy]

 Brown Swiss are my favorite!  I think everyone on your forum must know the difference between a Holstein and a Jersey.  If not, they should have their Vermonter status revoked! 

[PotterFXFD]

 Don't forget, Chocolate milk comes from the brown ones.

[mirjo]

Other than the obvious, what is the difference and is there a preference among farmers? Is there a cost difference?

It's funny that Chief Potter should mention the old chocolate milk joke, because brown eggs actually DO come from brown chickens!

[Henry]

Jerseys have a higher butterfat content - We always had one Jersey cow and used her milk for the house milk.  Dad always used pure cream on his oatmeal in the morning and of course pure cream in his coffee.  His favorite cake was a warm yellow cake split in half with whip cream in between and whip cream on the top.

You could always fatten up a Holstein and use it for beef, whereas Jerseys were always skinner and didn't make as good a beef, as least in the old days when you wanted a little fat on the meat.  They always seemed to produce more milk, although not as rich as Jerseys.

That is my non technical explanation of the difference. 

Hopefully the flatlanders won't be upset that I did not mention the Chocolate Milk.

[trussell]

Thanks Henry,

And Lisa- brown eggs don't ALWAYS come from brown chickens....

[Mike Raburn]

As a Vermonter removed some 30 add years, I do know the difference between a Holstein and a Jersey.
I would ASSuME that is common knowledge.

It is sort of like knowing the difference between a moose and a an Elk.

Now someone mentioned that brown eggs do NOT come from brown chickens??
What the WHAT?

That there logic just baffles me.

[Henry]

But a white hen will not lay brown eggs - Nor will a non-white chicken lay white eggs - Am I right Trevor??

[bnelli6]

my folks had a Jersey herd, such nice cream came from those bossies. Back in the days of "milk cans" we would take cream off  before the milk truck came. I remember one time the driver telling my mother that by the time he got to Cambridge with the load that there was butter floating on top of her cans.

[Henry]

Betsy, the guy was right about the butter.  I remember during the war when we were sugaring on Fairfield Ridge, one year we didn't have a lot of snow and Dad drove the horses up to the sugar house with a double wagon.  He would bring a small jar of heavy cream he used when he boiled to throw a bit in the boiling sap so it wouldn't boil over (This is a no no now I have been told by both John Collins and Jim Ellsworth, because it detracts from the 100% pure maple syrup).  Anyhow, when Dad got to the sugar house, he had butter in the little jar of heavy cream.  Those double wagons were not the smoothest riding wagons.  My Dad was amazed and I heard that story many times.

[dearon]

My father alway got his cows tested for butterfat content so his herd was top notch.  He had two Jerseys that gave milk with less butterfat than one of his Holsteins which tested at 42% butterfat. That was one of the two cows I hated to milk as all she did was kick so my brother milked her.  My father always kept a close eye on the butterfat content as he got more for his milk when the butterfat content was high (At least that is what I was told).  My mother of course loved the cream on her oatmeal and in her coffee, she would skim the top of the bulk tank for a quart of cream.  My father wasn't too amused.

[trussell]

But a white hen will not lay brown eggs - Nor will a non-white chicken lay white eggs - Am I right Trevor??

Well, I'm not an eggspert on the subject, but I've never known of any white chicken species that lays brown (or any other color eggs)... However, there are some darker chickens that lay very light colors... blue, green, nearly white.  And Lisa, because I know you're going to ask, the colored chickens that you see at the fair are artificially dyed and do not generally lay colored eggs.



-Trevor

[mirjo]

I wasn't going to ask smarty-pant! I usually don't go to the fair and when I have, I didn't spend any time looking at tye-died chickens!

As for eggs/chickens; all I know is that, when we had them, our brown hens layed brown eggs and our white hens layed white eggs, they didn't get jiggy in the hen house and mix things up a bit!  I was told that was the way it is with eggs.

All things not being simply brown & white, it can be said there is some variation among the coloring of the eggs; however, for the sake of friendly debate it seems safe to say that white chickens lay white eggs and brown chickens lay brown eggs, unless of course, they don't!

I have heard of those hens, I think I heard them referred to as Easter Chickems or something like that, because they lay different colored eggs. I had forgotten about them until you mentioned it Trevor.

[dearon]

Brown eggs are layed by the Rhode Island red chickens that are brownish red in color.  My father raised chickens for a few years  along with rabbits and pigs.  Hated tending to those chickens!!!

[Mike Raburn]

I am SOOOO confused.

When I go to Costco and get the BROWN eggs,,,, I have to ask.
Where DO they come from??? (Besides Costco