haystackrat

The organs function separately. I believe what OP means about his organs being paralyzed is that he has no conscious control over them, eg. he can't decide to take a dump; his body just does it, same for his bladder.

What breed do you have? A lack of mothering instinct has not been my experience with dairy cattle. The issue usually with letting the cows and calves be together for too long is the cow will be stressed out when they're separated, which is less of an issue if they're separated as soon as the cow has cleaned the calf up.

Not OP but also not the New Zealand dairy farmer, ha ha.

Quantity can definitely go down. Happy cows make more milk, and stress can really hurt production. Part of it is that they'll go off feed, and without any input you won't get output.

I can't say as far as quality or taste, because it's not something I'd ever noticed. I'd be wiling to bet that there are studies on it, or at least that there should be!

There are companies who sell supplies for microdairies, which is what you'd be classified as if you had 10 or fewer milking cows. http://bobwhitesystems.com/ is an awesome Vermont-based company. Microdairies are often treated more leniently by the FDA, too. ;)

If you're thinking about homesteading and selling your products, make sure you take into account where you'll live and the potential market for your products!

Can you sell raw milk in that state/province?

Are there restaurants who would purchase milk or cheese from you?

Could you sell at farmers' markets?

Ha ha, yeah, I forgot about the excessive milk part. Your dad sounds like a good farmer. :)