The Home Dairy: Cow vs. Goat

In our house, this is a hot button.  Why?  Because we have both a cow and goats.  There have been several heated debates over which is better, and here are the conclusions we have drawn in a nutshell:
A cow and a goat consume about the same amount of concentrates to produce about the same amount of milk, if the cow is not grain-fed, and the goat gets some grain.  For land with lots of good browsing brush a goat is obviously the better choice, based purely on the type of feed.
And here are some of the various characteristics of both animals that we have observed with our own:

If you want:

An animal that will come running when she sees you, displays great intelligence in figuring out how to get into things she shouldn't;  finds creative ways to get out of the rain (like climbing into the chicken laying boxes, see below);  puts her head into your lap, look up at you with soft lovey-dovey brown eyes, and begs to be petted:

Then get a goat.

If you want:

An animal which can handle the consequences if you don't know to worm her for a year, chews her cud quietly while you nail up a loose board or cut down a limb with the chainsaw:

Get a cow.

If you want:

To let your dairy animal free- range, and you dislike pruning rose bushes, grapevines, blackberries, raspberries, and other plants:

Get a goat.

If you want:

A beast that will stay in the fence, and not squeeze through a six- inch gap, or get her head stuck in the gate;  will eat the lawn instead of the rose bush, prune the orange trees instead of the grapevine, and can eat an orange without having it cut up:

Get a cow.

So, in short if you want:

An animal that is a bit smarter and more loveable and cuddly than a big ol' cow, but still gives a comparable amount of milk, that tastes as good fresh as cows' milk, and is easier to digest;  will keep the brush in check, and leave you to mow the yard;  will come on the deck for fellowship, and look in the living room window;  and will never leave a huge pile of manure in the yard, but has to be on a much stricter worming schedule than a cow:

Then a goat is the one for you!

If on the other hand you want:

A placid, rather stupid beast, that causes serious pain if your foot gets under her's;  will practically always go right into the stanchion and not stop to pry the lid off the chicken feed bucket and investigate it;  eats lots of grass and ignores the brush;  stays in the pasture except when the gate is left barely cracked, and (sometimes) doesn't notice when it's all the way open;  who gives about as much milk on grass and hay only as a goat does on grain, and takes twice as long to milk out as one, provided that both animals stand still:

Then you need a cow!

However...

If you want a happy medium:

To be able to make butter from the cow's cream (goat's milk is naturally homogenized, so is tough to make butter from);  to be able to feed the baby plain milk, even if it has a sensitive stomach; to keep the brush and lawn at a reasonable length without much help from the mower or machete;  and to enjoy the different "bovinality" and "goatyality" of the respective animals- then...

Get both!