|
Post by 3LT Farms on Aug 20, 2019 18:40:24 GMT -6
All good information. Let's add a few more questions. Do you care about uniformity, or is a box of crayons ok? How would you market them? Sale barn, word of mouth, Craig's list? If you had decent pasture, how much and what would you supplement them with? Assuming you have the facilities, would you vacinate and castrate the calves? Are we still talking starting out? Box of crayons at first will be fine, you are going to cull a lot anyways. Cull towards your goal. Why not all 3, word of mouth and craigslist at the same time, if you don't get good traction dump them at the sale barn. Decent pasture shouldn't need to be supplemented unless you got broke mouth cows, then a tub or 2. Location plays a big part in that one, here at the sale barn, not a discernable difference between bulls and steers. I've only heard it announced twice that a group was vaccinated before a group sold. Couldn't tell they brought anymore than the group before. Other places it sounds like it makes a big difference.
|
|
|
Post by hook on Aug 20, 2019 18:50:58 GMT -6
All good information. Let's add a few more questions. Do you care about uniformity, or is a box of crayons ok? How would you market them? Sale barn, word of mouth, Craig's list? If you had decent pasture, how much and what would you supplement them with? Assuming you have the facilities, would you vacinate and castrate the calves? Are we still talking starting out? Box of crayons at first will be fine, you are going to cull a lot anyways. Cull towards your goal. Why not all 3, word of mouth and craigslist at the same time, if you don't get good traction dump them at the sale barn. Decent pasture shouldn't need to be supplemented unless you got broke mouth cows, then a tub or 2. Location plays a big part in that one, here at the sale barn, not a discernable difference between bulls and steers. I've only heard it announced twice that a group was vaccinated before a group sold. Couldn't tell they brought anymore than the group before. Other places it sounds like it makes a big difference. They announce preconditioned, weaned, vacc here layne. Pretty nice. Not much of a discount for bulls vs steers
|
|
|
Post by Allenw on Aug 21, 2019 6:47:57 GMT -6
The bull vs steer price discount gap closed when the banders for the bigger bull calves became available.
Calves you'll want uniform in color and conformation. Grazing cows are about yield and grade when sold, color doesn't matter. Trader cows are about markets, timing, even which sale barn to buy or sale at.
|
|
|
Post by 11111 on Aug 21, 2019 8:30:24 GMT -6
Buy heavy breds from someone you know, who want what’s best for you and you appreciate their cattle.
There is a vast difference in our cattle vs a lot of other people’s in terms of docility, breed back, etc... many around here care for theirs the way we care for ours but there are those who do not. Buying from those who do not, is going to create a whole lot of headaches.
So I’d buy heavy breds from a reputable place. Even if they cost a little more than a sale barn, you’re getting what you pay for.
I walked thru freshly weaned calves yesterday (day 2) to check for pink eye and they all came walking up to see me like excitable puppies.
I’ve also had the “pleasure” of working other people’s cattle during AI sessions. It’s dangerous and probably not worth the trouble. They wreak havoc on our facilities and our patience.
|
|
|
Post by M-5 on Aug 21, 2019 8:41:48 GMT -6
Buy heavy breds from someone you know, who want what’s best for you and you appreciate their cattle. There is a vast difference in our cattle vs a lot of other people’s in terms of docility, breed back, etc... many around here care for theirs the way we care for ours but there are those who do not. Buying from those who do not, is going to create a whole lot of headaches. So I’d buy heavy breds from a reputable place. Even if they cost a little more than a sale barn, you’re getting what you pay for. I walked thru freshly weaned calves yesterday (day 2) to check for pink eye and they all came walking up to see me like excitable puppies. I’ve also had the “pleasure” of working other people’s cattle during AI sessions. It’s dangerous and probably not worth the trouble. They wreak havoc on our facilities and our patience. A few years ago a young guy called me And wanted to buy a couple of heifers to start a small herd. I walked him thru the ones I had and gave constructive advise (tried to talk him into buying a couple of cows instead). He bought 2 and texted me all the time asking questions showing me pics and I really tried to help this young man. Fast forward a 1 1/2 years he calls me and says he has calves and would like to trade them out for a couple more heifers. I finally found a day to go by there and when I got a look at what he had done I was VERY honest with him. They were thin and stunted , calves were dinks and I told him that his management was the root cause of these problems. I have not ever heard from him again.
|
|
|
Post by 11111 on Aug 21, 2019 10:08:48 GMT -6
Buy heavy breds from someone you know, who want what’s best for you and you appreciate their cattle. There is a vast difference in our cattle vs a lot of other people’s in terms of docility, breed back, etc... many around here care for theirs the way we care for ours but there are those who do not. Buying from those who do not, is going to create a whole lot of headaches. So I’d buy heavy breds from a reputable place. Even if they cost a little more than a sale barn, you’re getting what you pay for. I walked thru freshly weaned calves yesterday (day 2) to check for pink eye and they all came walking up to see me like excitable puppies. I’ve also had the “pleasure” of working other people’s cattle during AI sessions. It’s dangerous and probably not worth the trouble. They wreak havoc on our facilities and our patience. A few years ago a young guy called me And wanted to buy a couple of heifers to start a small herd. I walked him thru the ones I had and gave constructive advise (tried to talk him into buying a couple of cows instead). He bought 2 and texted me all the time asking questions showing me pics and I really tried to help this young man. Fast forward a 1 1/2 years he calls me and says he has calves and would like to trade them out for a couple more heifers. I finally found a day to go by there and when I got a look at what he had done I was VERY honest with him. They were thin and stunted , calves were dinks and I told him that his management was the root cause of these problems. I have not ever heard from him again. Too bad he didn’t follow more of your advice, since you were more than willing to assist him.
|
|
|
Post by ebenezer on Aug 21, 2019 12:43:26 GMT -6
Buy heavy breds from someone you know, who want what’s best for you and you appreciate their cattle. There is a vast difference in our cattle vs a lot of other people’s in terms of docility, breed back, etc... many around here care for theirs the way we care for ours but there are those who do not. Buying from those who do not, is going to create a whole lot of headaches. So I’d buy heavy breds from a reputable place. Even if they cost a little more than a sale barn, you’re getting what you pay for. I walked thru freshly weaned calves yesterday (day 2) to check for pink eye and they all came walking up to see me like excitable puppies. I’ve also had the “pleasure” of working other people’s cattle during AI sessions. It’s dangerous and probably not worth the trouble. They wreak havoc on our facilities and our patience. Or from a dispersal if you can buy the moderate or even older cows that will bring less but work better. The place to jump start is in the bull with a bull bred for the environment and from a herd of great mama cows, especially his mother.
|
|
|
Post by tater74 on Aug 21, 2019 16:56:54 GMT -6
Great stuff here.
Would you recommend going into debt to purchase part of the herd?
I wouldn't, but this is for discussion purposes only.
|
|
|
Post by 11111 on Aug 21, 2019 19:19:12 GMT -6
Great stuff here. Would you recommend going into debt to purchase part of the herd? I wouldn't, but this is for discussion purposes only. We did. We actually just sold the very first cows we ever bought, that were still going. We started out with 15 pair, heavy breds. So 3 in 1s that were old already. We got a loan thru FSA. I’d start there if I were just starting out again.
|
|
|
Post by 11111 on Aug 21, 2019 19:20:29 GMT -6
Buy heavy breds from someone you know, who want what’s best for you and you appreciate their cattle. There is a vast difference in our cattle vs a lot of other people’s in terms of docility, breed back, etc... many around here care for theirs the way we care for ours but there are those who do not. Buying from those who do not, is going to create a whole lot of headaches. So I’d buy heavy breds from a reputable place. Even if they cost a little more than a sale barn, you’re getting what you pay for. I walked thru freshly weaned calves yesterday (day 2) to check for pink eye and they all came walking up to see me like excitable puppies. I’ve also had the “pleasure” of working other people’s cattle during AI sessions. It’s dangerous and probably not worth the trouble. They wreak havoc on our facilities and our patience. Or from a dispersal if you can buy the moderate or even older cows that will bring less but work better. The place to jump start is in the bull with a bull bred for the environment and from a herd of great mama cows, especially his mother. We haven’t had luck at dispersals. They’re like estate auctions. Everyone thinks they’ll leave with some cheap goods and end up bidding way over value.
|
|
|
Post by hook on Aug 21, 2019 19:21:03 GMT -6
Great stuff here. Would you recommend going into debt to purchase part of the herd? I wouldn't, but this is for discussion purposes only. Depends on the deal and the markets.
|
|