Potential free cows? lol - opinions, Indiana
 

I do rescue work with animals around Ohio, Ky and elsewhere, and a lady contacted me about what used to be 3 heifer calves her daughter rescued from a sale barn 5 years ago and has kept as pets in Indiana ever since. The daughter has went off to college now and left the parents with the heifers.

None have ever been bred. They have been vet checked, and two are breedable, one is a free martin (the one with horns), they are friendly and fat. . .

She wants to be sure they are not eaten and is willing to, depending on cost, transport them to me for nothing. . . I know - Eye rolls I'm sure. . .all around here, but I hope to help her. . .

I've told her I haven't room for the free martin since I can't keep such a large "pet", but I'd consider taking the 2 - one looks like a Belted Galloway or Dutch Belted, who knows, if she can send paperwork that a vet verifies they aren't free martins. . .though I believe she is being honest.

I don't want the woman to spend a fortune getting them to me if someone out there close to Indiana (50 miles east of Chicago) would like some of these girls. . . EMAIL me and let me know.

Also, any reason they couldn't calve at 5-6 years old without having been bred? She said a local long horn breeder started to use them for embryo transfer and that is why her vet verified the two are no free martins recently, but he ended up not having need of them

I know finding a home for the longhorn cross free martin is going to almost impossible, but if I can get someone to take the other two, she might be able to just keep the free martin.

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those are the chunkiest cattle I have seen in awhile. Being that fat I don`t know if they will bred. They have age on them also, so that isn`t going to help either. Sorry can`t help much more than that. > Marc

I wondered about them being so heavy and how it would effect breeding. . .good to know that can cause issues.
How many years can you expect a cow to breed, barring the fat issue? lol

I know nothing of cows......
These are 'fat cows'?

those are fat cows.

Sammy
Tell me what makes them 'fat'?
When I think "fat" I think bellies dragging the ground, huge wide giggly butts.....
Tell me why these are fat?

Fat isnt good for any species of animal trying to reproduce, fat keeps eggs from going to where they need to because everything is squished together.
Body condition scores with cattle isnt my specialty but when the flank is even with the knee its probably not a good thing.
I wouldn't personally think these girls where overweight to bad but like I said, novice cattle person here

Laura, what you think of as fat is not actual FAT, it is big bellied, as in hay belly, or heavily pregnant.

What makes these cows fat, especially look at the black cow in the 2nd photo. You can see the dimples in her rump. That cow is Obese. Also, look at the condition of their hips, these cows have almost no dip between hooks and pins. You cannot see any ribs or spine and their flanks are quite full looking.

As far as breeding these cattle, I don't know, they are awfully fat. But, I would be more concerned about calving them IF they did breed. There is probably a high chance of calving difficulties due to fat restricting the pelvic opening. AND, I wonder how much milk they would produce, Fat in the udder will severely reduce the amount of milk that a cow will produce, and these girls are so fat that, that is a distinct possibility.

Would getting their weight down to a healthy size matter or would it be too late?

The black one, is it really that fat or is it a double muscled breed? That one rear shot looks like it has a Belgian Blue muscle profile.

For free, anyone close enough could sure take a chance on them. Even though they are full grown, I would still breed them to a low birth weight bull.

LOL that black one is definitely OBESE!!! Would the freemartin not do for a 'petting' Zoo???

I think someone that wants you to take a problem off their hands and then dictate to you what you can do with that problem is way off base.

the butt of that belted one looks like an animal ready for slaughter at the sales barn.
the horned beast is very filled in in all the areas that need to be filled in for a slaughter animal. tail head, in front of the hip bones, etc same for the shorthorn looking cow.

that all black one is amazing

they would all bring top dollar at the sales barn at the moment especially that black one.

I personaly wouldn`t want to butcher some of these, You would be dumping grease out of the pan all the time. Yes the black angus is huge, the rolls of fat give it away. The longhorn is not bad , but is fat for a longhorn. I think if you put these girls on a diet, they might be ok , but who knows. Don`t worry about hauling these gals, have a cattle drive, they will burn off that fat time they get to your place. But then again, the black one might drop over from a heart attack before the first mile. > Thanks Marc

The black one isn't included - she apparently is more attached to her. . .

The only ones is question are:
The Beltie, the White/Tan and then the long horned cross are the 3 she is looking to give away.

I think the animals are worth something if they can be bred, if they can't be. . .obviously, they aren't worth anything as pets - lol -. . . but their slaughter prices would be a fair sum, which the woman would obviously have that done and take the money, if she wanted to do that - she wouldn't need to take a loss and ship them to someone to make a profit in that way from them, so I think if it fair the woman dictates what happens to them. . .if someone is taking them for free and the woman foots the transport bill. . .but it might be getting anyone to take them is impossible. . .
I have no idea. . .just trying to help her out.

Exactly what I was thinking...so here is the bad points...what if they start getting out....what if they turn mean to run you out of pasture...what if they beat up your cattle...what if they break a leg...what if you lose your pasture or farm



Would not take anything I could not get ride off if they cause problems to my way of life

I place horses and small animals all the time through rescue work on contracts, and while a cow is certainly an odd animal to consider such a thing for, shockingly, it does happen with some livestock because there are a few such rescues. . .lol.
I am likely not taking them myself because I cannot make her an assurance of keeping them if they can't be bred, I don't have the room. . .but some people may be able to take one and risk not being able to breed one and just let it graze out its life . . . who knows?
Stranger things have happened ;)

The problem with obesity in these cases is that cattle put fat around the reproductive and internal organs first. Long before the fat is obvious externally. It is also the last to come off, so even if they were slimmed down, that internal fat would likely be there making conceiving and, even moreso, calving a risk.
We have had some overweight Jersey heifers calve at 4 and 5 years old. They get fat on our pasture (no grain from 15 months on).
One of the smallest calves we've had born came from one such cow. She had the hardest time delivering him and he was tiny. He would have died if we had not been there. Would never have made it out of his sack.
She ended up milking some of the fat off before an inexperienced vet caused her death a few months later.

The owner says this girls get nothing but pasture and hay in the winter - hard to believe they could be SO fat on just that.

I'm not traveling to OH to get cattle, but I'd sure take 2 nice looking breedable cows for free.

The long horn, if that's her photo, would be very easy to place as a lawn ornament around here. There are even businesses with a bit of lawn that would take a cute longhorn, if she is really gentle, and let her stand around eating outside their business to attract customers.

We must use our irrigation water or lose it and plenty of "gentlemen farmers" keep a couple of llamas or retired horses so they can keep their ag deferral and water rights. They'd love to have a pretty longhorn.

They are actually in Indiana. . . but too far from Oregon - lol, I know.

I actually just got an email from a lady and have been talking to her and then directed her to the owner. . . she is 160 acres and is willing to take all 3 in Ill. . . so hope it works out.

Creamer, it really isn't that unusual for a dry cow to get that fat. Add in the fact that these cows have NEVER had a calf, and I am not at all surprised.

We had 1 heifer and 1 cow lose their calves during the past summer and in 3-4 months were nearly as fat as those cows are (not the black one)

The chance of them breeding at that age, with that much fat, is low enough that it isn't worth considering. I'm with Marc, wouldn't much want to butcher them myself. What a waste.

Even if they breed, I have a real problem with taking anything to my farm with the stipulation that it cannot be eaten. If it doesn't work out, that is the only feasable end.
I have turned down free animals before because they came with such a stipulation. I just won't guarentee that anything on my place will never be butchered. Its not realistic.

I've put her in contact with about 5 people interested in either one or all . . . so I hope something works out for her and them.

Good. They are pretty girls.

The belted one looks like a Buelingo to me. I have a small heifer, they are supposed to do well and gain on just grass. I'd love to have her, but way too far away. Best of luck to her!

Yep, they have no calorie demands. No baby, no milk, no exercise - doesn't take much to get fat.

In addition, the black one appears to me to be a lowline angus, which don't have any demands of growth, so start getting fat early, and they seem to be very easy keepers, perhaps too easy. The lowline/jersey cow I had was always in good condition on limited feed even after milking strong for 10+ months and making another baby.

I'd "rescue" them then drop them off at the Topeka Livestock Auction on the way home. Or even better why not take them to a local butcher in Indiana and have the meat donated to a Farmers for the Hungry type of organization? That hamburger would be a blessing to someone down on their luck.

Cows that old and fat are virtually worthless as a breeding animal, especially maidens.

I would tell her frankly that this is not a good deal for you. I would say that you will take them with no stipulations and try earnestly to use them for brood cows, and if they do not breed that you will see that they are humanely slaughtered on the farm by a mobile processor.

Just a note. Fat cows can lose weight. I don't see the fat as an issue.

I like cattle who are easy keepers. There's not much value to a cow that can't hold her weight no matter how much she eats.

Those cattle are on a lot of really nice looking pasture and it looks like rotational grazing. If you put them on thinner pasture where they had 40 or so acres to walk around on and the feed at one end and the water at the other, they'd get back into shape pretty quick.

They are definitely plump, but they aren't all that fat. Nobody is going to mistake them for a 15th century hog with it's belly scraping the ground. They'd tune right up with a little proper management.

I couldn't do that or even put someone in contact with her I felt would do that, as it would be very dishonest, but thankfully, through my petfinder account, I was able to already find all three a home with a woman in Kentucky. She went to get them in IN today. The owner was very pleased with her potential home after talking to her on the phone, so I guess it is a happy ending.