Very odd craigslist ad, cows

**ladycat** · #21 12/03/10, 11:50 PM

Good grief, people.

There are tons of longhorns and longhorn crosses around here. We raised some ourselves back when we had a few cattle. (for that matter, I grew up on ranches because my stepfather was a cow hand until he and my mother bought this place. Then he worked on ranches and at the feedlot).

Longhorns are skinny compared to beeves. Longhorn calves are tiny.

tinknal · #22 12/03/10, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

My guess would be some of the pictures are NOT current. The bull calf picture looks like when it was about a month old. Keeping cows inside during/right after calving is not uncommon is cold areas.

A beef calf of that age should still be on the cow. Why it is not I have no idea, I'm thinking that the rest of the calves did not survive. This operation just reeks of poor management to me.

tinknal · #23 12/04/10, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladycat

Good grief, people.

There are tons of longhorns and longhorn crosses around here. We raised some ourselves back when we had a few cattle. (for that matter, I grew up on ranches because my stepfather was a cow hand until he and my mother bought this place. Then he worked on ranches and at the feedlot).

Longhorns are skinny compared to beeves. Longhorn calves are tiny.

Ladycat, that cow is all hip bones and ribs. Why is she in a stanchion? I see no reason to keep a beef cow in a stanchion unless they have no pasture and they want to limit free feeding. Tonight that barn is at about zero degrees Fahrenheit. This is December. What do you think she is going to look like in March?

Jackie · #24 12/04/10, 12:14 AM

I am a terrible internet stalker so i looked at all the other ads the person posted. The cattle all look ok to me. They really do. Not super fat, not super skinny, just ok. Ya, they look a bit over crowded and dirty but maybe the guy just thinks its easier to feed them in the barn. Nothing screams out at me that its a problem. I think that he could have certainly taken better pictures, but thats about it. Prices would be about fair for around here I think....maybe a bit steep but people often post prices high so they can come down.

Jackie · #25 12/04/10, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinknal

Ladycat, that cow is all hip bones and ribs. Why is she in a stanchion? I see no reason to keep a beef cow in a stanchion unless they have no pasture and they want to limit free feeding. Tonight that barn is at about zero degrees Fahrenheit. This is December. What do you think she is going to look like in March?

I am not sure what you are looking at! I can't see any bones sticking out at all on her. She is liftin her tail and probably having a pee, but she is NOT skinny. She is rounded, not pointy.

tinknal · #26 12/04/10, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackie

I am not sure what you are looking at! I can't see any bones sticking out at all on her. She is liftin her tail and probably having a pee, but she is NOT skinny. She is rounded, not pointy.

I am absolutely dumbfounded that anyone would think that that is a fit and healthy cow. At best she is on the edge. This is DECEMBER IN MINNESOTA people! The worst of the year is yet to come! Any healthy cow in December in Minnesota better be in good flesh and gaining. They expect a live and healthy calf in May with a cow in this shape in December? Good luck.

6e · #27 12/04/10, 12:37 AM

All we have around here is cattle. Long horns and long horn crosses never carry the muscle that the Angus, Hereford and other beef cattle do. They are always a tad hippy and it's not uncommon to see a bit of rib or backbone even when they're on hundreds of acres of green grass. They all look ok except maybe the older bull calf looks a bit shaggy. I would say they're probably lotted by the very dirty legs and hips and perhaps he puts them in stachions to feed. I don't think there's anything bad going on. The one red cow looks like she was peeing and so standing kind of funny and was holding her tail out.
Around here it's also not uncommon to see the older cows, and I'm talking beef cows, out on pasture that are hippy. As they age, they just don't carry weight as well as they did when they're young. I have to say, IF he does have them in stachions to feed to make sure everyone gets their share, that's better than dumping a line and letting them fight it out. shrug

Jackie · #28 12/04/10, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinknal

I am absolutely dumbfounded that anyone would think that that is a fit and healthy cow. At best she is on the edge. This is DECEMBER IN MINNESOTA people! The worst of the year is yet to come! Any healthy cow in December in Minnesota better be in good flesh and gaining. They expect a live and healthy calf in May with a cow in this shape in December? Good luck.

Ya, and I live in Northern SASKATCHEWAN! lol! And those cows look fine to me. The red peeing one actually looks the best. Up here it can get to -58F and they would be okay. That is just the way that breed looks. They really are ok. I promise.

Paquebot · #29 12/04/10, 12:49 AM

If the computer screen isn't at good resolution, it may look like the hips are showing because the darker color stands out. The lighter area below it looks like there may have been manure balls curried out and the guard hairs are gone. Otherwise looks like she may be the one which is due in May. From what I see under the tail, doesn't look like she's had a calf yet.

Martin

Jackie · #30 12/04/10, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paquebot

If the computer screen isn't at good resolution, it may look like the hips are showing because the darker color stands out. The lighter area below it looks like there may have been manure balls curried out and the guard hairs are gone. Otherwise looks like she may be the one which is due in May. From what I see under the tail, doesn't look like she's had a calf yet.

Martin

Ah! That has to be it! My computer screen is HUGE and very high resolution. I just see a fuzzy well fleshed heifer.

fishhead · #31 12/04/10, 08:06 AM

You could always just rustle some calves like those 2 knucklehead teenagers just did in central MN. They wanted to get into the cattle business so they went out and stole about 20 calves in 3 counties. One of the farmers said that calves are cheap now and only going for about $100.

Their cattle business lasted about a week before a neighbor turned them in to the cops.

Fortunately they didn't kill any of the calves.

arabian knight · #32 12/04/10, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackie

I am not sure what you are looking at! I can't see any bones sticking out at all on her. She is liftin her tail and probably having a pee, but she is NOT skinny. She is rounded, not pointy.

Same here. I can't see where some say that one is skinny at all. Not fat, but sure not skin and bones either.
And peeing like that would look humped up and look bad in a picture. But come on here those type of cattle never have fat hanging off them.

**ladycat** · #33 12/04/10, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinknal

Ladycat, that cow is all hip bones and ribs. Why is she in a stanchion? I see no reason to keep a beef cow in a stanchion unless they have no pasture and they want to limit free feeding.

Well, I've never seen or heard of a beef in a stanchion, but I suppose someone can find a reason to do so.

**ladycat** · #34 12/04/10, 09:58 AM

Ok, I've opened the ads in Firefox where the pics show more clearly (they're fuzzy in IE because of my accelerator software).

Longhorn heifer: http://stcloud.craigslist.org/grd/2089890830.html
Longhorn bull calf: http://stcloud.craigslist.org/grd/2089851708.html

These look like normal longhorns. They don't look starved.

But I don't know how well longhorns do in a northern winter.

Longhorns were brought to this country originally as Spanish Spotted Cattle. They do well in hot regions, and have been adapted to that climate for many hundreds of years.

But I won't pretend to know how well they can handle a Minnesota winter. They don't flesh out well, and seems to me they wouldn't take it as well as regular beef cattle. I figure tinknal probably has a good point.

PhilJohnson · #35 12/04/10, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladycat

But I don't know how well longhorns do in a northern winter.

Might be why they are in the barn instead.

**ladycat** · #36 12/04/10, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilJohnson

Might be why they are in the barn instead.

Sounds reasonable.

luvrulz · #37 12/04/10, 11:20 AM

Tink - make an offer and see what flies!

Lazy J · #38 12/04/10, 11:40 AM

You all sound like the Old Hens at the weekly quilting bee!

suzyhomemaker09 · #39 12/04/10, 01:12 PM

Has anyone given any thought to the reason they may be in a stanchion is to take a picture w/o it running off?
I know I've done lots of pictures of goats on a milk stand only because they move around a lot and it's hard to get a good picture otherwise.

Paquebot · #40 12/04/10, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suzyhomemaker09

Has anyone given any thought to the reason they may be in a stanchion is to take a picture w/o it running off?
I know I've done lots of pictures of goats on a milk stand only because they move around a lot and it's hard to get a good picture otherwise.

They're stanchioned because there's probably no other way to house them. Few small dairy farms had a separate building for young stock. The last farm I was on had 38 stanchions and 2 box stalls in the barn. Box stalls were just for the calves to be in long enough to wean and sell. Most days, the 38 head were let out while the barn was cleaned. By spring, some of legs looked quite ugly and the manure was sheared off. That's almost automatic with stanchioned cattle unless one washed and curried them twice a day. You can see that in the second set of pictures. The heifer had been cleaned up but not the two cows.

Martin