Couple of Questions

[mamahen]

We're looking to get a calf or 2 this spring.

Problem is Dh wants one of last year calves (feeder calf), to fatten up this summer & butcher this fall. First we couldn't find a single farmer anywhere that would sell any animals!!

Now all we can find are this year's spring calves. We've done the bottle feeding before, I don't have a problem with it, but he didn't want to winter a cow.

The farmers already took the feeders to the auction & the one farmer that still has them, says he only sells to the auctions Ok, we will buy one at market price, maybe 2 (plus he wouldn't have to pay the hauler). We still haven't heard back from them.

I say, go with a calf. They're almost 2 months old, healthy & strong. Wouldn't have to bottle feed too long. They were with momma, so had colostrum. Still can't talk him into it.

I'm a little leary about older cows from auctions, say a a 10-12 month old. I will be the main caregiver & don't want a marchhare to take care of! Our last calf would lead by the halter with one finger!

We usually butcher anytime after 14 months old, we don't go for 1000-1500 lb steers. Our last one dressed at 625. The another one at 775. Both were Herefords.

Any suggestions?

[JeffNY]

Funny, he likes to sell to the auctions, yet he can get more selling outright. Sounds like he is lazy. I know if I was presented with auction or straight to a buyer, I would pick the later.



Jeff

[Sprout]

I would pass on that farmer he may not want to sell to you because something is wrong with his calves. If he sells through the auction he loses his responsibility and remains annonymous. Eg. he sells to you you discover somehting wrong you know where he is and can go hunt him down vs. buy at an auction it could be any number of sellers. Raising bottle calves is expensive I don't know why but thier milk replacer is the most expensive, and they are definatly more suseptible to shipping fever, scours etc. Have you considered getting a full grown steer? One that's just a few months from market weight? These are expensive to start but relativly looking at feed, care and medical costs to get a bottle calf to this age it's a bargain. Then you simply have to grain it out for a few months. However I would wait to get any fattening animal. Summer is not the best time to be putting fat on an animal they always seem to sweat it out. I would wait till fall and get a steer to grain out a few months that way you get the best gain and the least flies.

[JeffNY]

Buy a calf that is 3 months old, off milk, on grain. Will cost you less, and still be a calf. As sprout mentioned, milk replacer is expensive, but grain isn't as expensive, especially feeding a 3 month old calf.


Jeff

[Ken Scharabok]

I would say buy a yearling steer from the auction of the type you want - such as solid black and what is called locally a butterball (wooden barrel with legs). Give free access to grass this summer with supplemental fattening feed and then butcher in the fall. Perhaps pen up last 4-6 weeks on a finishing diet if you want a lot of marbling in the meat.

Just bear in mind all classes of cattle continue to be high at the present time.

You might even consider a yearling bull if you can have the auction barn cut him for you.

Locally for about $10 extra the auction barn will do pretty well whatever you want done to a critter before picking it up the next day (including a full vaccination routine). Includes dehorning and cutting.

[Goat Freak]

Just tell your husband that if he gets cows, older than 2 months, he will be the one taking care of them, because you don't want to get trampled.

[mamahen]

See, that's they problem.
There are just no steers around here!! I know, unbelievable.

There are plenty of mamas & babies, and herd sires. No yearlings!!

I have no idea where the heck they are going, who buys them all.

I do know there is a farmer around here that buys all of the calves in the fall. I've called 2-3 farms asking for calves & they all said sorry, they're already sold to so & so. The guy picks them up in the fall, fattens them thru the winter & sells in the spring.

And before you say it, he wants an OUTRAGEOUS price for them!! Unreal! Think filet mingion prices...

So do you pay less for a calf, but then put more into it ie, milk, more feed & hay. Or pay more for a older, bigger cow from the auction & have less feed in it. Also, you are taking a bigger risk from the auctions, never no what they could've been in contact with (we had a 6 month old steer die from ?) I do love the cute little calves. I miss not having them following me thru the field.

Arghh, I can't get my pony until the cows come.. I know selfish of me, but I can't help it!

[Jena]

You make more money in cattle by being able to offer a group that is all the same, more or less. That's why the guy wants to take them to auction (probably). That and the market is so high, he doesn't want to short change himself.

The guy who buys them all is also building groups...potloads no doubt and very probably has hedged his investment or even transferred ownership of them.

People who have cattle on feed want to keep them to make more money. In this market, it is one of the few times that it is possible.

Jena

[Hammer4]

The steers where you live are bought by stockyard buyers and shipped to the states that have feedlots ( midwest ). Then they are shipped back and put in your grocery store once they are finished, butchered, etc. It's amazing how much diesel fuel goes into one pound of beef once you count all that trucking and growing of grains to feed the animals in the feedyards.

[Rockin'B]

Too bad you can't find one.

Buying one of each would work. You'd have beef coming behind this falls slaughter and won't have to fight this issue again.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by mamahen

See, that's they problem.
There are just no steers around here!! I know, unbelievable.

There are plenty of mamas & babies, and herd sires. No yearlings!!

Theres yer answer, buy a cow and calf together. You let mama raise her calf and breed her back for next year. I have tried cattle from bottle calves, feeders, weinlings, to cow/calf and the cow and calf ends up being the most profitable in the long run, save back a heifer now and then to build yer herd and befor long you have all the meat you want for the freezer and calves to sell for profit on top of paying all their expenses.

[mamahen]

Ok, still trying to sell hubby on the cow/calf idea (I've mentioned it before), but I just talked to someone selling Herefords.

Great!! Ok, they are 6-9 months old, bulls & heifers. He wants $500 a piece. Ok, how can you sell them at a set price? We are going to go & look at them. Hopefully tomorrow. How can we ask, or tell him, that they are each worth different amounts, without insulting or angering him? I think he said they were around 400 lbs, not sure.

Right now this is what the auction results were on last Friday:

Feeder Cattle: Steers - Medium: 1-2 400-450 lbs, 74-87. Heifers - Medium: 1, 395-590 lbs, 70.-98., 340-520 lbs, 88.-104. Bulls - Medium: 1, 190-305 lbs , 108.-127.50; 350-620 lbs, 75.-87.

Ok, who can decipher or explain that to me??

[Sprout]

It's called haggling. If he wont budge get the best of his stock. You may even find one worth more than $500