Found a calf!!

[mamahen]

Wow, didn't know they were like gold!! They are so hard to find!!

This isn't what my DH wanted, but it's what we found. A 2.5 month angus heifer. Cute as a button.

Now I have a few questions!!

1. She'll be almost 3 months when we bring her home. Should I bucket feed her? I thought she's a little young to totally wean. We always had 1 week old bottle babies, never one in between. Should I use milk replacer? No source of fresh milk.

2. How much would you think for one this age? I'd say she's around 200-250 lbs. We were quoted a flat price. About $1.40 lb. Sound about right? We're in Western PA

Since she's so young & small, I know I can halter train her fairly easily & quickly. A BIG plus. But we will have to winter her. Dh isn't happy about that.

Now the big question is.....Eat her next year? Or start breeding? Dh is tossing this up. Never thought he would. When would you breed? About 18 months? She would be bred back to another angus, for a small fee. I think we should keep looking for a steer plus buy this little heifer. We could also of bought an older (3) brood cow. A little skittish. A LOT more money. It would've been a 2 for 1 deal. Still a little too much money.

[KSALguy]

i would JUMP on an Angus hefier calf for that price, keep her for breeding, and find a steer some where for this year or find someone already takeing their beef to market and by a side off of them already processed, alot of time farmers (at least they did in kansas) take extra beef to the butcher and sell it to you for Processing, and you get the beef cut the way you want

[Up North]

Price seems fair in today's market. A little surprised it's owner would pull a beef calf off a cow at this early. Anyways, a 3 month old calf in good health should be ready for weaning. Perhaps get 1 bag of sweet(molasses) calf starter feed, get her eating grain and drinking water good, then go from there. Plenty of time to see if you get along with her before deciding whether to butcher or breed her.

[agmantoo]

It is odd for a 2 1/2 month old angus not to have a moma. Are you certain this is a 100% angus or is it a Jersey/Angus cross that is black?

[Hammer4]

Could have been a calf from a cow that had problems and he had to ship off or the cow died and he is tired of bucket feeding. That price seems fair or even cheap compared to what calves that age are bringing at the sale. I would plan to breed her at 14 - 15 months old to bring her to calving around her 2nd birthday if it were me.

I don't know how many acres you have to work with, but it sounds like you are off to a good start towards having your own beef and milk.

[cowgirlracer]

I have a 15 month old heifer that was a bottle calf. I am choosing to wait one more year before breeding her. Bottle calves typically grow slower and are smaller. I don't want to jeopordize her calf and her breeding future. I am new to cattle (all of this really) so I tend to err on the side of caution. That is my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Anne
Cowgirlracer

[myheaven]

is she a free martin??? Make sure she can bree if that is what you want with her.

[mamahen]

Sorry to confuse everyone. The calf belongs to a man we know. He has his own little herd of black angus, no crosses. He was just being nice, selling us one this young. Like I said, he also had an older one, we just didn't want to spend that much $$ right now, for one cow, even bred.

This calf is still on its momma. They would pull her for us, when we were ready for her (in 2 weeks, the barn isn't finished inside). That way she's still young enough to be gentled. He's had this herd for over 3 years & this is the first year he had a bull calf born. Of course, he sold it before we found out. We really just wanted a steer this year.

DH still isn't sure what to do. He thinks you lose all your money when you winter them. Hay is $1 bale, out of the field. Plus feed. Plus processing fee, when butchered. Plus cost of calf. I'm still trying to reason with him! I'm hoping it works!

thanks, mamahen

[willow_girl]

Yikes! I wouldn't eat a heifer ... if anything, I'd think (I am not a beef person) she should be worth more than a steer of comparable age ... sell her, buy a steer and pocket the difference!

[Haggis]

We too have found a new heifer, a Jersey. She's a mite pricey, $400, but it's only money, and we're not it this to balance books or show a monetary profit on our animals.

My Jersey Heifer Tulip calved at 20 months, and is giving us 3+ gallons of milk a day at her once a day, morning, milkings. She spends the day with her calf and he is growing dramically, so he is getting planty of milk as well. Tulip was fed very well until she was a year old, and she weighed over 600 pounds when she was settled by our Milking Devon bull.

Actually, I was going to wait and let the bull settle her at 15 months, but the little bull who seemed to show no interest in the ladies, was in point of fact very busy after dark, when we couldn't intrude.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by Haggis

...the little bull who seemed to show no interest in the ladies, was in point of fact very busy after dark, when we couldn't intrude.

Haggis- You've got one of them NIGHT RANGERS too, eh, LOL. We've had a couple of them shy little guys!!!!