Need your opinion on purchasing a blind calf & price

Rcrewofmany · #1 10/18/06, 06:03 PM

My son is working for a farmer and the farmer has a blind calf that was born in May of this year. It's a male. I'm pretty sure he raises only angus. He is asking $1 a lb and estimating the calf to be 300lbs.

My questions......

is this a good price for a blind calf?

is there anything we need to be aware of when having a blind calf?

what would you do?

thanks

Michele

Karin L · #2 10/18/06, 06:43 PM

My question is: Why would you want to buy a blind calf??

tyusclan · #3 10/18/06, 06:52 PM

There's no problem buying a blind calf if you have a good place to keep him that he can get used to. But $1 a pound is WAY too much. He'd be lucky to get $50 for him at an auction.

montysky · #4 10/18/06, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyusclan

There's no problem buying a blind calf if you have a good place to keep him that he can get used to. But $1 a pound is WAY too much. He'd be lucky to get $50 for him at an auction.

In agreement here. 50 bucks to 75, you will have alot more work with him.

Ken Scharabok · #5 10/18/06, 11:40 PM

Agree with above. WAY overpriced. Might not even bring enough for him to breakeven on auction costs. Only real reason to purchase would be as a freezer beef, but that is some one year away. Likely by then you would be so attached you wouldn't want to sell or butcher him, so have a 1000 Lb plus dependent animal to deal with.

You can winter him over in a stall but how would you put him on pasture next spring?

You can obtain a very nice bottle calf likely for a lot less money or even an early weaned healthy calf for not a whole lot more.

Up North · #6 10/18/06, 11:54 PM

I agree with Tyusclan and Montysky that $300 is too much. JMO but I wouldn't take him at any price. The feed costs and the opportunity cost of using your available housing will be the same as raising a normal healthy steer from 300 to 1,000 pounds. With the blind calf there is a very real risk that he will off himself, leaving your son very dissapointed and you losing your investment of purchase price and feed costs....I would politely decline.

susieM · #7 10/19/06, 01:46 AM

You will grow to love him. Buy another one, one it won't make you sad to kill and eat.

Ronney · #8 10/19/06, 05:03 AM

Hi Michelle,
I agree with the others - $300 is way to much in anybody's money, they should be giving him to you, but $50 would be top dollar.

I have reared a blind calf and he did very well but you do have to go that extra mile and ensure that wherever they are put is 100% safe - no gullys, swamps, creeks or ravines. They can smell water so getting water from the trough isn't a problem although I often found mine with his two front legs in the trough.

They don't need to see to graze and find the right grass, they do that by smell as well. They enjoy having a paddock mate and mine developed a symbiotic relationship with a pet wether and a hen!!!

He will learn to recognise your voice and commands and will walk to you and if he's anything like mine, will stop just in front of you at the point when you think he is going to trample over the top of you. There is no doubt that their sense of hearing and smell develops to compensate for the lack of sight.

But you do have to think about what your going to do with him in the longer term if you do opt to take him on. If you want to take him on with the thought that he could become a pet, that's fine but if your looking at disposing of him, you may find that rather hard as you will probably spend a bit more time on him than you would a sighted animal. The emotional side of it is up to you, the practical side is that there is no reason whatsoever that he shouldn't do well.

Cheers,
Ronnie

HaysFarm · #9 10/19/06, 07:31 AM

I never had a blind calf, But we have had a blind mare. No matter the price it depends on what you would be taking him for. If your going to eat him, you can use a smaller pen to keep him safe and feed him for a short per of time and your done.
If you will be keeping him for a long period of time and he will be a pet. Then you would need to make sure he has a good safe area.
You should also take in to mind that blind animals no matter the breed are ( for the most part) very spooky and this should be something thought about with and animal that has horns, can kick ext... I would think about it, do you really want him ? need him ? or is it pulling on your heart?
I wish you luck with this

Razorback21 · #10 10/19/06, 08:15 AM

We paid $90 for a blind calf about 5 months ago. We keep her in a 32x32 corral with a loafing shed with one of our weaned calves as company. They are much more labor intensive and you can become attached, but you have to realize if you take it on, it is worth much more to you as beef than it will be to a buyer at the sale barn. Good Luck with it!

needstoknowmore · #11 10/19/06, 05:09 PM

My thoughts....
I think $300. is way to much. I have a blind calf and she was given to me. But she had other problems as well.
A dollar a pound is about what the going rate for a healthy angus heifer calf is going for here right now. I don't know about all auction barns, but my local one will not take blind animals.
And there are lots of reasons to have a blind calf!!!!!! They may take a little extra care. But they are still worth it.
My calf that is blind is less spooky than the one that can see. But they do and will do better with a buddy. Other than making sure the pen is free of obstructions and the fence is safe. They just need what any other calf would need to grow and thrive...
But it is very easy to become very attatched to them!!!!

Edited to say. I think I was wrong on the market price for the heifers. I think the steers where just over a dollar a lbs and the heifers where in the 140 range. I just clerk the sales and only remember the prices long enough to feed them to the computer. Sorry.

animalfarmer · #12 10/20/06, 03:20 AM

If he is still getting some milk and is in good shape I would buy him and slaughter him now.If you can buy him right,at the market in your area,then you would be doing him a service by purchaseing him,slaughtering him in a humane manner,and dressing him off.In return,he will give your family about 150 lbs. of good meat.At his size he would be easy to slaughter and dress at home,also.Best of luck.

savinggrace · #13 10/23/06, 08:57 PM

I would not pay for a blind cow but with the understanding the one you mentioned is (I am assuming) intended for meat; I would take into consideration the additional time and care and would negotiate hard.

Rcrewofmany · #14 10/24/06, 07:00 AM

Thank you all for your advice. We really appreciated it.

Here is some more information about the calf and what ended up happening....

The calf is completely blind in one eye and the other eye is partially blind. So he can see a little. We were told he got pink eye too many times and ended up blind. He is smaller than the other calves. He was pushed around and not getting enough nurishment. He is very skittish as he was out in the fields and not much human contact.
We went and looked at him the next day. The owner said he would just give him to our children instead of paying for him. That is a blessing for us. We have him in a pen in our dairy barn until he is less skittish around us. He is coming around and starting to come to us a little. He is still very wild and I wouldn't trust him with anyone in the pen. Yes he will be in our freezer and our children know that. Yes we will get attachted to him as we have in the past with our other beef cows. It's just part of farm life for us.

Thank you all again.

Michele & Crew