Oh dear! Now I am a gambler!

Callieslamb · #1 03/27/09, 03:46 PM

I bought a tiny little jersey heifer today - as in very tiny. I was only going to get bulls. The man (aka - Carl-the-calfman - my name for him) had a trailer load of them. They all looked healthy and were bucking and kicking around as I asked him to get several out for me to look at more closely. I think I irritated him just a bit.

I posted about him last week and was very leery. But I decided on checking out his bulls. I knew that if a dairy man could get $400 for a new jersey heifer, they wouldn't give anything good away to someone like carl-the-calfman. I picked one bull calf and was going to pick another.... There were several people standing around the trailer of bulls. I asked if they were all here for the bulls and one said, no, they were waiting on me to decide on the heifer or not. Heifer?

Then, Carl-the-calfman showed me this tiny little heifer. She was/is skin and bones and about 1/2 the size of the bulls. I imagine she is a twin/freemartin - which I also asked about here earlier this week. She stood up when I walked up to her and her eyes looked me over really well, her ears were up and she stretched her nose forward to try to lick my fingers. So, I bought her - $25. Now I am a gambler! I figured I paid $1 for each minute she would live. She made it the 1 1/2 hour drive home. I fed her some electrolytes - she guzzled it down. I will feed her milk replacer a bit more later tonight. Maybe it will be $1 per hour? When I left, she was romping round the stall with the bull calf. I will probably have to separate them for a while - he is way bigger than she is. I may put her in a cardboard box for tonight to help her stay warm. She has a nice horse stall with lots of straw, but I don't think she can afford to get cold. She will most likely end up on our table. Never, ever look a jersey calf in the eyes! They will follow you home!

DS named them Roblox and Daisy.

copperhead46 · #2 03/27/09, 07:46 PM

Awww, how can you resist something like that?? I know I couldn't, won't even try to lie about it. I hope she does well for you.
P.J.

lasergrl · #3 03/27/09, 08:00 PM

probe her just to be sure..............you never know

Callieslamb · #4 03/27/09, 10:19 PM

probe her with what?

Madsaw · #5 03/27/09, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lasergrl

probe her just to be sure..............you never know

Not being smart, but just how many heifer get ruined by probing. Many of the sales barns here are not allowed to probe any more. I myself thinks its a joke too.
Bob

lasergrl · #6 03/27/09, 11:07 PM

how would they be ruined?

mplatt4 · #7 03/28/09, 12:00 AM

well you wouldnt think it was wrong if you bought onee to breed for 400 dollars and found out it was a free marten. there are traders who go around and buy free martens for 65 dollars and take them to a sale and sell them as breedable heifers for 300 to 400 dollars. and it is us homesteaders they target a dairy man wouldnt buy one without checking

Callieslamb · #8 03/28/09, 07:41 AM

I guess I know what probing is now. I was going to ask with what and from what end, but refrained. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to Pro BE her, as in a medication or probe her elsewise. I will have her tested for freemartin - later. She did very well last night and drank all her milk this morning (about 1 qt) faster and easier than the bull drank his. She doesn't have scours by any means but her pooh really smells bad...is this a bad sign?

Has anyone bought one this small and made a success of her? As long as she doesn't get sick and cost a ton in vet fees, she is worth it to me. Freemartins have to taste similar to most beef I eat.....The other people that wanted to buy her, well, I think they wanted her for lunch rather than to raise. They were not clean people and the dirt didn't come from working hard. I don't think she would have had a chance with any of them. They were pretty upset when I decided to buy her.

I thought it was city people they targeted..... I sure left there yesterday feeling like a sucker! LOL!

I will try to post a picture today.

topside1 · #9 03/28/09, 07:52 AM

Bob, I'm sorry but this hit a nerve. All my heifers are probed at the sale barn, if they weren't I wouldn't buy them. Like MPLatt4 said, two to four hundred dollars is a lot of money for a free martin....How does a lubed probe harm them? I witness the probing with my own eyes or I would never gamble with that kind of money. 14 months is a long time to wait only to discover you bought a freezer heifer....My Vet taught me to probe with a lubed test tube, what harm?...Sorry Bob, just trying to learn....Topside

JKB07 · #10 03/28/09, 01:49 PM

Bob,

not sure abou your post, but it sounds like you dont know what you are talking about.

OP, I would probe her to give you a better idea of what you are dealing with.

Justin

lasergrl · #11 03/28/09, 04:03 PM

If I had a heifer that for some strange reason wasnt freemartin, it would give a better idea about what to do if she goes downhill. A real heifer I would call the vet, a freemartin I would treat myself and hope for the best

No reason to wait untill she is too old to probe.

Callieslamb · #12 03/28/09, 05:07 PM

I guess I read that you need to wait a couple of months for the test to really work. Okay, something to put on my list. When is too old? Actually, with nothing into this one, we probabaly won't call the vet anyway. Except for the test, of course.....

Oxankle · #13 03/28/09, 08:52 PM

Why call the vet for a $25 calf? Toss her in the back of your van and take her TO the vet, or probe her yourself. Out here a house call costs $65 plus the treatment.

Before you do any of these things decide what you would do differently if she was or was not a freemartin.
Ox

mplatt4 · #14 03/29/09, 12:15 AM

Dont feel like you made a bad decision it asounds to me like you made a great one if she is intack you will have a nice milk cow someday and if she is not she will make as good of steaks as any steer only it takes about 30 days to 60 days longer to get her up to weight. And yes I have raised alot of them and done fine with them small and young even those only a few hours old when i got them. Just keep a eye on her for scours and at first ssign put a raw egg in her milk and if it gets worse take her off milk and on to electrolites for 3 days .Also if the calfs start sucking on each other even if its just there ears split them up as for some reason I have not had luck keeping them healthy when they suck on each other. But for gods sake dont feel blue it sounds to me like you are in a win win situtation here

Callieslamb · #15 03/29/09, 06:15 AM

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I just don't want to get my hopes up too high yet. I think she is going to make it. I am keeping a close watch for scours. We are tickled to death with her actually. She does try to suck on the bull. I started letting her keep the bottle a bit longer after her milk was gone...but probably not long enough. I will separate them this morning. Sure is easier to feed them at the same time, though! The bull can be switched to a bucket soon.

I will take her to the vet rather than having him come here. I think I will give her another week to get settled in from the last trip we took.

If she is freemartin- she will be steaks. Sad, but reality. I can't afford pets that don't give something back.

Madsaw · #16 03/29/09, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKB07

Bob,

not sure abou your post, but it sounds like you dont know what you are talking about.

OP, I would probe her to give you a better idea of what you are dealing with.

Justin

Well here in dairy country freemartians is a big thing. The problem that alot of farmers have with it here is the sales barns. I guess my opions are from a personal stand point and not buying at a sale barn. Been to many farmers send heifer calves to the loacal auction and get a check for little to nothing. Because they was " supposed to be probed freematains".
Well you take a small farm that can keep track of their heifers and out of 10 raised for replacement never turn up to be freemartains. Then compare teh check stubs for the other 10 they sold that was "suppose to be freemartains"
What would your opion be. They was just lucky (the farmer for keeping the 10 good ones) , or was their someone at teh sale barn got away with some good heifer for a cheap price.
That is why many around here do not trust teh probing or trust the salebarns any more. Also that is why they do not probe the heifers anymore either.

Sorry for hijacking the thread but just wanted to say how I felt.

For the record in the last 3 weeks we had 4 heifer calves out of older cows. All are either jersey x or swiss x with holsteins have small calves. The smallest being maybe 45 lbs. All single births too. So, it can happen and does happen. I am thinking one of our bulls are throwing real small calves. But, as long as they are healthy its all that matters.
Bob

topside1 · #17 03/29/09, 07:44 AM

Great point Bob, apparently all sale barns have different policies. I your case it clearly sounds that whatever you buy out of that sale barn is one big gamble. Relying on claims that they have been checked at the farm or sale barn employees half heartily caring about giving a correct probing. Geez if that's the case, you would have to know who is cheating who...Not good. Just from my own view point I personally watch the calves I intend to buy be probed. But that is just me. This sale barn is running 1000 plus head of livestock in each week and appears to be professionally ran....Thanks for the input Bob....Topside

Madsaw · #18 03/29/09, 10:24 AM

Yeah they are checked at the sale barn here. The group of sale barns are managed by one place. Been alot of folks very unhappy with the way they handle things.
You see alot of for sale and wanted ads around here for calves just due to the problems at the sale barns. We have a few didicated buyers that call us every month or so. We been selling to the one gentleman for yrs. Even though our cattle are on the smaller side he loves them. He must make good money off them since he is always coming back. I know where a person lives makes a big difference on how things work. Its very easy to find a cattle buyer or seller here. But I know from down your way its real hard to find goos sorces.
On another note, Topside do you know of the big brown swiss dairy down there near you? My buddy has been buying some of the low production cows from him. Also my buddy got a protable vaccum pump and delaval floor unit too. Both of them were new. So now he is hoping to start milking in teh near future when the last cow he bought freashens.
Bob

travlnusa · #19 03/29/09, 11:28 AM

A few months back, I was shopping for heifer calves. Called the two local sale barns and asked when do they let buyers in to look over and probe the cavles, or do they do that probing.

Both said they do not let any buyers in the pens, and no probing is done.

Went to plan B, buying from farmers, about 30 seconds later.

Madsaw · #20 03/29/09, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travlnusa

A few months back, I was shopping for heifer calves. Called the two local sale barns and asked when do they let buyers in to look over and probe the cavles, or do they do that probing.

Both said they do not let any buyers in the pens, and no probing is done.

Went to plan B, buying from farmers, about 30 seconds later.

If your ever looking again feel free to drop me a line. We may have some heifers ready to sell. We very seldomly sell any less then 2 weeks old. This is just to make sure they are good and healthy.
By chance was it some of the Equity barns you called?
Bob