so I did it all wrong

Callieslamb · #1 04/08/09, 05:05 PM

Inspite of all the reading, advice and consideration....I just bought 2 calves sight-unseen.

Jersey heifers. I will have to travel almost 700 miles to get them. I have to deal with the MI ag dept to import them.....what was I thinking???

I bought Ozark Jewels' 2 jersey heifers!!!!!

What do you think? Is she honest? Are her calves decent or was she grossly over pricing them?

I really don't want answers to those questions. I have known of Emily for several years now. I am just rattling her chain! See you Sat, Emily!

KayJay · #2 04/08/09, 05:13 PM

How exciting!! A big congratulations to you!!

copperhead46 · #3 04/08/09, 05:17 PM

You want to drive a little bit longer?? I'll sell you a Jersey cow to go with them???? Congrats, they are beautifull heifers.
P.J.

Jennifer L. · #4 04/08/09, 06:30 PM

ROADTRIP!!!!!

Have fun!

Jennifer

Callieslamb · #5 04/08/09, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by copperhead46

You want to drive a little bit longer?? I'll sell you a Jersey cow to go with them???? Congrats, they are beautifull heifers.
P.J.

Will it fit in my mini van???? I am a bit limited for space seeing as how I have to fit in there too!!

haypoint · #6 04/09/09, 05:32 AM

Don't most states require Interstate Health Certificates?
What is it you have to "deal with" MDA?
Good Luck.

Ernie · #7 04/09/09, 07:49 AM

A) Congratulations on your purchase.

B) Next time, I don't advise broadcasting who you're buying stuff from or where you're going to go to get it. There are all sorts of legal entanglements in moving livestock from place to place. I wholeheartedly approve of buying stock from homesteading members, and I've done so myself, but I think everyone involved is always best served if it stays on the down-low.

Callieslamb · #8 04/09/09, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haypoint

Don't most states require Interstate Health Certificates?
What is it you have to "deal with" MDA?
Good Luck.

Yes, I have to have the Interstate Health Certificates to transport them. Emily took them to the vet yesterday for that - THANK YOU!

When I went to the Mi dept of Ag webpage to see what I would have to do to bring them up, the page said that RFID tags were required on all animals moving off the farm. It was late at night and I couldn't call anyone then, but in poking around, I read more and more that made me think I wouldn't be getting these heifers. There are several vaccinations you have to prove they have, etc. But all the info was on selling or moving within the state not from out of state.

I called MDA to find out exactly what I would have to do. I only have to have the vet certify that they were disease free because of their ages (about 1 month) and because MO is not a Brucelosis/TB free state. If Mo had been a B/TB free state I don't know if I would have had to have had the certificates. It took the lady I was talking to a long time to find the answer. She kept reading about the vaccinations they would have to have etc...When I asked how we could do that since they were too young for the vaccinations, I guess that clicked with her and we are good to go. I was worried that I would have to "wait" until they were old enough.

I also asked her who I should show my certificate to as I cross the state line. "I assume that someone from your dept will be there to meet me?"

The vet simply sends the MDA a copy of the vet certificate. That is it ----

Ernie · #9 04/09/09, 01:44 PM

That's a whole lot of stuff to do. I totally approve of just smuggling animals across the border.

PNP Katahdins · #10 04/09/09, 03:05 PM

A van without side windows, or dark ones, or curtains, would be more inconspicuous than a pickup and topper or trailer. My mini van has room for a hog-panel pen in the back, with a good waterproof tarp on the carpet and pulled up the pen sides a little ways. Plywood on top of that, with straw. We take small loads of lambs to market this way, also anything going to the butcher. Not across state lines of course.

Congrats on the new babies, they must be darlings. We've been thinking about raising some calves but they would be Holstein babies from a neighbor's dairy farm.

Peg

Callieslamb · #11 04/09/09, 03:07 PM

that's me up there.....
If you want to sell an animal in Michigan, I guess you'd better have the papers in the right order.....

In two years, I might decide I am not ready to milk cows or these two aren't cute enough and I will want to get some others that are cute.....so I probably should jump thorugh the right hoops. I dislike it though.

Then we come to this little bull calf I own....He has an RFID tag in his ear....but I didn't sign any papers on him anywhere.....I guess he is illegal. But since he is going to be hamburger eventually, it doesn't matter.

ozark_jewels · #12 04/09/09, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ernie

That's a whole lot of stuff to do. I totally approve of just smuggling animals across the border.

Well, it turned out since they are so young, all I had to do was get the vet to sign health papers. It took all of two minutes for him to be done.

While I do sell most of my animals to out of state buyers who never ask for health papers, I have had several buyers over the years ask for the works. As long as they pay, I have no problem with it.