I am buying a "cull" cow

Oakshire_Farm · #1 01/04/14, 02:39 PM

She is a almost 3 year old well bred holstien. She is on the farm my husband works on. She is currently 120 days in milk, giving 70lbs of milk a day. After she calved she somehow got tangled up in the stalls and broke her pelvis! She is totally healed up but the vet says she may have problems calving. So she was on the cull list. She has not been bred, they were just going to milk her until the end of her lactation and ship her off.

I raise bull calves for the main part of our farm income. I am currently milking 1 jersey, and I got a order for 5 more calves, so I need milk! My husband has been working with her, she is a nice tame cow.

At this point we have not decided what our long term plan are for her? I have a dexter bull that I am sure is going to do his best to breed her (I told my hubby I would film it and put it on youtube)

I am bringing her home next saturday

Tango · #2 01/04/14, 03:03 PM

My guernsey was a cull cow- sort of- she was older in a dairy that as shutting down and shipping their cows to slaughter during a coop buyout. She had 3 quarters but she was someone's pet at one time. She loved to be groomed and she also just needed a little extra attention. I loved her. What is a cull for one situation can be a blessing in another. Letting her heal and maybe breeding to a small bull -like a dexter- for a few years is a good plan. Best wishes.

willow_girl · #3 01/04/14, 03:11 PM

You rock!

Oakshire_Farm · #4 01/04/14, 06:49 PM

My husband talked to the vet, they were concerned breeding her to a holstein would produce a LARGE calf, and it may be to hard on her. BUT since my bull is a Dexter the calf will be small. I have been crossing him to my Jerseys, the calves are usually in the 15-20lb range. So she should not have any problems passing a little calf. It has been a few months since she calves and she is running in the herd and not showing any signs that there will be a problem. If she does have a problem I will just butcher her. But I will give her a chance.

My husband brought home another "cull" her name is now Clairabelle, she was a embryo calf. When she freshened for the first time she only had 3 working quarters. She was a show calf, she is halter broke and LOVES people. She has no clue that she is a huge cow and loves to put her head under my arm for cuddles.

I really do LOVE my Jersey cows, BUT these holsteins are great for making lots of milk for feeding lots of calves.

Oakshire_Farm · #5 01/08/14, 12:04 PM

We picked her up last night after milking. Brought her home, put her in the box stall over night. She was calm and relaxed. I went in brushed her all over and put a halter on her. She was calm and relaxed about it everything. This morning I milked her, I got 34lbs! She was easy to milk, calm and relaxed about everything! Tonight we are going back to pick up 5 bull calves to feed all this milk too.

So far she is awesome, he name is Cher. She is a very friendly cow, she loves attention!

I raise bull calves to weaning to sell for farm income to get farm status, and cheaper taxes. When we are raising bull calves, milk replacer is getting dangerously close to $100/bag. I picked up this cow for $500. It is cheaper to buy cull cow and milk her than buy milk replacer. If she turns out to be a good cow, we will keep her, if she does not "fit in" we can burger her. But so far, I think she is a keeper

hobsickle · #6 01/08/14, 01:18 PM

Just an awful lot of commercial dairy culls are perfectly fine for small-time milkers!

haypoint · #7 01/08/14, 03:06 PM

I'd use a high quality AI bull on Clarabelle. The resulting calf could be a show calf and the foundation of someone's herd.

Oakshire_Farm · #8 01/08/14, 05:18 PM

Clairabelle I bred with a straw of "fancy" Jersey semen, I used sexed so I better get a heifer! I am not sure if I will rebreed her with Jersey or Holstein semen? She is due on February 26th.

haypoint · #9 01/08/14, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakshire_Farm

Clairabelle I bred with a straw of "fancy" Jersey semen, I used sexed so I better get a heifer! I am not sure if I will rebreed her with Jersey or Holstein semen? She is due on February 26th.

I love Jerseys. Jersey is the only cow I'd consider for a family milk cow. I hate it when someone wants to undo a thousand years of select breeding to cross breed a jersey. The world needs more Jersey. But, I've got to say, if your Clarabelle is quality enough to be an implant, that is the top of the top. Doesn't seem right to make her calf a cross of two vastly different ideals. I wish you success with your choice, but if she didn't take this time and you want to take a HT poll on what you should breed her to, I vote for a Holstein from a line with excellent udders.

Oakshire_Farm · #10 01/08/14, 11:22 PM

I have 3 Jerseys. I LOVE them as well. They are fantastic cows. But when I am raising calves, I need quantity of milk to feed the hungry little calves. That is why I made the choice to cross her to a Jersey. We will most likely breed her to a holstien next time.

She does have fantastic genes, and it would be a shame to see them end.

TRAILRIDER · #11 01/09/14, 12:58 PM

How wonderful for you! And good news for the new girls too!

Oakshire_Farm · #12 01/11/14, 12:10 AM

I thought I would post a Cher update.!

I will start with...... Tomorrow is photo day!

She has settled right into the routine. The only problem that we are having is, she is a barn cow! She has NEVER been on pasture, she has a sleek summer coat, she is NOT ready to be turned out! We are in the Pacific North West, so mild temps, BUT RAIN! This week is going to be a bad week! So right now, I am turning her out for the day time and bringing her in to sleep in the barn. The worry is if she gets chilled we may have to worry about phenomena! So I am not going to take any chances.

She knows the routine, walks out of her stall, into the milking stanchion, then turns and walks out side for the day..... but come 4pm, she is BELLOWING at the gate to come back inside. I milk at 6:30am and 5:30pm, she figures it is getting dark it is time to come in! She is a very sweet layed back cow. The other cows have accepted her and she fits right in, there was no pushing and shoving, she just joined the herd.

The bull...... well he had to stand on his tippy toes just to give her a sniff..... I think he may loose his mind when she comes into heat! I was joking with my husband that I am going to strap the GoPro camera to the back of her head to capture him trying.

haypoint · #13 01/13/14, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakshire_Farm

I have 3 Jerseys. I LOVE them as well. They are fantastic cows. But when I am raising calves, I need quantity of milk to feed the hungry little calves. That is why I made the choice to cross her to a Jersey. We will most likely breed her to a holstien next time.

She does have fantastic genes, and it would be a shame to see them end.

You lost me. I don't understand. You need quantity of milk so you bred her to Jersey. Right? So you used a Jersey to increase quantity, over a Holstein? Are you saying the resulting Holstein/Jersey cross calf will need less milk, so the ones you raise will get more? Or are you saying that a Holstein Jersey cross will produce more milk than a pure Holstein? Seems like getting a smaller calf to insure more milk for calves you bring in is counter productive to getting a larger calf born on the farm and adding to it.