Meat!!

[Bubbas Boys]

So we are very new to livestock. How would we go about raising a cow for a beef for the family? Just get a calf and raise it up til it is time and then do it again the next year? We were first thinking of having a family milker and raising the calf but not sure if that is the way we want to go. How do others do it?

[kycrawler]

you can start with a bottle calf little outlay of cash to begin with 2 year roi

buy an angus or beef feeder in the spring butcher in the fall $800-1000 out of pocket right away + feed costs dont have to over winter

buy started dairy bred feed 1 summer butcher in fall about $400 out of pocket + feed will weigh good bit less than beef breed calf if butchered that fall

If you just want a cheap beef and you know a little about cattle go to the arthur il or rockville in sale barn and watch the feeders sell wait for a dairy or off breed with horns to come through and grab it up as long as they are healthy last weekend at rockville a jersey cross steer at 535 lbs sold for 68 cents per lb and a red and white heifer looked like a holstien shorthorn cross sold for .72 cents per lb and weighed 600 lbs both were healthy good looking calves just the wrong breed and colors . Same sale angus brought 1.80 per lb herfords were i the 1.30 per lb range

[CrabbyChicken]

We started raising our own beef and pork a couple years ago...

We found a dairy that sells us a weaned jersey or holstein calf at between 4-6 months for about $150

We raise them for two years. I stock up on hay when it is the cheapest. And now that I have 4 calves I get round bales and roll them out for the them. Then about 3 months before they are 2 years old start giving them grain.Usually Mid January to April. The grass will be coming in and helping them gain also. For grain I work up to about a 4 gallon bucket two times a day at the end. But again do it slowly or they will get sick. We butchered our holstein and FILLED our upright to capacity. Enough beef for us, my son and daughter and fiance for a year! With two pigs in the freezer too.

[Awnry Abe]

I couldn't agree more w/ kycrawler, especially in regards to picking one up on the cheap from the sale barn. Bring along a friend that can spot trouble if you need help.

In the first year, buy 2. One to be ready for this year and a smaller one for next. Then you'll need to get 1 per year thereafter. The larger dairy breeds take longer, so you may need to stretch the first year's longer. Bottle calves are also a good option, but quite a bit riskier. They also follow a different growth curve than their cow raised counterparts.

[Bubbas Boys]

If it was only for meat and not milking woould that change the amount of space it needs to graze? What would I have to fence off for them?

[Dixie Bee Acres]

Originally Posted by kycrawler

you can start with a bottle calf little outlay of cash to begin with 2 year roi

buy an angus or beef feeder in the spring butcher in the fall $800-1000 out of pocket right away + feed costs dont have to over winter

buy started dairy bred feed 1 summer butcher in fall about $400 out of pocket + feed will weigh good bit less than beef breed calf if butchered that fall

If you just want a cheap beef and you know a little about cattle go to the arthur il or rockville in sale barn and watch the feeders sell wait for a dairy or off breed with horns to come through and grab it up as long as they are healthy last weekend at rockville a jersey cross steer at 535 lbs sold for 68 cents per lb and a red and white heifer looked like a holstien shorthorn cross sold for .72 cents per lb and weighed 600 lbs both were healthy good looking calves just the wrong breed and colors . Same sale angus brought 1.80 per lb herfords were i the 1.30 per lb range

I am at the rockville sale barn about once or twice a month in warm weather, I usually don't stick around for the livestock, but I have seen some sell quite cheap.

[arnie]

I have a brown swiss milk cow and I cross her with an angus bull and this is how I get my beef each year raiseing the calf to around 6- 700 pounds in under 1 year of age tender and delisious but not prime .with a family you may want to get a weaned calf of a beef breed and raise it to a larger weight depending on your taste in the quality of steaks an angus or herford kept to an age of 17 months and fed a lot of grain -corn for the last 8 weeks willgive you prime beef only available in the best butcher shops or a jersy or housteen though produceing good beef will never become prime grade no matter what its fed over all this will hold true with even younger cattle the regular beef types giving you more better cuts and the dairy types less quality cuts and more hamburger