Value of a cow-what should I sell her for?

[PrettyPaisley]

A 6 year old unregistered, unbred Guernsey. What is she worth? I can show pictures if that helps.

[idigbeets]

Sold a guernsey last year who had a leg issue to a broker/flipper (she fell when she was young off livestock trailer and broke her leg) for $900. She did give us a few calves, but the last year of her life couldn't get her bred.

You should be able to get $1/lb for most cows right now easily. Talk to a processor, ours buys cattle right off the trailer to sell in their shop.

[PrettyPaisley]

Well I was kind of hoping to sell her to a farm where she'd live a nice long life ... I didn't really want to eat her. And she's not lame ... she's just more than I can handle. Too big for a family cow but I don't want to send her to the big farm in the sky.

[Wild_Bill]

Sorry, but that is very unlikely. Most here have other income, and this is more of a hobby. I make some here and there. I could make quite a bit if i wanted to, but not as much as in my real work. An old cow is what it is...fast food hamburger! Not trying to be mean just telling the truth. Hope you get lucky and find someone looking for an 1100 lb pet.

[idigbeets]

6 years .. did you ever try breeding her? She just didn't take? then she's destined for freezer camp if you sell her...

[wannabfishin]

if you're just looking for a good home for her then you're the only one that can answer your question. she is a little big and expensive to feed for pet.

[Gretchen Ann]

I suggest you list her on Guernsey Facebook through the
American Guernsey Assn. They use to have Guernsey Talk but I can't find that link. If there are any breeders in your area who are willing to gamble on an unbred cow, they will contact you.

My husband would not shy away from a 6 year old cow. If they have been well taken care of, they have many more years ahead of them.

[PrettyPaisley]

Originally Posted by Gretchen Ann

I suggest you list her on Guernsey Facebook through the
American Guernsey Assn. They use to have Guernsey Talk but I can't find that link. If there are any breeders in your area who are willing to gamble on an unbred cow, they will contact you.

My husband would not shy away from a 6 year old cow. If they have been well taken care of, they have many more years ahead of them.

See...I didn't think 6 was old for a cow.

I'll check out the FB page. Thanks !

[Gretchen Ann]

Our farm is different from other dairies and the average age of our cows is older than a normal dairy farm.

You might try to get her bred though, that will give her more value.

Right now she is worth more as a butcher cow than a dairy cow. If you want her to be used for dairy, you are going to have to basically give her away.

Is she still milking?

[Wild_Bill]

Sorry if my posts tend to be negative, or at least come across that way. Just trying to be real. If you give her away to some "nice" family to milk se will end up at the sale/slaughter house anyway.

I get offers from people often. that for one reason or another need to get rid of animals. I could lie to them and say yea I'll keep old Betsy around and milk her till she doesn't produce then retire her to pasture out her life. Hay and feed cost money Betsy in the barn doesn't give you anything but a smile. Not likely. I treat my animals well, but they are here for a reason.

Again not trying to be a butt head. Just raised on a farm, and see animals a bit differently. Btw i have had a fondness for particular animals along the way too. A few made it a bit longer for one reason, or another. But in the end i still did what needed done.

[sammyd]

As she is you would get cull price which could range from .90 to 1.20 a pound

[Awnry Abe]

6 years isn't too old. There is a right buyer for every sale. $1200.

[PrettyPaisley]

Originally Posted by Wild_Bill

Sorry if my posts tend to be negative, or at least come across that way. Just trying to be real. If you give her away to some "nice" family to milk se will end up at the sale/slaughter house anyway.

I get offers from people often. that for one reason or another need to get rid of animals. I could lie to them and say yea I'll keep old Betsy around and milk her till she doesn't produce then retire her to pasture out her life. Hay and feed cost money Betsy in the barn doesn't give you anything but a smile. Not likely. I treat my animals well, but they are here for a reason.

Again not trying to be a butt head. Just raised on a farm, and see animals a bit differently. Btw i have had a fondness for particular animals along the way too. A few made it a bit longer for one reason, or another. But in the end i still did what needed done.

No worries. You're right. While she's not old she would probably end up being someone's dinner. I thought more about your post while I was milking tonight ... Before I read your clarification. She can be bred....needs to be bred. I should just breed her and keep her for a nurse cow I guess. I just can't afford to feed her (well I can - I could just use the money for other things) and since I can't really milk her (she never has been easy to milk) I was trying to rehome her. But she is my responsibility and I will continue to take care of her as she should be cared for and if I never find the right home then she will live out her days here.

I contacted a dairy that's about two hours away who raises Guernseys and feeds non GMO feed and is switching to all organic over the next year. She said that an unregistered, unbred cow was not worth $1000 to her so I was trying to get a better idea on what a right price would be in that situation. I am not a commercial dairy and I don't know how the cash flow works for them but I do know that when I got my cow I had several offers from some local folks who wanted to buy her - but I didn't want to sell her. And even now I'm not sure I'd sell her to some local who would throw her into a herd and sell her for beef a few months from now. There are a lot of guys around here who wheel and deal at the auctions day in and day out and I don't want her to fall into a group like that.

Thanks for your honesty. Still learning...just want to do right by my cows.

PS: she's dry right now but standing at the fence on the neighbors side bellowing at the bulls so she's ready. Happens like clockwork every few weeks.

[Wild_Bill]

Lol! Say you get her with a bull...then what? Feed her all winter till she calves in the spring. There is no good
answer. Your lowest cost choice is still burger! I guess you could get her bred wean her calf buy a bottle calf and see if she will nurse it then you could go into the bottle calf business! Yea no good choices. Sorry about your position. Don't get attached to food.

[PrettyPaisley]

When she calved the last time the calf died and she raised two other calves for us. I spent $80 on two day old bull calves and sold them for meat this past summer. She's paid her rent for awhile.

And she's not food! The hogs - food. The chickens - food. The five beef cows/calves in the pasture - food. Ms. Moo - not food. 11 goats - not food. I have my priorities in line !!! . I'd even call the three dogs and various and sundry cats food before I'd eat my Ms. Moo or my goats. I think.

[Gretchen Ann]

Get her bred then, no dairy want to feed a cow all winter waiting to get her bred and to calve.

If you can't hand milk her, put calves on her next year or get yourself a milking machine.

[PrettyPaisley]

I have a machine. She and I don't like it.
I'll breed her. I've been given a couple of names to call today. Thanks.

[karenp]

you will get much more for her in milk and confirmed bred.

[Awnry Abe]

Originally Posted by Awnry Abe

6 years isn't too old. There is a right buyer for every sale. $1200.

Ooops. I didn't catch that she was Guernsey. $1000. For some reason, I was thinking "Holstein" (i.e. big girl). In these parts, she is worth $1/lb to the grinder. This isn't a cavalier answer so please hear me out.

I have an old but solid lawn mower (literally) that I have a particular sentimental attachment to. I can't get it started. In the right hands, it is worth $100+. In mine, it is $20 worth of scrap metal. Now a guy like me with sentimental attachment to things just won't go drop it off at the scrap yard where it gets mistreated and ground into bits. But I will gladly sell it for $20--well under its potential value--to the right person with a gleam in their eye that gets joy out of rescuing old mowers knowing full well that it has a fighting chance to mow again. And if he fails and takes it to the scrap heap to collect is $20--at least it didn't go the the scrap heap on my watch.

Substitute "mower" for "Guernsey" and I think I have an understanding of your situation. There are suckers just like me in every corner of every county in NC that cope with life in this upside down world by saving/restoring/flipping bad animals. Right now in Missouri, a 1000lb cow that walks sells for $1000 minimum. That guy with a gleam in his eye would look at your $1000 price and think, "If I could get a calf at her side, I would have a $2500 dairy cow on my hands. If not, I'd get my $1000 back at the sale barn." I would sell into that mindset. I repeat: there is one in every corner of every county. They are bored and check CL often. And there is nothing that says you can't ask for $1500.

I know if I were in your shoes I would not keep her under any circumstances if it were to the detriment of the other animals in my operation. If it is "no harm/no foul", then I would probably roll the dice and try to get her pregnant--because I am a softie.

Lasty, and finally: The Amish are notorious for picking up the lame and unwanted cows at our sale barn for nickels on the dollar and restoring them. What is the Amish community like in NC?

(Edited: Where did I get the idea that you were from PA? Pretty Paisley?

[farmgirl6]

I am sorry she isn't working out...I know you were pretty excited to get her if I remember correctly....