Raising a beef cow/steer - looking for advice and tips

[Egon]

(Also I don't think I'd have time to milk it daily or twice daily. Not sure if sheep meat would be worth it.)

Time? It requires time to feed and water a beef animal. Do you have someone to cover on vacations, days away, etc.

Pigs are the cleanest animals on the Farm. They also make great pets demanding attention.

 

[aczlan]

Well you have less money in a lamb or hog than a calf. Let's say $30 for pig, $80 for a meat sheep or goat, and $400 for a steer calf. Your truck or trailer and loading equipment is really nothing except a pick up with 2x4 stake sides for sheep or pig and a simple wooden ramp to get them in (don't underestimate picking up a 300# upset animal) but with cattle you really need a low stock/horse trailer; squeeze shoots, ect.

We have a 6x10 landscape trailer and we picked up a 5x8 "stock rack" for a truck for $100ish a while back. The stock rack fits nicely in the trailer, is MUCH easier to load than it would be with the truck and is easy to load and unload. We got it to take critters (llamas mainly) to the vet if needed, but it has worked well to take the cow to the butcher and to pickup some mini donkeys...

Aaron Z

 

[joshuabardwell]

Well you have less money in a lamb or hog than a calf. Let's say $30 for pig, $80 for a meat sheep or goat, and $400 for a steer calf. Your truck or trailer and loading equipment is really nothing except a pick up with 2x4 stake sides for sheep or pig and a simple wooden ramp to get them in (don't underestimate picking up a 300# upset animal) but with cattle you really need a low stock/horse trailer; squeeze shoots, ect.

Prices are regional, but if I found a weaner pig for $30 today, I wouldn't buy it, on the assumption that something was wrong with it, such as it was taken off milk too early. Going price around here seems to be $50-$70 for healthy, 8-10 week, properly weaned piglet, around 40 lbs live weight. And I have heard of places where they are going for up to $100. We sell our lambs (about 12 weeks old, weaned) for around $140 for a wether (castrated male) and a bit more for a ewe lamb.

A pickup with cattle racks is just fine for picking up small animals. I have, with a bit of help from my partner, wrestled a full-grown ram into the back of a pickup truck for a vet visit, so that's doable as well. I wouldn't even try to wrestle a full-grown pig into the back of a pickup. No way, no how. The first year we raised pigs, we tried to train them to walk into the back of the truck for transport to slaughter. Don't even get me started. Maybe if we had started two months before slaughter date, and had a better ramp. The pigs were freaked out about every single part of that operation: stepping onto the ramp, walking up the ramp, standing in the truck. If you don't have a proper loading chute, with walls that block out the view to the side, I wouldn't try getting pigs loaded in a pickup. The other thing I would try is, if there was a ledge or berm I could back up to, then I could probably get the pigs to walk in. What we do is, park the trailer in the field the last two weeks of before slaughter and stop feeding the pigs anywhere except in the trailer. One of them is usually up it the first day. And one of them usually holds out for as much as two full days. But they end up trotting up it like champs. They still don't like the ramp, but it's much lower to the ground than the truck bed, so it's much less steep.

EDIT TO ADD: The reason it works with a ram, and not a pig, is that with the ram, you can kind of grab him by the neck, then kind of shove his upper body onto the truck bed, then while one of you holds him there, the other one can kind of pick up his back half and shove it up too. If you are physically capable, you may also be able to scoop him around all four of his legs and sort of shove him up into the bed. I've done that once. None of these approaches work on pigs, though. You can't grab them around the neck because they just wiggle out. And you can't scoop them around their legs either. You can kind of grab them around their chest, but then they are screaming and wiggling and maybe even biting, and it's just not worth it. Also, a full-grown pig is going to weigh at least 100 lbs more than a full grown sheep.

 

[MotorSeven]

Yep, weaner pigs are $50 here.....it's funny how regional prices on things are so much different....hydraulic fluid is all over the map.

 

[smstonypoint]

Going price around here seems to be $50-$70 for healthy, 8-10 week, properly weaned piglet, around 40 lbs live weight. And I have heard of places where they are going for up to $100.

Yep, weaner pigs are $50 here.....it's funny how regional prices on things are so much different....hydraulic fluid is all over the map.

Good ol' supply and demand. Most of the action takes place in the Midwest -- large lots (>1200 head) averaged $103.50 last week (delivered): http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/nw_ls255.txt. Feeder pig prices bounce around due to changes in slaughter hog prices and feed costs (e.g., corn and soybean meal).

Steve

 

[Beltzington]

I must be really cold hearted or maybe it was just the way I was raised. I just don't understand how people get so attached to animals, especially the ones that are being raised to eat. I've raised and butchered meat rabbits, meat chickens, hogs that we purchased live, and held the bucket while my dad castrated piglets. I've never felt a bit guilty about eating something I've raised for meat and don't understand why people do. I intend to raise my son the same way I was in that regard and I was lucky enough to marry a lady that was raised the same way.

I'd love to raise a few calves one of these years. We've got the fence left over from horses that are gone along with shelter, water tank, and round bale feeder.

I'm curious how the horses tasted? Good thread for all of us wanna'be hobby farmers.

 

[Larro Darro]

A pickup with cattle racks is just fine for picking up small animals. I have, with a bit of help from my partner, wrestled a full-grown ram into the back of a pickup truck for a vet visit, so that's doable as well. I wouldn't even try to wrestle a full-grown pig into the back of a pickup. No way, no how. The first year we raised pigs, we tried to train them to walk into the back of the truck for transport to slaughter. Don't even get me started. Maybe if we had started two months before slaughter date, and had a better ramp. The pigs were freaked out about every single part of that operation: stepping onto the ramp, walking up the ramp, standing in the truck. If you don't have a proper loading chute, with walls that block out the view to the side, I wouldn't try getting pigs loaded in a pickup. The other thing I would try is, if there was a ledge or berm I could back up to, then I could probably get the pigs to walk in. What we do is, park the trailer in the field the last two weeks of before slaughter and stop feeding the pigs anywhere except in the trailer. One of them is usually up it the first day. And one of them usually holds out for as much as two full days. But they end up trotting up it like champs. They still don't like the ramp, but it's much lower to the ground than the truck bed, so it's much less steep.

EDIT TO ADD: The reason it works with a ram, and not a pig, is that with the ram, you can kind of grab him by the neck, then kind of shove his upper body onto the truck bed, then while one of you holds him there, the other one can kind of pick up his back half and shove it up too. If you are physically capable, you may also be able to scoop him around all four of his legs and sort of shove him up into the bed. I've done that once. None of these approaches work on pigs, though. You can't grab them around the neck because they just wiggle out. And you can't scoop them around their legs either. You can kind of grab them around their chest, but then they are screaming and wiggling and maybe even biting, and it's just not worth it. Also, a full-grown pig is going to weigh at least 100 lbs more than a full grown sheep.

My grandfather, then my father and I raised cows, hogs, sheep and goats. We bought our first stock trailer when I was in high school. {1970's} Up until then we always carried livestock to the sale with a pickup. You just design and build your pens and loading ramp so they are sturdy and easy to use. We used electric prods, and didn't wrestle with them. But a few hours making your pens and ramp work right will pay for itself for years to come. Not to mention the half Brahma half Angus cows we raised were crazy. You wanted to make sure they stayed on the right side of the fence.

Larro

 

[joshuabardwell]

But a few hours making your pens and ramp work right will pay for itself for years to come.

100% agree. Good fences, pens, and chutes are the absolute key to a happy and stress-free livestock experience. You balk at the cost of a fence, but the first time you are chasing a herd of cows across a field, or a pig opens up the trailer gate while you're driving down the Interstate, that looks like money well spent. If you invest in the right infrastructure, you absolutely can load a full-grown cow (or pig) into a pickup. I just don't think the average small-scale hobby farmer is best-off investing in a loading chute for their pickup. IMO, they are far better off with a small utility trailer and a cage that straps down to the trailer, since it will have other uses the rest of the year.

 

[crowbar032]

Just a note on sheep that I haven't read yet. You potentially have to shear them.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Just a note on sheep that I haven't read yet. You potentially have to shear them.

You can get hair breeds to avoid that. They shed their coat in the summer. Do inspect them, though, because we have one that was supposed to be a Katahdin mix, but she mostly grows wool and we have to shear her. If we had known more about sheep at the time we bought them, it would have been obvious.