Cattle questions

[MMC]

That was my first thought, one vet trip can wipe out a lot. Ours is $100 for a farm call, 300 for after hours.

If you can find one. Many vets around here now only cater to small animal practices. Harder and harder to find a Large Animal Vet anymore.

 

[D&D]

I would never dissuade someone from trying a rewarding enterprise. If you know all the background info. Here's some hard information to think about if you raise beef to sell:

- Cattle operations are based on capital expenses spread across years and many groups of animals. I have many thousands of dollars invested in just corral panels, facilities, squeeze chute(s), feeders, etc. It will honestly be hard to justify some of those expenses for smaller groups of animals like you noted earlier.
- To a certain extent, the commercial game is not set up in your favor (or mine, frankly). Four companies now own close to 85% of final beef feedlots and packing facilities in this country. Two of those, JBS and National, are actually owned by Brazilian entities, even though they have "American" offices. Due to consolidation and the power of those at the top of a vertically integrated system, profits tend go to the top and expenses go to the bottom (read, the farmer). I don't think that's healthy, but it's not illegal (not yet - there are some government initiatives looking into monopolistic practices by the industry). By the way, if you sell at a stockyard, you will be "docked" a certain amount of money because you don't have enough weight for a tractor trailer "load." You will also be assessed a commission fee, an insurance fee, and a Beef "Checkoff" fee. No one else in the chain normally pays those fees. Any animal identification methods used to protect the supply chain will also be paid by...the farmer.
- Now, since we're talking real life, consider safety. Anyone who raises beef will tell you certain breeds and certain animals within the same breed can be...crazy. Move them on because crazy is contagious in herds. Cattle are also prey animals. When frightened, or even playing, they will rear up on the front feet and kick backwards, to devastating effect. And can kick sideways as well (think 10# sledgehammer on your shinbone). Can you stop a 1000# animal? Nope, but you can get hurt trying. You manage cattle to go where you want - you don't make them.
- If this is just about meat for the family, I agree with others - you can get much better beef locally sourced from farmers if you search them out.
- But if you really want to raise some animals yourself, I would encourage you to take some of the preceding suggestions. Quiet, smaller animals, like the Dexters might be a good place to start. Ask the extension office who might be raising them (or other smaller breeds). Those farmers might even be interested in helping you get started.

Best of Luck.

Don’t forget truck and another trailer. For the small family farm, where do you get a beef slain, skinned, butchered and wrapped? Closest USDA licensed facility to me is ~ 2hour drive.

 

[D&D]

If you can find one. Many vets around here now only cater to small animal practices. Harder and harder to find a Large Animal Vet anymore.

Yep, the office we use has 6 vets right now. 3 of them do large animal and unfortunately the big money is in small animals. They can earn about double a day in the office vs field so I’ve been told. We can trailer in to their office if really needed.

 

[MMC]

Yep, the office we use has 6 vets right now. 3 of them do large animal and unfortunately the big money is in small animals. They can earn about double a day in the office vs field so I’ve been told. We can trailer in to their office if really needed.

That's what I hear in Kentucky as well. That's going to be a real problem for cattle, hog, and horse folks in the near future. Particularly now that vets are mandated to be more involved in antibiotic supervision now. I certainly don't know the answer, but when looking at multi-billion dollar ag animal industries, somebody should be looking at this for the future...

 

[Eagle1]

We do all of our own processing of beef, not that much harder than venison, at least for personal use. We did struggle a bit with a Dexter/Angus cross that was well over 1100#, mostly our steers are 5-700 and manageable to process for us.

I have not found a large animal vet that does farm calls out here in 10 years, but we manage.

 

[WM75Guy]

We are lucky to have a young vet that just started a mobile only equine vet service that lives 10 minutes down the road. She graduated from Texas A&M and knows her stuff. The last large animal vet that did house calls for cattle, that I know of, recently retired. The vet clinics that do haul in for large animals are booked solid days and sometimes weeks in advance. For a cow that's down and can't be trailered you take care of it yourself. And those cannot be processed by a commercial processer, they have to be on their feet and able to walk out of the trailer.

 

[kenmac]

Not from experience just from a quick research...

The tradition of using Hereford bulls on Angus heifers is for maximizing calving ease, hybrid vigor, and market appeal. While using an Angus bull on Hereford heifers is not inherently problematic it can be depending on genetic, it is less common because it doesn't optimize these factors as effectively.

Hereford bulls are often selected for their moderate birth weights, which are important when breeding to smaller or first-calf heifers (like Angus heifers). This reduces the risk of calving difficulties (dystocia).

Angus bulls, while also known for calving ease in many lines, may produce slightly heavier calves compared to Herefords. This can make them less ideal for first-time heifers, especially if the Hereford heifers are smaller or less proven.

Talking about birth weights. This is the reason for purchasing a registered bull. You know it's history of birthweight .
Right now, I'm using a Hereford bull with angus heifers / cows, and Hereford heifers /cows, but I have also used Angus bulls on Hereford heifers/ cows.
I had zero issues calving using either bulls, but they were also low birthweight bulls themselves.
Of course nothing is a guarantee !

 

[kenmac]

If you can find one. Many vets around here now only cater to small animal practices. Harder and harder to find a Large Animal Vet anymore.

I believe that's the case in many areas. I personally know 3 vets that refuse to do large animals.
For one, they can make much more money on dogs and cats. And two, they are less likely to get seriously injured with a dog or cat.

 

[Eagle1]

I believe that's the case in many areas. I personally know 3 vets that refuse to do large animals.
For one, they can make much more money on dogs and cats. And two, they are less likely to get seriously injured with a dog or cat.

Many of those vets don't like my dogs and the barn cats either.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Talking about birth weights. This is the reason for purchasing a registered bull. You know it's history of birthweight .
Right now, I'm using a Hereford bull with angus heifers / cows, and Hereford heifers /cows, but I have also used Angus bulls on Hereford heifers/ cows.
I had zero issues calving using either bulls, but they were also low birthweight bulls themselves.
Of course nothing is a guarantee !

yes 100% thanks for sharing, that’s crucial if you don’t want to hate your life.lol…. I am a strong believer in proven genetic (registered/papers) i am somewhat starting to be familiar with the horse world and a bit of farming as well but nothing hands on. Genetic is the birth of farming, now they have it down to a science. Once one get familiar you look at the family tree and you see what you want and what you don’t want, and like you said once in a while you still get a odd ball but at least the odds are on your favour….

interesting thread

 

[RayIN]

Don't forget the bookwork side of this business, it's considerable today.
I got out when the USDA proposed ear tags on every animal and bookwork tracking lineage by eartag records.

 

[sandman2234]

About the

Don’t forget truck and another trailer. For the small family farm, where do you get a beef slain, skinned, butchered and wrapped? Closest USDA licensed facility to me is ~ 2hour drive.

Another thing to consider is the honesty of the butcher. We ran into a bad one when I was a teenager. We raised Yorkshire pigs, and Daddy sold them butchered, wrapped and delivered to the customer. One customer had an issue with the quality of the meat, so Daddy went and took a look. The meat was excessively fat, and basically not configured like a Yorkshire pig would be. (a lot of lean meat).
Daddy had a discussion with the butcher, which pretty much ended with him admitting he liked the looks of the meat, so swapped out another hog to get the Yorkshire. Don't know what all was said, but Daddy left there with most of the meat from the original pig and the customer was happy because they got 2fer1. We found a different butcher before we sent anymore pigs to get slaughtered.
Point is, make sure you get a good referral on whoever cuts up your beef!
We raised day old Holsteins from a nearby dairy, and tried a couple different bulls, but a Holstein is a pretty big cow! Never lost a calf. When our first calf passed away, I think she had birthed 14 calves. Her name was Betty Lou.
David from jax

 

[paulsharvey]

About the

Another thing to consider is the honesty of the butcher. We ran into a bad one when I was a teenager. We raised Yorkshire pigs, and Daddy sold them butchered, wrapped and delivered to the customer. One customer had an issue with the quality of the meat, so Daddy went and took a look. The meat was excessively fat, and basically not configured like a Yorkshire pig would be. (a lot of lean meat).
Daddy had a discussion with the butcher, which pretty much ended with him admitting he liked the looks of the meat, so swapped out another hog to get the Yorkshire. Don't know what all was said, but Daddy left there with most of the meat from the original pig and the customer was happy because they got 2fer1. We found a different butcher before we sent anymore pigs to get slaughtered.
Point is, make sure you get a good referral on whoever cuts up your beef!
We raised day old Holsteins from a nearby dairy, and tried a couple different bulls, but a Holstein is a pretty big cow! Never lost a calf. When our first calf passed away, I think she had birthed 14 calves. Her name was Betty Lou.
David from jax

There are only about 4 places in a decent driving distance. Nettles, in Lake City seems to be the go too. There's another down near Anthony, north of Ocala, and I think one down near Barberville, west of Daytona. There is also one out in Archer/Newberry, past Gainesville.

 

[Rockbadchild]

My dad would would a transport truck to stop by and get his beef to the slaughter house and sell whole. The regulation made it impossible to do otherwise, the animal had to be alive in a building and not see the outside until it was fully process and packaged. he would claimed one or two ''lost'' a year and he would butcher that himself, he would keep that for himself and sell some to close family members.

 

[Hay Dude]

Well, we want to Ease into it. That's why we are thinking two steers to start with. If we don't want to keep at it, you Can process them at 800 lbs each, and exit, and not really loose your butt

If we find we want to keep at it, which is my hope, I would ideally look into having a breeding bull, and 5 breeding cows; but that would be 5 years down the road.

Yeah, but what you may not realize is all the cost you are putting into fencing, preparing ground, clearing, etc. And what about shelter? Are you putting up a loafing shed for 2 or 5? In other words, if you are planning for 2 and decide it’s not going to work, you lose some money, but if you are planning/building for 5 and only do 2, you are losing a lot more.
Maybe you only fence-in for 2 and then expand your area if you like what you see for 5 later?

For $ number, what do mix breed weened steers go for, about $400 per? Feed them out, and frankly see where we are... That's not a business plan i know.

That’s what I did with low-line angus.

I've known guys who have gotten dairy-beef calfs for as low as $125 about 2 weeks old, feed them out for 15 months, but thats frankly not the easiest animal to start.

Thats a lot more work. I’d pay more for 1/2 year old from a guy you can trust. Remember the vet bills and additional cost from your pocket for buying at 2-weeks. Thats a tough way to start if you have a job off your property.

 

[paulsharvey]

So, on infrastructure, we have feeders, and shelter for 2 right now (came with the place), and waterer. Fencing/gates, 1 acre currently, with plans to add a 1.2 acre field and 1.6 acre field, and down the road, a 2.5 acre section as well (with potential to also do an additional 2.0 and 1.6, but not sure i want to).

I don't currently have a live stock trailer, and if i add one early, it would have to be a steal of a deal, or a total POS (or a steal on a POS most likely).

I dont have any head catches, or squeeze chutes.

 

[Hay Dude]

OK, I was thinking you were clearing/fencing for 5.
I like your plan of installing more fenced-in area as you add more head.

 

[Rockbadchild]

So 10 acres total potential ? 2.2 acres fenced in (pasture) and 7.8 acres potential of field but 4.1 acres currently ? Do I have that right ?

I could be wrong but I am thinking you are at the limit for acres per heard, will need every inch you can get with 6 head unless you buy feed.

 

[RayIN]

So 10 acres total potential ? 2.2 acres fenced in (pasture) and 7.8 acres potential of field but 4.1 acres currently ? Do I have that right ?

I could be wrong but I am thinking you are at the limit for acres per heard, will need every inch you can get with 6 head unless you buy feed.

Yup, and that's with rotating pastures regularly.

 

[paulsharvey]

So 10 acres total potential ? 2.2 acres fenced in (pasture) and 7.8 acres potential of field but 4.1 acres currently ? Do I have that right ?

I could be wrong but I am thinking you are at the limit for acres per heard, will need every inch you can get with 6 head unless you buy feed.

Right now, day one, 1.0 acres, adding 2.8 by summer (that will be pretty low production to start, as i get it established). I'm not really convinced i want 10 of my 12.5 in pasture. I do plan to purchase hay, and supplement with grain, not doing 100% grass feed.

I do want to get atleast the additional place of the 1.2 and 1.6 paddocks, even if not much for grazing first, just so I don't overload my 1.0 of good pasture. I don't really mind beating up the currently wooded pieces.

When I said day 1; i mean today, and I don't have the animals. So it would be pretty realistic to have atleast the 1.2 of wooded section ready (ready as in, fence, gates, water, but not estalished grass, and feed hay on it) (it butt's up to the 1.0, with water, so its literally just a water tank needed).