This ICE is driving me crazy.

[ERNIEB]

Bird and DFB, A few comments. I spent a summer on a wildlife managment area in South Texas, working with a graduate student who was doing a study on Javalina. We trapped them, tagged them, put radio colars on them. And, not to mention, followed them around for hours.
They may look like a pig, but they are really in a different family. Pigs belong to the family Suidae, Javalina, Dicotylidae.
When I think about Boars, I think about the European, or Russian boar. As far as I know, with the exception of game ranches, there are no wild boar in Texas.
Feral hogs are domestic hogs that have gone wild, and as Bird has said, We have oodles of them in Texas.


Ernie
"Do not be uneasy about me, I am among friends"
David Crockett 1836 (in a letter to his family)

 

[DFB]

Ernie, I think the ones roaming the banks of the Conneticut River are supposed to be those Russian Boars. Interesting stuff.
New question. Ernie in your profile you say you keep a few cows. Do you raise them for beef? I have been buying a side of local raised beef each fall for the last several years from an old farmer. Good deal I think. This summer he lost 11 animals (6 calves) during a thunderstorm. They were herded up together lightning got 'em all at once. Just devastating. Only had a herd of 20. Anyhow its gonna be awhile before he gets back up to speed. Got me thinking about raising 2 or 3 myself for my own use and to cover costs. Is that what your doing. Texas is kinda known for beef right./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

DFB, I, too, wonder what ErnieB does for his own meat. My brother tried raising a couple of calves for himself a few years ago; said he figured he saved 2 cents a pound on what the meat would have cost at the grocery store if he didn't count his labor as anything at all./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[ERNIEB]

DFB, In Texas property tax rates can be lowered for what is called agriculture exemptions. Land classified as grazing is about the lowest rate you can get. Up until recently, I had about 30 head, and some land I had leased.Almost all were Angus, or Brangus, or some cross of the two. The amount of work, expense involved, and the market, makes it a low to no profit enterprise. I'm now down to six cows, two calves, with two or three more that should hit the ground this month. I don't need to keep a bull, since my neighbors bull spends as much time over here as he does at home.
I've never crunched the numbers, but I've never had my own beef processed. I just haul them to market. I do have a freezer, but it can't hold a whole beef, so I would have to pay for storage. The advantages are that you can be sure you are getting a good quality beef, and you can have it cut and trimmed to your specs.
Once I was at a auction, and happened to have my trailer with me. Hogs were selling dirt cheap. I got a market size hog for twenty bucks, hauled it straight from the auction to the processor. I don't remember what the fee was, but iit wasn't to bad. It filled up my freezer with pork chops/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Ernie
"Do not be uneasy about me, I am among friends"
David Crockett 1836 (in a letter to his family)

 

[DFB]

Yea, I wouldn't look at it as a profit making venture. The guy I buy from charges $1.00 lb for the meat and .30 lb processing cost. Lives by himself on 140 acres. No electricity. He has an especially interesting story about how he broke his nose and leg when he got caught in a haybine./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif I was curious to learn what's involved like how much grazing room per head, and do you supplement that with other feed like corn. The old guy says it takes two years before one goes to market. He pushes the corn and grain(oats?)to them for about 2 months before. I'd have to shelter and feed them(hay?)all winter. Chop and store corn too. Not a clue on how much they eat. I used to get my garden manure from another fellow that I once worked with who raised three at a time. 10 acre lot mostly wooded. Didn't have a whole lot of grazing space maybe 2 acres.

 

[Thomas]

DFB,
There are some Russian Boars that did escape from a private hunting ranch thats located near Fairlee,VT couple years ago,and I heard the were big boars. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Thats sad to read about the live stock being hit by lighting,and it must have been a shock indeed for the famer.

There work raising your own beef...vet bills,fencing,feed,repairs,shelter etc.. but than again there no better taste than home grown.



Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[DFB]

Thomas, having animals would tie ya down for sure. No more scootin' off for the weekends./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Thomas]

DFB,
Yep your scootin time will be cut into, /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gifbut your <font color=green>JD<font color=green> <font color=black>time will increase w/ live stock. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[ERNIEB]

DFB, It sounds like your friend is talking his calves right thru to what is called finishing (ready for slaughter). He is right it takes about two years. I sell my calves as soon as they can be weaned, usually about 400 to 500 lbs.
Grazing is expressed in acres/head. The numbers can vary greatly from one part of the country to another, it also depends on if the pasture is native or improved, and of course the weather. For example, in the Hill Country of Texas, native pasture is about 14 acres per head. During a drought the number of acres goes up, and up, until the drought ends.
Volumes have been written on cattle feeding and the subject is often debated. How much a particular animal will eat depends on a number of factors, from the breed to the quality of forage or hay available. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the poorer the quality of forage/hay the longer it takes to go thru a cow's digestive system, and they will actually eat less. A certain amount of protein is needed to keep bacteria in the rumen active. The number one thing a supplement should do is to provide digestable protein. If a good supplement is provided, even poor forage can be used.
Right now, I have very little grass, and some the hay I've been getting is not very high in protein. I've been feeding 20% protein range cubes daily. There is some laziness in this. I like to check them daily, and when I feed cubes, I don't have to hunt them up. They find me.
I'm just maintaining these cows, not finishing them. Feeding out cattle for slaughter, is a little different, but the basics remain the same.
I may have gotten long winded here, but believe me, I barely scratched the surface. If your interested, I recommend the Oklahoma State University, Animal Science web site. Also if You can find it a book named "Beef Cattle" by Neuman and Lusby. Hope I didn't bore you too much.

Ernie
"Do not be uneasy about me, I am among friends"
David Crockett 1836 (in a letter to his family)

 

[cowboydoc]

DFB,
I have about a 100 head of cows that I calve out every year. I usually keep about five of them to finish each year. I keep one for myself and the others are sold to friends. Considering the original cost of the calf at market value, cost to feed them out-about $25 a month, and butchering is this: $350 cost of calf, $400 feed, $300 butchering. On average they are about 1300 lbs. at time of butchering. Average total bill in the freezer is about $1100 for aobut 800 lbs. of meat, which is $1.38 a pound. After they are weaned I get them up to full feed on a mixture of corn and protein supplement and free choice alfalfa hay. Quite a savings over supermarket meat and it's the best tasting meat you'll ever eat. Best part is no drugs, preservatives, hormones or anything that goes into feedlot cattle. The hamburger fries up without any grease and rest of the meat is also really lean. I wouldn't go any other way. The taste alone would be worth twice the price. I butcher my own so I get it jsut the way I want but the ones for others I just have the local guy do it. Not enough time for me to mess with it.