Do bull calves take a big hit?

[highgrit]

I feel Dun hit the nail on the head.

[Isomade]

I feel Dun hit the nail on the head.

[bigbull338]

we send the calves to the sale as bulls.since they are half beefmasters it really doesnt matter.because they going to get docked for the ear.our barn sales mostly bull calves.so i dont much if any diffance in price anyway.

[SRBeef]

we send the calves to the sale as bulls.since they are half beefmasters it really doesnt matter.because they going to get docked for the ear.our barn sales mostly bull calves.so i dont much if any diffance in price anyway.

BB, Do you separate the bull calves from the heifers at any point? What age do you sell your calves? If the price is the same and you solve the other problems there is some merit to using nature's implants.

Jim

[bigbull338]

we send the calves to the sale as bulls.since they are half beefmasters it really doesnt matter.because they going to get docked for the ear.our barn sales mostly bull calves.so i dont much if any diffance in price anyway.

BB, Do you separate the bull calves from the heifers at any point? What age do you sell your calves? If the price is the same and you solve the other problems there is some merit to using nature's implants.

Jim

jim
we sale all the bull calves at 8 months or older.i like to salw them at the 8 month mark.but every now an then 1 will slipp by.no we dont pen the heifers away from the cows or bull.an we do not have a prob with heifers getting bred to early.most get bred to calve at 2.an some calve later than 2.i know its a crazy way but it really works for us.knock on wood we rarely have any calving probs doing that.we had a 3yr old heifer calve a month or less ago an she weighed 1200lbs more or less an we had to pull it.then we had some 900lb heifers calve on their own no help at all.there was no reason why the big heifer couldnt calve on her own.

[hillrancher]

Here it depends on the quality of calf. low quality docked more. The price will go from 3c to 20 c. less. There is a few auction that will sell all males as steers and they will be all bulls. At the end they are on average of 6c less than other auctions. The local sellers do not seem to know any different and they are happy.

[mwj]

I notice a price difference between banded and knife cut. If they buy bulls or knife cut steers there are no surprises. The bulls 700lbs and up are the ones that take a hit.

[BC]

Here in northeast Texas, we don't see any discount on calves that are 400 lbs and lighter and on calves that are 500 + lbs there is a $ 5 to $10 per cwt dock on bulls (the bigger the calf, the bigger the dock). One of the things that no one has mentioned is that some buyers have orders for steers only and others can buy steers or bulls on same order. When a buyer cannot bid on your calves because you left the bulls intact, then you have left money on the table.

[spinandslide]

Thanks for the info everyone..like I said, just curious...Ive seen it done both ways and wanted to really know the nickle and dime of the matter.

[ALACOWMAN]

we send the calves to the sale as bulls.since they are half beefmasters it really doesnt matter.because they going to get docked for the ear.our barn sales mostly bull calves.so i dont much if any diffance in price anyway.

BB, Do you separate the bull calves from the heifers at any point? What age do you sell your calves? If the price is the same and you solve the other problems there is some merit to using nature's implants.

Jim

jim
we sale all the bull calves at 8 months or older.i like to salw them at the 8 month mark.but every now an then 1 will slipp by.no we dont pen the heifers away from the cows or bull.an we do not have a prob with heifers getting bred to early.most get bred to calve at 2.an some calve later than 2.i know its a crazy way but it really works for us.knock on wood we rarely have any calving probs doing that.we had a 3yr old heifer calve a month or less ago an she weighed 1200lbs more or less an we had to pull it.then we had some 900lb heifers calve on their own no help at all.there was no reason why the big heifer couldnt calve on her own.

lucky for you, and them...their slow maturing

[cowwrangler]

an implanted steer will outgain a bull in the feedyard. an implanted steer will outgain a implanted bull as well, I would almost guess that a non implanted steer will outgain a bull in the feedlot as well.

i didnt think you could implant bulls?

[Workinonit Farm]

I may be wrong but 35-40 bucks for 5 minutes work is a pretty good return on investment

5 minutes and a 1 cent band is well worth it to me.

Katherine

[cross_7]

I keep hearing people talk about weanling-yearling bull calves get docked in the sale barn over steers..

Is it true? how big of a dock do you usually take?

Im just curious..I see afew guys are adamant the calves are steers before they go to the sale..and some others who sell them as is..and don't seem to mind.

in our part of the world(i think we are in the same area)
i'd say bull calves sell 10 cents back from steers.(under 800 pounds, over 800 then the dock gets bigger)
some claim they won't grow as fast cut young.
some claim you''ll set them back if you leave them intact then cut when older.
i'm not sure on either but i castrate young and vaccinate.
now when i buy calves and i assume if he hasn't been cut then he probably hasn't been vaccinated or weaned, so i don't take the risk.

[spinandslide]

cross, I know Ive heard similar sentiments..but regarding eartags..someone told me he wont buy anything not tagged, as he felt that ment they probably hadnt been vaccinated or wormed..or handled..*shrugs*

I guess I can see his point..to an extent..cattle folk seem to have their own way of doin' things and they stick with it.

[Dave]

Here it really depends on the size. A fly weight calf of 300-400 pounds it is probably only a nickle. By 800 pounds the difference is 20-40 cents. One of the things which slips by some is how much of a dock in price is given to those 800 pound heifers who have been running with those yearling bulls. Another thing that will drive the price down is when a group comes into the ring that were banded where there is one or two that had a nut missed. It will drive down the price on the entire bunch even if they cut those one nutters off.