sale barn cows

[grannysoo]

Call me an idiot then. My heifers go to the sale barn to preclude inbreeding, unless I change bulls. They are not junk and they are not problems. All have been innoculated and I have the records if anyone asks for them.

You're definately not an idiot. If people would take care of their animals like you and I do, the sale barn could be an excellent place to buy.

The sale barn does have a purpose. It is a valuable part of our industry.

I have sold a few good cattle at the sale barn as have others.

I would be very careful however, about buying at the sale barn. Everyone does not take care of their cattle like you...

[daniel.carver]

Hi all, well I read alot on here, & just wanted you all to know that i'm still going to the sale barns. So far this spring has been pretty good, and prices are up. The calf is doing excellent, she's halter broke now and the big charlae adopted her. My work hours have changed, so I go up to Sarcoxi on monday nights to watch, and some times I see something that I can't live w/out. And still learning alot. This sale dose not have a catwalk, so I get in the pens. done ok so far. Hope everyone is doing ok. Thanks for all the advice. Dan

[CattleHand]

Hi all, well I read alot on here, & just wanted you all to know that i'm still going to the sale barns. So far this spring has been pretty good, and prices are up. The calf is doing excellent, she's halter broke now and the big charlae adopted her. My work hours have changed, so I go up to Sarcoxi on monday nights to watch, and some times I see something that I can't live w/out. And still learning alot. This sale dose not have a catwalk, so I get in the pens. done ok so far. Hope everyone is doing ok. Thanks for all the advice. Dan

I liked that you wrote this is a learning experience, its an unfortuante one but if you really learn from it you wont make it again and that can pay off. This may get lost in the sale barn/registered paper debate but I think its a good idea you keep going. Maybe that pair you got was cheaper than the rest and the other guys that go there a lot noticed it and didnt bid. All things to learn and watch out for. You got under 5 seconds to know if you want to buy the cow or not but once you get good at it I think you will be well off (or stand a better chance). Best of luck.

[rcstokes]

I haven't been at it very long, but I have bought pairs at the sale barn and off of individuals. As forum members on here know I have bought less than the best of pairs. I know that these boards have been by far the best place to go for knowledge. I sold my first set of calves last weekend and got 114.00 per for the steers. They were not junk. They stated at the sale barn where and who they came from with all shots up to date. Nice stock can be bought at sale barns. Like posters say it is up to us as buyers to have knowledge. When I buy I always just tell them to work them. To date it has not cost me more than $27 dollars to have them vet worked right there. That would be all shots and cast if need on bulls. I know who the vet is that does the work. It is our responsibility to take the initiative to become informed on issues that pertain to buying cattle at the sale barn. Most people sale at their local sale barns. Like others say, when you buy them you keep them in your corral for a week or so. Give them some extra grain and baby them for a while. They have just come out of a lot of stress. You can tell I’m a hobby farmer!! By the way I just brought home another one of those junk black baldy trader cow/calf pairs this last weekend and they are doing well. Cost me $24 dollars to get them worked. I’m just saying that nice cattle can come from a sale barn. It’s up to us to make sure that’s what we are buying. Odds are still better with cattle than lottery tickets.

[Alberta farmer]

Personally I would not buy cows from a sales barn unless I knew the owner and the cattle, real well. The old feed bucket can make a lot of dogs look pretty good?
What are you bringing into your herd? Trich? BVD? IBR?
Are you getting a fence crawler? A cow with poor genetics for udder, feet, disposition?
Might be better to take the time to raise your own replacements that you know?

[Bez+]

I will toss my hat in this ring with this post I just did on another thread:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=59728&p=692969#p692969

Cheers

Bez+

[Caustic Burno]

I will toss my hat in this ring with this post I just did on another thread:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=59728&p=692969#p692969

Cheers

Bez+

As always good solid advice.

Thanks Bez for keeping us safe and free.
You stay safe old friend.

[Brandonm22]

I have bought and sold stuff at the sale barns. The VAST majority of the stuff I ever sold went to the sale barns. That said...........with all the proliferation of new viruses, trich in the western states, BVDV/BRD, Johnes, etc and the questions about vaccine effectiveness if I already owned a good set of cows who were making me money I would be very reluctant to go to a barn and buy ANYTHING out of the pens today to bring back to the farms to mix with a healthy herd. IF you are buying 200 commercials females to start a herd from scratch with the economics almost necessitate that you take that risk (unless somebody gives you a real good private treaty deal).

[jerry27150]

did you call the sale barn. if they are reputable they should have told her condition & if they didn't they would take her back & make it right. i have had them ask me when mine come in the ring if they are 100%. i bought one once that looked fine but when i got her home the next day she could hardly get up. i called the sale barn & they took her back

[daniel.carver]

Jerry,
No I did not contact the sale barn, pretty much thought it was a buyer beware/as is thing. But Thanks for the advice. I dosen't hurt to ask. I've learned a lot from you all here on C.T. But still have a ways to go. I've always thought if you stop learning, your proabably dead. I'm trying to build a little herd, got a ways to go. Would like to have thirty. At the moment I'v got 4 cows and six heifers. I pay as I go. the reason for the heifers is their a little cheaper (not much) and I have found that I can take a nervous one and calm her down as she grows. yes I have ten pets, but I also have 4 eyes in the back of my head. HA,HA,HA. The last cow that I bought was a limo cross 1st stage. (I think they bred her at the sale barn) 9 month to the day that I bought her, she finally had the calf. She was skinny but teeth loked good, and I liked her structure. Now w/plenty of grass/grain/water, she's proabably the best one that i've got. But on the down side I cannot get her into the corral w/ the others. Very seldom will she enter, even w/ grain. My wife's farther raised limosuine's in the late 70's, and said that he had never seen the most fence jumpin cows ever. He said " they jump like 1000 lb deer". The cow that died, her calf would not suck a bottle, I tried & tried a day, then decided to take a bucke & bottle of milk, trying to get her to drink or suck. I had her in a small area and she was pacing fast & knocked the bottle out of my hands into the bucket which splashed up and on her. she immediately went to the bucket and started to drink, I slowly brought the bottle up and some how got it in her mouth. It was all down hill from there. She is proabably close to 500 lbs now. So I learned a trick purely by accident. Another thing is that when I finally saved the money up to buy the panels to make a corral, ( have a homade chute & w/a head gate) I could have bought 2 or 3 cows. But when you need it, you need it. Again thanks ALL, still learning & enjoying it. Dan

[djinwa]

Interesting that many think knowledge will allow you to spot problems.

Years ago I was asking a family friend with a feedlot why he was giving cortisone shots in the throat to some steers he'd been treating for pneumonia, becoming chronic (cortisone suppresses immunity). He finally admitted he was making them look better temporarily while he was taking them to the sale. This guy was my church leader as a youth.

I've read here of people who buy a "fence crawler" and swear they acted fine in the sale ring. Then it is recommended here to "ship her". To where? Wasn't recommended to mark as kill only. Guess if you can be fooled, you can fool the next guy.

The next time you are at the sale barn, see if there is a vet working the sale. Some of the sale barns will have vets to de-horn, innoculate etc. Ask the vet what it would cost to give your cows a shot of nuflour (hopefully 6 cc) and nasalgen. If it is reasonable, have it done immediately. Cheap insurance. Also ask him to sell you some nuflour.

If you can get a hold of some Nuflour yourself, run them through the head gate and give them a shot when you get them home.

A week or so after they have settled, eating well and all is fine, start them on their immunizations. Just make sure that the Nuflour etc has had time to clear their system before you give them immunizations. Give them their booster immunizations two weeks after that. Then they are safe to mix with the rest of the herd.

If they already have fever, Banamine knocks the fever really well.

I lost three head myself back in August. I was out of Nuflour. That won't happen again. Or else I won't buy any cows until I get my hands on some.

With this heavy use of antibiotics, I wonder how long they will work. Bacteria become resistant to them, as happened with penicillin, etc. I was talking to a young man yesterday who does cultures of infections in the hospital. I asked him which bug he finds most, and his answer was MRSA (methicillin resistant staph. aureus, methicillin is a type of penicillin). Nasty bug that now likes to kill people. Alot of bugs are shared twixt people and animals so animal antibiotic use can affect humans.

My thinking is if your practices make antibiotics routinely necessary, there is something wrong. Also gives PETA more ammo.

[backhoeboogie]

My thinking is if your practices make antibiotics routinely necessary, there is something wrong. Also gives PETA more ammo.

You are entitled to your opinion and have the right to think exactly as you have stated.

There were over 17000 animals at the sale barn when I brought that bunch here to background. Those calves I bought had been exposed to practically everything, under stress in the summer heat. Pnuemonia broke out, in August heat, while they were being backgrounded. We were having 100 degree days. If I would have followed your thinking, I would have dug 37 holes and lost that group.

I know of 4 in this forum who can tell you a story of buying a group of calves and all died.

As I said, you are entitled to your opinions. Just remember who reads this forum. What climate do you live in? They may follow your advice and not do anything. Pnuemonia in the summer can kill just about all of the calves they buy, in this climate. "Shipping fever" if you prefer that name.

You might also note the suggestion I made to talk to the vet at the salebarn and have things done before you put them in the trailer to haul them home. You might also note bez's advice above which referred to this link: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=59728&p=692969#p692969

[Red Bull Breeder]

The Vet i use has told me to hit sale barn cows with a good antibotic before you do any thing else. Hit them with the antibotic watch for sickness if all is well in a week to ten days then vacnate. They have been exposed to all kinds of disease in the sale barn injecting more is not going to help them.

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

My thinking is if your practices make antibiotics routinely necessary, there is something wrong. Also gives PETA more ammo.

You are entitled to your opinion and have the right to think exactly as you have stated.

There were over 17000 animals at the sale barn when I brought that bunch here to background. Those calves I bought had been exposed to practically everything, under stress in the summer heat. Pnuemonia broke out, in August heat, while they were being backgrounded. We were having 100 degree days. If I would have followed your thinking, I would have dug 37 holes and lost that group.

I know of 4 in this forum who can tell you a story of buying a group of calves and all died.

As I said, you are entitled to your opinions. Just remember who reads this forum. What climate do you live in? They may follow your advice and not do anything. Pnuemonia in the summer can kill just about all of the calves they buy, in this climate. "Shipping fever" if you prefer that name.

You might also note the suggestion I made to talk to the vet at the salebarn and have things done before you put them in the trailer to haul them home. You might also note bez's advice above which referred to this link: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=59728&p=692969#p692969

Good post.

[spinandslide]

Wow, raw deal there..sorry about the loss of your cow.

That is a big reason I will not buy at sale barns..to many what if's. alot of folks use those sales as a dumping ground for their "problem children".