Closed herd or wide open

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Where does your herd fit in

  • 100% closed. Neighbors get sprayed with Lysol as they step on the yard

    Votes: 5 15.6%

  • Try to keep a closed herd but do bring in from other herds occasionally

    Votes: 15 46.9%

  • Not too worried but remain cautious

    Votes: 2 6.3%

  • Always buying and selling cattle. Wide open

    Votes: 10 31.3%
  • Total voters
    32
J

Josher

Well-known member
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Dec 10, 2018
Messages
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Location
NW Saskatchewan, Canada
Years ago while expanding the herd we bought at local stockyards bred cow sale and have had a terrible time with sick calves scours coccidiosis etc. ever since. I believe we finally got a handle on it but it has me hesitating to buy cows that way again. Had me wondering how paranoid everyone else is with keeping a closed herd.
 
I always quarantined my new animals for about a week before turning them in with the rest. At the place in Arkansas the corral was close to the road and pretty soon the neighbors began to stop by after the sales to look. I was helping the vets bangs and preg check so I knew something about what I was buying. The neighbors would ask what I had to have and I'd tack fifty bucks on... and most times my corral would be empty before I turned anything out.

I'd have to have at least a thousand productive cows to close a herd completely.
 
We have purchased a few registered females just to see how they compare to our own. Fall of 2020 we bought 3 breds and a heifer calf. Two of the breds fell out after the first year, one is doing ok and the calf knocked it out of the park first calf and will see what she does with her second calf this year. We're fully stocked up now and probably won't bring in any more females. We started the registered Angus herd in 2008 and have never purchased a bull except in a straw. All cleanup bulls and herd sires are out of one of our cows.
 
I bought 14 cows yesterday. Once we brand and ear tag them they will go out into the field. Might be tomorrow. Might be next week. All depends on weather and time to do it. If there is one with attitude it will depend on younger help arriving.
 
As per my sig line. We vaccinate annually. Any new bred cattle brought in during the fall are vaccinated twice with a killed and clostridials within three weeks of arrival and kept relatively separated until calving time when they are mixed with main groups depending on age

All calves are vaccinated with a live and clostridials on arrival as are our own calves retained within a day or two of weaning.

Scour vaccine, custom mineral with Rumensin and Bio Moss added has pretty much eliminated scours.

Expensive, yes, our vet bill is about $40 per head per year all in, still cheaper than treating sickness and dragging dead's to the bait pile.
 
I buy almost every week unless the weather is really bad. Hope to sell a few bigger calves tomorrow and maybe buy a few cows to trade on.
Every head I bring in get Inforce 3, Presponse HM, calves get Alpha 7, castrated, and wormed.
Calves are kept in my lots for 7-10 days. Cows go out into a 3 acre paddock if they act ok after a couple days.
 
As others have said we always quarantine new stock for a couple of weeks and test for a few things before they are allowed to mix with the rest of the herd, its a good idea as you can also look for other things as well other than you normally wouldn't test for.
 
I can now say 100% closed. Other than bulls, we haven't bought a cow since our original herd of bred coming 3 year olds. Every cow I have was born & raised on this ranch. The only reason it wasn't 100% closed was because our neighbors bull would either jump or plow through the fence - a lot. For 4 years. He was our "guest" for 2 months one summer. The only good thing about the drought is they were finally forced to move their herd because the pond was dry.

Cows & bulls are vaccinated annually, calves are vaccinated in the spring & fall in addition to Inforce 3 & First Defense when they're born.
 
I'm 90% closed. I've got to a point where I can expand by retaining hfrs. May buy a couple PB cows at an annual production sale. Always the same sale, I used to work for the vet clinic that does there work. I have a pretty good handle on their herd health.
My dad has a farm 20 minutes away. I would love to put one-on-one cows there. I just haven't had time to get the fences "sale barn cow safe"
 
I helped a neighbor preg check his herd. 700 one day and 600 ish the another day. He's always buying and selling cows. Seems to be working well for him but yikes sure have some special cows. Only had to climb the rails 3 times one day to get out of the way. I'm used to my own smaller herd where I know most of the cows 2 or 3 generations back . And nothing will ever charge me if they do they are gone. Either get shipped to the market or the butcher. But if u are going to have a wide open herd looks like those who do also have a full vaccination program. I've been thinking of expanding our herd if I can swing it but I will need to make sure my herd health is up to speed for that. Also as far as getting the calf sickness problem under control I'd like to thank the good folks on this site. Tried the suggestion of Toltrazural and it made all the difference on my calves.
 
devonian said:
As others have said we always quarantine new stock for a couple of weeks and test for a few things before they are allowed to mix with the rest of the herd, its a good idea as you can also look for other things as well other than you normally wouldn't test for.
Click to expand...
what all do you test for?
 
Josher said:
I helped a neighbor preg check his herd. 700 one day and 600 ish the another day. He's always buying and selling cows. Seems to be working well for him but yikes sure have some special cows. Only had to climb the rails 3 times one day to get out of the way. I'm used to my own smaller herd where I know most of the cows 2 or 3 generations back . And nothing will ever charge me if they do they are gone. Either get shipped to the market or the butcher. But if u are going to have a wide open herd looks like those who do also have a full vaccination program. I've been thinking of expanding our herd if I can swing it but I will need to make sure my herd health is up to speed for that. Also as far as getting the calf sickness problem under control I'd like to thank the good folks on this site. Tried the suggestion of Toltrazural and it made all the difference on my calves.
Click to expand...
Only 3 headhunters out of 1,300hd. That doesn't sound bad at all. Maybe even a little boring, hahaha.
 

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