Recent content by zendog

Thanks for the help. I raise these lowline Angus more as a hobby than for the money but money IS a consideration. Part of the hobby is paying for everything and still having a dollar left over at the end of the year. I sell them by the side as "boutique", primarily grass-fed beef. The goal...

I have several questions. I will ask them all in this forum. Sorry if this is out of order. I also apologize for my ignorance, I am a small hobby farmer. I now have 11 lowline angus cattle. 4 steers will butcher next September. 1 heifer will be a replacement. 6 pregnant cows to calve in...

Since I do not know what I am doing, and my vet has a portable squeeze chute, I am having him come to my place and castrate the bull calves. He seems to be a knowledgeable large animal vet (he does our horses) so he should be able to give me a good reading as to what I have.

A while ago, I asked if a dairy farmer would consider inseminating his dairy cows with Lowline Angus semen. My object was to get smaller half Lowline Angus beef cows at less cost than getting them from Lowline stock. I thought a dairy farmer might be interested because so many dairy calves...

Last month I posted about Lowline Angus and got quite an education. You folks were very helpful and I appreciate your input. You will recall that I am an novice hobby farmer that raised one pair of large steers for direct sale to consumers and I wanted to switch to smaller cattle to make it...

I built a little pen alongside my fence for the two Angus X simmental crosses I have now. it is 16" X 10" made out of cattle panels stapled to 4"X4" posts. I give the boys their corn in there. The idea was that, one day I am going to have to load the boys back into the 16 food stock trailer...

I am new to raising beef cattle. This year I raised two steers and sold them directly to consumers. I enjoyed this and may have made a little money. I want to do it again, but I want to raise small cattle because it is easier to sell smaller sides to consumers. (Thanks for the help on my...

Agreed. I sell only by the side. It is difficult to find someone who can handle more than 350 pounds of beef at once. I thought about selling by the quarter but decided, I did not want to try to figure out which quarter was worth more than the other. Also, how much hamburger and roast etc...

I am not an expert nor am I qualified to evaluate the research or the claims stemming from it but there is no shortage of research. The breed was developed by some state research program in Australia over 30 years. I would like a "real" disinterested cattleman (sorry cattleperson just sounds...

I raised a couple of Angus X Simmental steers this year and sold 3 sides direct to customers for $2.00 per pound – custom cut, wrapped, labeled and frozen. I am a hobby farmer. I was not looking to make money, but I did OK. I may have made a little, I will have a freezer full of great beef...

I am doing the same roughly the same thing. I bought 2 angus X simmental at market price ($1.10 at that time) to raise for my own use. A advertised on craigslist "top quality beef $2.00 per pound" a couple of weeks ago. I got 8 interest responses. I am taking the steers to the butcher next...

Thanks a lot. Everyone has been very helpful. Since posting I have found a dairy farmer who will cross with an AI lowline Angus. In person, it is not difficult to get agreement when you can guarantee the dairyman he will not lose money. However – as several have suggested – I would probably...

Well, I am learning a lot. A couple more points and question and I will be gone and you folks can get back to serious dairy cattle talk with my deep appreciation and gratitude. First, what I have learned most is that I am probably better off finding a beef cattle rancher and paying him to...

I think my ignorance is making me appear to be argumentative which was not my intention. I just cant make the facts all fit together. For example this ad from Craigslist got me started on this track: "Calves continue to be this cheap. We currently have some smaller Holstein calves --$10 each...

I am missing something here. If every dairy cow calves once a year, and have of the calves are female, and all females are replacement, that would mean that 1/2 of all dairy cows are replaced every year and the the average age of a dairy cow is 1 year??? Aren't dairy cows productive for 6 or 8...