2 new calves with the herd?

Help Support CattleToday:

tncattle

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 25, 2007
Messages
2,009
Reaction score
14
Location
Tennessee
My friend and I have 30 cows and a bull on his farm. Our cows have 24 calves currently and my friend just bought 2 calves from a friend down the road. It's a bull and heifer both weighing over 500lbs. They were not weaned and he brought them straight to our farm and put them in a 1/2 acre lot. He wants to turn them in with our herd. Is that an ad idea? I don't think it was a good idea to buy them but it's his farm and I can't dictate this decisions.
 
We have good fences and the other farm is about 1 mile away. I wasn't sure if it was better to isolate them or turn them in with our herd?
 
kenny thomas":tmbwm3vy said:
Isolate them till they are weaned good, it will surprise u where an u weaned calf can go. Same with moving a cow and not her calf.

Heed this advice.
 
If someone wants to be sure I don't bid on a cow that comes through the sale barn they just have to say they took the calf away from her the same day they are selling her. If I can buy the calf also I will bid but otherwise I just let her pass on by,
 
x3; they are too small/young to go in with mature cows with calves. They will wind up at the bottom of the pecking order, get crowded out of the feed/hay and will look for a way out; and will go over or through a fence if someone is picking on them to get away.
 
tncattle":3jq0izzw said:
It's a bull and heifer both weighing over 500lbs. They were not weaned and he brought them straight to our farm and put them in a 1/2 acre lot. He wants to turn them in with our herd.
Is that a bad idea?
Well... it's not a good idea.
I don't know what your weather is currently like in Tennessee, but I'd suggest keeping 'em penned 4-5 wks with access
to a stress lick tub.
 
Son of Butch":1wnfxn9s said:
tncattle":1wnfxn9s said:
It's a bull and heifer both weighing over 500lbs. They were not weaned and he brought them straight to our farm and put them in a 1/2 acre lot. He wants to turn them in with our herd.
Is that a bad idea?
Well... it's not a good idea.
I don't know what your weather is currently like in Tennessee, but I'd suggest keeping 'em penned 4-5 wks with access
to a stress lick tub.

If its in East TN its gonna be wet. Its a mud hole.
 
You can't feed them the same as adult cows anyway without ending up with either fat cows or runt calves.
 
farmerjan":27jxy3ug said:
angus9259":27jxy3ug said:
You can't feed them the same as adult cows anyway without ending up with either fat cows or runt calves.
Agree. So why did your partner buy them? And why a bull calf??? :?: :?:

He's going to sell them to some guys who work for him that want to slaughter them. He's going to keep them for another 4-5 months. He's new to the cattle things and it's his farm so I can only give my opinion. The calves seem to be doing surprisingly well. They're eating feed & hay and have obviously been handled often as they're very tame. They're not bawling that much either, we have them in a 3/4 acre lot with a 9 year old cow who is one of our best mannered girls. They're hanging with her, time will tell though.
 
tncattle":1qftlwqz said:
He's going to sell them to some guys who work for him that want to slaughter them. He's going to keep them for another 4-5 months.

Well, if they are getting fed what bred cows should be getting fed don't add my name to buying a side from one of those calves - especially the bull calf.
 
They're getting fed their own ration, the bred cows get hay/mineral and a treat now and then just to keep them coming when needed.
 
If he is going to sell them in 4-5 months they will only weigh maybe in the 800 lb range so they will be rather small to kill. The ratio of meat to bone is smaller until the animal gets a little maturity and stops growing so much bone and puts on muscle. Oh well, as you said they are his, so it's no skin off your back. At that stage the smartest thing would be to put them out on grass and get some growth on them and kill in the fall.
 
farmerjan":19bo842g said:
If he is going to sell them in 4-5 months they will only weigh maybe in the 800 lb range so they will be rather small to kill. The ratio of meat to bone is smaller until the animal gets a little maturity and stops growing so much bone and puts on muscle. Oh well, as you said they are his, so it's no skin off your back. At that stage the smartest thing would be to put them out on grass and get some growth on them and kill in the fall.
Yup and I'd castrate the bull as soon as he's adjusted to the stress of moving ect. if he were mine.
 
Yeah, he'd be a steer in no time flat just so that there are no problems with that heifer getting bred early, or him getting in with the other cows or any potential problem. Guess he'll have to learn like everyone else ...
 

Latest posts

Top