Advice for a Beginner

[jzintgraff]

Advice for a Beginner
by jzintgraff on Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:46 pm

My husband and I are new to raising cattle. We have 3 horned Hereford heifers and are in the process of renting a Polled Hereford bull. Are there any books that we can get to help us in rasing cattle the right way?? We have enjoyed our heifers. I took FFA as a high school student but that was too long ago. I would like some advise on how to raise cattle.....
Blessings
Janet Z :help:

 

[kscowboy]

read this forum front to back , its all here

talk to your vet , get a vacc program
plan your feed out for a year so you don't get caught paying more than you should

fix your fences , then fix em some more , then put up new fence , then fix it also

 

[JRM]

Like KS said read this forum, try to find someone around you that been around cattle and will help you. If an college around you deals in AG maybe contact them.

 

[hillsdown]

I would start with Storey's Guide to Raising Beef Cattle by Heather Smith Thomas and get a copy of The Merck Veterinary Manual you can get a cheap used edition in perfect condition at a site like Amazon or Alibris. Also like was stated before your Vet will be your best friend as well as really good neighbors.

Welcome to the boards.

 

[IluvABbeef]

Type in "beginner" or "newbies" on the search part of these boards, and under username, type "Bez", be it Bez?, Bez!, Bez+, or all the other symbols on a keyboard you can think of, and READ his posts...he has some EXCELLENT info for beginners like you. Not only that, but there's other folks that give great info too.

That and the book hillsdown recommended. I would also recommend Beef Cattle Science by M.E. Ensminger, but that book's probably a bit much for you...unless you want to read the whole 1100-plus pages to get real-indepth info on the cattle biz...all kidding aside, Storey's Guide is as good as it gets, reading that from cover to cover a few times ought to get you in the right mind to raise cattle.

There's my 2 cents.

 

[Cowdirt]

plan your feed out for a year so you don't get caught paying more than you should

Don't know exactly what you had in mind. Planning for your feed needs is good but with three or four animals I wouldn't buy feed too far ahead. That brings on some problems.

 

[angus9259]

Most AG colleges offer a layman's "cattle college" through their extention agencies. Try googling that.