Another sale barn cattle thread

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ligons

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I was reading the sale barn thread and thought it might be a good idea to relate my experience so that others might learn something from it.

I grew up on a small farm where we raised cattle, hogs and did some row crop farming. However, up until a couple of years ago I had been off the farm since I left home at 19 (I'm now 43). Wife and I bought a small farm in Missouri and I decided to raise some cattle. Bulldozed fences, built fences and seeded pasture for a year and then began to look for some cattle.

Just like some of the others on this board, everytime I could find some cows or heifers for sale off the farm, the price seemed too high. After all, cows were selling cheaper at the sale barn so why should I pay so much. So, I started going to sale barn auctions. In December of 2007 (desparate to get some cows before the year ended - tax purposes don't you know), I was at a sale barn and cattle were selling pretty cheap. An ice storm was moving in and alot of buyers didn't make the sale. I bought 23 head of cows ranging from one 3 year old to 2 short and solids - all in the second and third stage. Be the time I tacked my trucking costs on I still had the cows for what I thought was a pretty good price (as I sit here I can't remember what it avg. per head). Cows calved through late Jan and Feb (one or two in March) and at the end of the calving I had 22 pretty good calves. One cow had lost her calf. Over the course of the next several months it became apparent which cows were the "good" cows and which ones had "problems." Mixture of lameness, one had prolapsed during birth, calves not doing as well, etc. So that fall I sold the calves and 7 cull cows. Calves and cows brought within few hundred dollars of paying for all the cows. So at this point I'm left with 15 relatively good cows all but paid for.

So I'm thinking if I do this one more time, I can end up with about 30 good cows paid for and turn a profit this next year.

Went to the sale barn Dec. of 08 and someone had brought in 22 beefmaster cows - all short and solid and all second and third stage. I bought 'em all for $700 per head (which was a little more than I wanted to give but some of the cows were really really good looking cows - the problem is there was a handfull of culls I could see at the time - a bad teat here, a slight limp there, etc). However, I figured if I could get a calf out of them, and then cull them, the ones I was left with would be alright.

Took them home and then I had 37 cows due to calve Jan - Mar. To make an already too long story as short as possible, out of the 37 cows total two died before calving, one died after calving (sold her calf for $250 as a bottle calf), and then I ended up with 34 cows and 33 calves only losing one calf at birth. Two of the dead cows died from the same thing, but I don't know what it was to this day. They were in good shape and eating fine one day, the next day they were off they're fed, the next day they were dead. Happened about a month apart. First one I figured the first day it was sick that I'd watch it for a day or two and see what developed and the next day it was dead. The second one it tried to get up for the vet as soon as it got sick - it still had enough vinegar to charge me instead of being walked into the lot and the next a.m. it was dead.

The third dead cow is where the biggest problem lay. It became apparent to me after watching her wasting away that she had paratuberculosis. Confirmed the diagnosis and several more cows in the heard were infected. So, let everything grow as much as possible and then sold every head I owned in July for approx. $1,050 per cow with calves thrown in.

So now I'm without cows again and have my pasture on a rest to make sure new stock doesn't get infected. Most of those beefmaster cows were great cows and were raising some really nice calves. The cows out of the first herd I kept were good cows as well - a couple were even fantastic cows. So while I didn't really lose any money on this venture, I haven't built up my herd at all and now I'm out of production for awhile (which I guess is costing me money - although some would argue with prices like they are now that it is saving me money).

I'm buying off the farm next time.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences. You sure went thru some ups and downs, didn't you?

By buying 20+ head at a time, you still ought to be able to get decent prices buying direct from a breeder. A whole lot better price than the onesy, twosy buyer I would think.
 
ligons":14etrqiy said:
...The third dead cow is where the biggest problem lay. It became apparent to me after watching her wasting away that she had paratuberculosis. Confirmed the diagnosis and several more cows in the heard were infected. So, let everything grow as much as possible and then sold every head I owned in July for approx. $1,050 per cow with calves thrown in...

So you cured all of the infected cows and calves of the paratuberculosis before selling them, right? And told the NEXT sale barn buyer they had been exposed to tuberculosis, right?
 
SRbeef:

No I didn't cure them. You can't cure them. If they were curable, I would have kept them. I sold them to slaughter through the same barn as they came from. Actually, to be more accurate, I sold them to the man who sold them to me at the barn and who then sold them for slaughter through the same barn that they came from.

Now, you go have a nice day.
 
ligons":2axw77sl said:
SRbeef:

No I didn't cure them. You can't cure them. If they were curable, I would have kept them. I sold them to slaughter through the same barn as they came from. Actually, to be more accurate, I sold them to the man who sold them to me at the barn and who then sold them for slaughter through the same barn that they came from.

Now, you go have a nice day.


Sounds to me like your the type that gives cattleman a bad name. Doing crap like this I wouldnt let you buy from off my farm. PERIOD! No you go have a nice day smart elic.
 
S&WSigma40VEShooter":2xq4hk55 said:
ligons":2xq4hk55 said:
SRbeef:

No I didn't cure them. You can't cure them. If they were curable, I would have kept them. I sold them to slaughter through the same barn as they came from. Actually, to be more accurate, I sold them to the man who sold them to me at the barn and who then sold them for slaughter through the same barn that they came from.

Now, you go have a nice day.


Sounds to me like your the type that gives cattleman a bad name. Doing crap like this I wouldnt let you buy from off my farm. PERIOD! No you go have a nice day smart elic.
CUZ---You need to calm your smart a** self down !!!!!!!!!!
 
talldog":1o6g7ex6 said:
S&WSigma40VEShooter":1o6g7ex6 said:
ligons":1o6g7ex6 said:
SRbeef:

No I didn't cure them. You can't cure them. If they were curable, I would have kept them. I sold them to slaughter through the same barn as they came from. Actually, to be more accurate, I sold them to the man who sold them to me at the barn and who then sold them for slaughter through the same barn that they came from.

Now, you go have a nice day.


Sounds to me like your the type that gives cattleman a bad name. Doing crap like this I wouldnt let you buy from off my farm. PERIOD! No you go have a nice day smart elic.
CUZ---You need to calm your smart a** self down !!!!!!!!!!


Excuse me? You need to mind your own business. I am a force to be reckoned with and you would not be able to handle it. I am calm. I just hate it when people sale johnes cows even for feeders. TO me that is being dishonest. Trust me I am the wrong person for you to pick a fight with. You wont win.
 
Force to be reckoned with---Haven't started any, but have FINISHED my share ! You add nothing to this Forum, but NEGATIVITY ! AS far as " Can't Win"-- No, not on this Forum in a war of words----but I'm available 24-7 !
People like you love to talk crap behind a keyboard----That's all you chums can do !!
 
:roll:

ligons, thanks for sharing that story. I picked up a couple of heifers at the sale barn last year and then spent a lot of time worrying what might be wrong with them. They were fine, but I'm not experienced enough and I don't have a good enough eye to do that again any time soon. Sometimes they have special sales and real nice cattle w/ health records on hand. That's different of course, but your story is a good one for beginners to consider.
 
S&Wsigma:

I know I shouldn't bother, but . . . . .

What in the world about what I"ve said makes you think I'm a bad sort? Before selling the cows I checked high and low for info. about paratuberculosis and found aboslutely nothing regarding not being able to sell them for slaughter. Wouldn't have dreamed of selling them to an unsuspecting buyer but can't figure what your problem is with sending them to slaughter. Have I missed something here? If so, please enlighten me (however, I would request that you do so without the hyperbole). If you're just a jerk, please don't bother responding.
 
Talldog you ligons have not been around here long enough to no who you are fooling with. If you had been on the boards longer you would no him by his many usernames. He stops by every few months shoots his mouth off for a while till he gets the boot agin. All the folks thats been here a year or so no who he is and just ignore him.
 
Red Bull Breeder":gqhruwp8 said:
If you had been on the boards longer you would no him by his many usernames. He stops by every few months shoots his mouth off for a while till he gets the boot agin. All the folks thats been here a year or so no who he is and just ignore him.

:nod: :nod: :nod:

TTCLM, TMBP, the list goes on and on and on and.......

Katherine
 
Excuse me? You need to mind your own business. I am a force to be reckoned with and you would not be able to handle it. I am calm. I just hate it when people sale johnes cows even for feeders. TO me that is being dishonest. Trust me I am the wrong person for you to pick a fight with. You wont win.

Best laugh I've had in awhile.
 
Red Bull Breeder":2w3egi3f said:
Talldog you ligons have not been around here long enough to no who you are fooling with. If you had been on the boards longer you would no him by his many usernames. He stops by every few months shoots his mouth off for a while till he gets the boot agin. All the folks thats been here a year or so no who he is and just ignore him.
Tell me more----- I know nothing about this idiot other than his post! I'm dumb enough NOT to even think about changing names or people that do !!
How do you'll know this---just by his post ?? Thanks !! :tiphat:
 
talldog":1h30w793 said:
Red Bull Breeder":1h30w793 said:
Talldog you ligons have not been around here long enough to no who you are fooling with. If you had been on the boards longer you would no him by his many usernames. He stops by every few months shoots his mouth off for a while till he gets the boot agin. All the folks thats been here a year or so no who he is and just ignore him.
Tell me more----- I know nothing about this idiot other than his post! I'm dumb enough NOT to even think about changing names or people that do !!
How do you'll know this---just by his post ?? Thanks !! :tiphat:
you read enough of his post and you can figure it out pretty easy they change their names just not their attitude and he is a magical fellow he can move all of his cows and belongings from Tennessee to Arizona to Kansas all in a few hrs
 
Angus Cowman":1zyns98d said:
talldog":1zyns98d said:
Red Bull Breeder":1zyns98d said:
Talldog you ligons have not been around here long enough to no who you are fooling with. If you had been on the boards longer you would no him by his many usernames. He stops by every few months shoots his mouth off for a while till he gets the boot agin. All the folks thats been here a year or so no who he is and just ignore him.
Tell me more----- I know nothing about this idiot other than his post! I'm dumb enough NOT to even think about changing names or people that do !!
How do you'll know this---just by his post ?? Thanks !! :tiphat:
you read enough of his post and you can figure it out pretty easy they change their names just not their attitude and he is a magical fellow he can move all of his cows and belongings from Tennessee to Arizona to Kansas all in a few hrs
Da*m he's FAST !!!! :)
 
LA200 is just fine for curing pink eye. The "Master cattle producer" (another name for the list) will tell you to cure all cattle ailments with it.

He must own a share of stock in LA200 or something. :D :D
 
backhoeboogie":34z5tvf5 said:
LA200 is just fine for curing pink eye. The "Master cattle producer" (another name for the list) will tell you to cure all cattle ailments with it.

He must own a share of stock in LA200 or something. :D :D

Holy crap. Im gonna get a 5 gallon bucket of it then. (laughin) Sorry, had to say it.
 

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