How does a buyer know who's calf it is, unless you brand them?
Feed lots do keep track as do the order buyers they have to in order to produce a paper trail incase of diease out breaks. In Canada it's the manditory ID. Right now you don't have access to the data but a time will come. Cattle producers want it so they know how the animals finsihed out. Feedlots are going to want to minimize their vet expenses by not buying risky calves from same owners year after year.
I'm sure where their is a will there is a way.
We had a smaller feed lot buyer buy his own animals. He knew where they came from, when he got a bad one or bunch you can be sure he never bought from them again, and buyers and feed lot owners talk to each other, word gets around.
But still the question has to be raised. Why put our rep on the line for one poor doer who shows signs of PI illness when we work so hard on producing a good calf crop to make money.
I don't mean the pot bellies due to lack of nutrition, or stunted for what ever reason other than illness.
I had a bull calf born in January that looked really nice just like his mates. In late March on a hot day I found him standing in a small creek with his head down. He had scours and signs of pneumonia. I roped him and gave a big long lasting antibiotic pill and he seemed to get better.
Ever since, although not obviously sick, he got dumpier looking and pot bellied. Can't stand the heat. Ears got shorter like ears that had been frost bitten. Got pinkeye in both eyes and hurt his vision. Today I got the calves up to sell. He is 150 pounds lighter than his mates and much sorrier looking although fat.
Should I sell at a loss or is there something I could medicate him with to turn him around? Thanks
I mean like this original post, illnesses that seem to heal 'sort of'. He got sick seemed to get better but still not right. Pink eye in both eyes, poor vision, pneumonia that hasn't quiet healed. Put it all together in the "grand picture" and he's a PI "persistently infected" whether it be IBR, BVD, pneumonia, pink eye, or what have you, He is PI with something. If he looks peaked in the heat how can he handle the shipping, weaning, sale barn, shipping to where ever then to the feedlot?
We need to ask our selves some simple questions when we ship..."would we buy that animal or group of animals?"
"If we were a buyer or feed lot op we risk our feed lot business on a that sickly animal?"
These boards are full of people writing in how they bought a bum cow or a bum pair and we say "sorry about the bad deal" BLA BLA BLA....why would we do it to others?
My apologies for my soap box. I will get down now!
