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Best weaning decision
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<blockquote data-quote="Katpau" data-source="post: 1697586" data-attributes="member: 9933"><p>If you sell your calves a few at a time at a sale barn, I don't think the buyers are willing to pay much extra for weaned and vaccinated calves. They may discount a bawling calf, but you probably won't be rewarded much for your time and expense. That is why so many consider it a waste of money. Especially if you put too much weight on them. In this area most of those buyers want a 400 to 550 pound calf to put on grass, and they will pay better by the pound for them. Bigger calves, say over 700, may go directly to a feedllot and I doubt those buyers are buying a few calves at a time in a sale barn. They prefer to buy them in quantity from a large ranch or a stocker grower. There isn't as much competition at most sale barns for the heavier calves, and prices reflect that. If you do precondition your calves, make sure buyers know that before they come to the sale. It might be best to locate a barn that has a preconditioned calf sale that is being promoted ahead to prospective buyers. On the other hand, If you're selling truckloads at a time, like in Dave's part of the world, you better take the time to wean and vaccinate, because buyers are going to remember that load if you don't. A truckload of wormed vaccinated and bunk broke calves are worth more than a load that was weaned onto the trailer.</p><p></p><p>I tried the Precon 5 StressCare from Purina in 2019 and it did not work out for me at all. I have a buyer that buys all of my calves as weaned vaccinated and bunk broke. Normally I wean the calves onto pasture and I give them 4 or 5 pounds of rye grass screening pellets along with a few pounds of alfalfa hay every few days for protein. The have access to grass of course, but since we seldom have any rain from Mid June on, the grass is not very good. The screening pellets are a waste product of the grass seed industry and cost about $160 per ton. At one time you could get them for $50 to $70 a ton, but like everything else they keep going up. In 2019 the Purina Rep. talked me into doing a little experiment feeding the calves Precon 5. I was to keep track of consumption and gain and I got a deal on the Purina in exchange. I followed directions and worked the calves up to eating 5 pounds a day. The youngest calf was really growing fast and had surpassed the weights of some of his contemporaries that were a month older. On about week two or three we went to feed in the morning and I pointed that calf out to my husband. The calf had his head in the feeder eating Precon greedily. We went to check them out that evening and he had bloated and died. I had been assured that was unlikely by the Rep and when I told him later he said he had never heard of an issue like that before, I am going to stick to my screening pellets in the future. They don't gain that much during weaning, but at least none have died.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Katpau, post: 1697586, member: 9933"] If you sell your calves a few at a time at a sale barn, I don't think the buyers are willing to pay much extra for weaned and vaccinated calves. They may discount a bawling calf, but you probably won't be rewarded much for your time and expense. That is why so many consider it a waste of money. Especially if you put too much weight on them. In this area most of those buyers want a 400 to 550 pound calf to put on grass, and they will pay better by the pound for them. Bigger calves, say over 700, may go directly to a feedllot and I doubt those buyers are buying a few calves at a time in a sale barn. They prefer to buy them in quantity from a large ranch or a stocker grower. There isn't as much competition at most sale barns for the heavier calves, and prices reflect that. If you do precondition your calves, make sure buyers know that before they come to the sale. It might be best to locate a barn that has a preconditioned calf sale that is being promoted ahead to prospective buyers. On the other hand, If you're selling truckloads at a time, like in Dave's part of the world, you better take the time to wean and vaccinate, because buyers are going to remember that load if you don't. A truckload of wormed vaccinated and bunk broke calves are worth more than a load that was weaned onto the trailer. I tried the Precon 5 StressCare from Purina in 2019 and it did not work out for me at all. I have a buyer that buys all of my calves as weaned vaccinated and bunk broke. Normally I wean the calves onto pasture and I give them 4 or 5 pounds of rye grass screening pellets along with a few pounds of alfalfa hay every few days for protein. The have access to grass of course, but since we seldom have any rain from Mid June on, the grass is not very good. The screening pellets are a waste product of the grass seed industry and cost about $160 per ton. At one time you could get them for $50 to $70 a ton, but like everything else they keep going up. In 2019 the Purina Rep. talked me into doing a little experiment feeding the calves Precon 5. I was to keep track of consumption and gain and I got a deal on the Purina in exchange. I followed directions and worked the calves up to eating 5 pounds a day. The youngest calf was really growing fast and had surpassed the weights of some of his contemporaries that were a month older. On about week two or three we went to feed in the morning and I pointed that calf out to my husband. The calf had his head in the feeder eating Precon greedily. We went to check them out that evening and he had bloated and died. I had been assured that was unlikely by the Rep and when I told him later he said he had never heard of an issue like that before, I am going to stick to my screening pellets in the future. They don't gain that much during weaning, but at least none have died. [/QUOTE]
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