brand new ranch

[Txwalt]

Currently my herd of 5 cows and 4 calves have a lot of red brangus in them. I bought them from a rancher that primarily raises red brangus. (He's been using a hereford bull to add white face to the calves. Says they bring more at auction.) One of my cows is 1/4 simmental and the rest are atleast half red brangus with different percentages of hereford in them. I'm gonna breed them with a red brangus bull so I end up with mostly red brangus genetics. The 4 calves all look like red brangus calves. Atleast to my untrained eye. I currently have 150 acres split into 3 unequal portions. I'm also looking for leases as I try to grow my little herd. I was told these cows will live for 14 or 15 years and then its time to bring them to the barn. Also was told to feed 5 pounds of protein feed everyday per cow. That was amended to 5 pounds every other day when it seemed they were not eating up the cubes like they did before we got them (Their poop still looks good). The pasture they are on has been idle for 2 years. We will vac and worm April (I've been paying real close attention to posts regarding this). After building 3,000 feet of 5 strand now I need to build my corals before April. Found an abandoned squeeze chute. Owner said come get it. So. What do ya'll think. I know, I know Wanna be. Thats me

Walt

I've got the sulphur blocks, salt blocks, mineral blocks and a protein lick out their for them too. I've heard a lot about loose minerals but I want to ask the locals ranchers around here before I try that

 

[Limomike]

Hey Walt,
sounds like you are getting a fairly good hand on what you have. With 150 acres, you can easily increase your herd size to about 3-5 times what you have now. Just keep them on the protein, vaccination program (if you havent already), and plenty of available water. (pond, water trough, etc.)
I would look into pasture rotation for your herd; and use the biggest portion of your acreage for haying when the time comes. If you havent closed it off already for grazing, I would think about doing it soon.
I am sure others will join in to give you plenty of advice on this forum. Lots of great help on here..

 

[novatech]

With that many acres. I would not see the need to feed at all.
This time of year there should be plenty of wild rye and a little clover if nothing else. Warm season grasses are just now starting to come in. If the place has been left idle you may need to mow to get sunlight for new the growth.
I would spend my money on pasture improvement, and other infrastructure first, and cows second. Do some googleing on pasture management.
Congrats on the squeeze chute, that's how I got mine.
While you build your infrastructure and choose the type cattle you want you can pull in some cash flow, as Limomike said, with hay.

 

[3MR]

Loose minerals no blocks. The blocks arent worth a crap and they wont get all they need.

I dissagree. You cant throw one size fits all answer into animal nutrition. You may know what a cow needs, but you have no idea what is being otherwise provided in someone elses pasture or situation.

A perfect example is Nutrena 20% provides 2.% calcium. Agri bloke has calcium % answers available between 5 and 15%. That gives you an available percentage choice of between 7 and 17%. This will more than meet the daily required intake of 7-8k kgm. This doenst even include what might otherwise be gained via forage.

I know loose minerals are preached very heavy on here and its like a sin to dissagree and politically correct to agree, but loose minerals are just like blocks in that they are not all equal.

 

[LonghornRanch]

"Politically correct" should be a ban word on this forum! ;-)


3MR, tell people how you really feel!

 

[TheBullLady]

I would also concentrate on improving your pastures, as time goes on you want to be able to replace feeding your cows to primarily grass feeding your cows.

Check out your county agent for ideas on what types of grasses grow best in your area, and then check out USDA to see what type of programs they offer. Both are free.

 

[vs_cattle]

Good Luck You Can Learn Alot On Here And Sounds Like Your Starting Out Strong