Buying bred cows wihout history

[BK9954]

I bought a bred hereford earlier this year. She aborted the baby at 7 months. I wound up taking a $750 loss after I culled her. After this situation it has left a bad taste in my mouth. I am thinking it is better to buy or raise my own heifers and breed them myself. I have some heifers I have raised from calves and I had them AI with a low birthweight bull. With the bred cow I bought it makes me wonder if they sold her bred because she did this before. Got it from a cattle broker that I had just met.Needless to say I wont do business with him again. I took her to the sale barn as I dont want the reputation of selling problem cows in my area. I can say I have learned a costly lesson on this one. Atleast it wasnt 10 bad cows

 

[Muddy]

I had several cows that aborted their calves and these cows are born and raised here...no different from the cow you culled. There are more good cows that run thru the ring just because they didn't fit in someone's program. Yes the sale barn cows have some risks but they're no different from the home raised heifers. I culled more heifers than cows. If I have a problem cow, I told them put her in a kill pen.

 

[Nesikep]

You win some, you lose some.. who knows the history of that cow, maybe it was just bad luck.. cows are full of that... My biggest worry about buying unknown cows is bringing diseases onto the farm... some of them cause abortions too. Even though it may be cheaper (on paper at least) to just buy bred heifers, I really like knowing their history, so I retain my own, and know the performance of all their family members about 5 generations.. to me that's worth something.

 

[anewcomer]

Has anybody on this board ever sold a bred cow producing in the top half of your herd at the sale barn?

 

[Bigfoot]

Sale barn breds have a place in the industry. Been a long time since I bought one. They don't come with a warning label, but for my operation, they don't really fit in. I have sold cows because they didn't fit in. Usually bred back slow, or didn't make my weaning weight cut off. They'd probably work for somebody. Especially somebody that wanted a one and done.

 

[dun]

Has anybody on this board ever sold a bred cow producing in the top half of your herd at the sale barn?

Yes I have. Sold several like that a couple of years ago. Turned out to be a smart move since those cows generated a number of direct sales from the farm. But I've sold more bottom cows via the kill pen in the long run.

 

[wbvs58]

It could have been the other way around. The bought cow could have been OK but caught something from your heifers. Can you be 100% sure that you have nothing like a PI for Pesti amongst those heifers. This sort of thing happens more often than you think, your cows may seem healthy and OK as they have been exposed to it and have immunity, a new introduction may have no immunity and is vulnerable.
Ken

 

[Supa Dexta]

How far bred was she when you bought her? Its not the brokers fault, he has no way of how she's going to deliver. Just luck of the draw, some of the ugliest cows to grace the ring end up having good calves.

I've taken good cows to the barn that have lost calves for reasons such as drowning, not the cows fault but reason enough for her to go at the time.

 

[cowgirl8]

Has anybody on this board ever sold a bred cow producing in the top half of your herd at the sale barn?

One the sale chart this season off our ranch is........... Cow that prolapse after 3 months calving. Not sure what the heck was going on, but she's stitched up and i'm sure bred. Nice cow, maybe 6yrs old. Should bring top price. We have another in her prime cow with a nonworking udder, i'm sure will be bred. I'll have a handful of older cows that barely scraped by this winter, but once the grass grew they look pretty darn good and i'm sure they are bred. A few raised dinks, so off they go. The handful of cows that did not calve, will be tested and if open, they will be sold. If bred prices are up this fall, we'll cull a few more older cows and those might give a buyer one calf, but i really dont want them if we do get the forecasted winter we are suppose to have. We culled hard last fall when prices were so high. We dont have many cows older than 2006. Most of ours are now 2009 and younger, we've taken advantage of the bred cow frenzy at the sale barn the past few years.

 

[M-5]

Has anybody on this board ever sold a bred cow producing in the top half of your herd at the sale barn?

One the sale chart this season off our ranch is........... Cow that prolapse after 3 months calving. Not sure what the heck was going on, but she's stitched up and i'm sure bred. Nice cow, maybe 6yrs old. Should bring top price. We have another in her prime cow with a nonworking udder, i'm sure will be bred. I'll have a handful of older cows that barely scraped by this winter, but once the grass grew they look pretty darn good and i'm sure they are bred. A few raised dinks, so off they go. The handful of cows that did not calve, will be tested and if open, they will be sold. If bred prices are up this fall, we'll cull a few more older cows and those might give a buyer one calf, but i really dont want them if we do get the forecasted winter we are suppose to have. We culled hard last fall when prices were so high. We dont have many cows older than 2006. Most of ours are now 2009 and younger, we've taken advantage of the bred cow frenzy at the sale barn the past few years.

Those cows should be sold slaughter only.

 

[cowgirl8]

Those cows should be sold slaughter only.

As to the reason they went to the sale barn....

 

[highgrit]

Those cows should be sold slaughter only.

As to the reason they went to the sale barn....

I buy and sell the same way at the barn, no warranty as is. Sometimes you eat bear other times the bear eats you. You want good quality animals with a warranty buy off the farm.

 

[BK9954]

How far bred was she when you bought her? Its not the brokers fault, he has no way of how she's going to deliver. Just luck of the draw, some of the ugliest cows to grace the ring end up having good calves.

I've taken good cows to the barn that have lost calves for reasons such as drowning, not the cows fault but reason enough for her to go at the time.

She was 4 months bred. He said she was 2 years old. The vet said 4 years old. Makes me think the whole thing was shady or he really didnt know this cows history.

 

[BobbyLummus1]

I agree with HG and the bear . I will say every cow I own came from the salebarns . 80% came from salebarn dispersal sales . Thats the way to go

 

[Muddy]

Those cows should be sold slaughter only.

As to the reason they went to the sale barn....

They should went to the kill pen. I seldom sold problematic cows as a bred cow, I always told them put these cows in kill pen and they never got sold as a bred cow.

 

[Williamsv]

When I send old cows or problem cows to the sale I tell them slaughter only when they come to get them. I do not buy cows at sale. You do not know what problem they may bring to your cows. I either raise my heifers or buy cows or heifers off the farm from people that I know.

 

[Lucky_P]

Can't imagine going to the local salebarn here and buying bred cows to bring home, unless it were a special herd dispersal sale. There may be some good ones most days, but I'm not taking that chance... It's 'caveat emptor', as far as I'm concerned.

If I'm sending a cow to the barn... there's a problem with her... less than desirable disposition, slow breeding, bad feet, bad udder/teats, age, or she's open.
I'll have palpated any before they go. If they're open, I'll sell them as opens. If they're bred...I have to pay the extra $3 for the salebarn vet to affirm my palpation, but I'll sell them as breds... they may raise a good calf for someone who's willing to take a chance on them, but there's something there that I don't want to have to deal with again.

 

[fenceman]

I lost on a few older bred cows I've bought. But across the board I've done well with them. I can count about a dozen I own right now that came out of the kill pen. ( Here they will preg check em ,but if the barn owner considers them slaughter s he will sell them buy the pound.) Those dozen have all gave me more than one calf. One old Hereford cow is nursing her 5th right now. More than makes up for the losses. Those old cows are at the sell for a reason, but those old cows also got old for a reason. Weighing the odds is up to you.
You want a loss put 2.5 years in that hiefer and have things go south.
I keep some heifers. Just making a point.

 

[Muddy]

When I send old cows or problem cows to the sale I tell them slaughter only when they come to get them. I do not buy cows at sale. You do not know what problem they may bring to your cows. I either raise my heifers or buy cows or heifers off the farm from people that I know.

I brought few new pairs from the sale barn this year and my own herd infected the new cows with pink eye (our cows had pink eye few years ago). Your herd may have immunity but the new cows may not have same immunity to same diseases your herd once had.

 

[Toad]

I don't often buy young bred cows at a sale barn. There some exemptions but for the most part those are the ones who will give you trouble. I love buying old bred cows late in the winter. If you can get old cows for butcher price, have them drop calves in the spring and then sell them both in the late fall there isn't nearly the risk.