Buying bred cows wihout history

[highgrit]

There is one lady on here that sold some real fine cows at the barn because of bull troubles and breeding dates. There's another man that likes a 6-7 year old herd, it's the way he manages and he very successful. You will be lucky to ever have cows as good as they sell as culls. There's good cows, train wrecks and everything else in between, being sold daily.

We have breeder sales on the first Friday of every month at one local barn. And some of the local traders buy a cow or two at some of the other sales and put a load together that way all month long. One thing about buying anything is you better not depend on luck as your business plan.

 

[Toad]

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.[/quote]
As long as there are people who will take a chance on a bred cow i will not pull up to a sale barn and ask them to put my cows in a pen that will make me less money. And, for the suggestions on asking the owner the history of a cow going through the sale. Unless its an advertised dispersal, no one hangs around after dropping off a cow and even if you walked into the pens, if allowed, and pick out a cow. How in heck are you then going to find the owner? Who does that?[/quote]
And that is the reason some are scared to buy at sale barns. Because there is always one dishonest person who will gladly sell a "take home" kind of cow who really has no business ever going anywhere but the butcher. CG8 gives a good example of why you need to watch who brings in bred cows.

 

[Lucky_P]

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

Yes. Can think of two right off..
One was a 15 yr old Fleckvieh cow... way out of synch with the rest of the herd...and yellow/white-faced... I've regretted sending her on many times.
The other... wild as lleh, but always raised a heck of a calf; I got tired of being scared for my life when working the herd...wasn't there to see her sell, but if her performance when the guys were sorting her off from the calves is any indication, she probably cleared the ring when she came in...

 

[Muddy]

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.

As long as there are people who will take a chance on a bred cow i will not pull up to a sale barn and ask them to put my cows in a pen that will make me less money. And, for the suggestions on asking the owner the history of a cow going through the sale. Unless its an advertised dispersal, no one hangs around after dropping off a cow and even if you walked into the pens, if allowed, and pick out a cow. How in heck are you then going to find the owner? Who does that?[/quote]
And that is the reason some are scared to buy at sale barns. Because there is always one dishonest person who will gladly sell a "take home" kind of cow who really has no business ever going anywhere but the butcher. CG8 gives a good example of why you need to watch who brings in bred cows.[/quote] That is how your reputation can get destroyed if they knew whose animal belongs to.

 

[Chris H]

I don't know about everyone elses salebarn, but around here the packers have been outbidding the 'back to the farm' buyers for a long time. We don't have regular bred cow sales at our barn. It's a 2 hour drive to get to one of those bred cow sales.

With the lack of a close outlet for bred cows, Craigslist has become an excellent option to market small lots of all classes of cattle. We've only been running 30+ spring calving cows & 10+ fall calvers for a couple years. It's hard to get a decent price at salebarns for small groups of steers or bred cows. But they sell like hotcakes on Craigslist, and our steers go to repeat buyers now unless I decide to feed them out.

Be careful on craigslist, some of these guys go and buy from a sale, then resell. Dont think for a minute they wont act like they've owned the cow her whole life.

Yet you have no problem dumping a bred cow on an unsuspecting buyer at the salebarn.

The reason we have repeat buyers for our steers is I can show them the mothers, sisters, grandmothers, sire, etc. And once they buy, they come back. Same thing for selling breeding stock, plus I've got the papers to back up what I'm showing them.

I just sold off the craziest cow on my place in recent years. She needed a 2x4 to take her first calf, so she got a bit fearful of me. When she wouldn't take her second calf she got pulled and fattened, calf went as a bottle calf. Bad thing is, her first calf is one of the top heifers. But she only gets one shot at raising a calf and she better take it on her own or she goes to the kill pen.

If I wouldn't sell a bred cow to my best friend, she's only fit for the kill pen.

 

[TexasBred]

Thanks Chris H, that was the point I was wondering about. 99.9 percent of the time, a bred cow at the sale barn means she has messed up for her owner. Even in a dispersal, you have a top half and a bottom half.
Is that producers bottom half as good as your top half? There is money to be made in cattle that have messed up for their previous owner, but if you are trying to build a top flight herd of problem-free cattle, is buying an animal you are almost sure has been a problem in the past the way to go?

I've sold hundreds of bred cows. No particular reason other than I don't fall in love with them and I knew I'd hit a dam good lick on them. And if you bought one you got a good cow that never let anybody down.

 

[cowgirl8]

Since people are willing to pay over 2000 for an old bred cow, we sold a lot of old cows that if fed last year, the new owners got a nice calf this year. Really hated to sell them, but really glad after the winter we had. A few would not have made it in our area.
I've watched many sales and do not recall ever being informed about a cow running through main stream that the announcer stopped what they were doing to read off information about said cow to one person sitting in the stands. Maybe our sales are way different than the sales you guys go to....

 

[Muddy]

Since people are willing to pay over 2000 for an old bred cow, we sold a lot of old cows that if fed last year, the new owners got a nice calf this year. Really hated to sell them, but really glad after the winter we had. A few would not have made it in our area.
I've watched many sales and do not recall ever being informed about a cow running through main stream that the announcer stopped what they were doing to read off information about said cow to one person sitting in the stands. Maybe our sales are way different than the sales you guys go to....

So its okay to sell these cows that prolapsed, cows with non functional udders and bad breeders as a bred cow at the sale barn?

 

[cowgirl8]

So its okay to sell these cows that prolapsed, cows with non functional udders and bad breeders as a bred cow at the sale barn?

That is what a sale barn is for...and for the record, a bad breeder would go to the sale open. So, i would not have them preg checked. You buy an open cow, you get an open cow when i bring one. Prolapsed cow is a nice cow...will probably have a calf and a nice one at that. If she prolapse, the new owner can do like i did and haul her to the vet. Pretty simple. I'm beginning to think that you've never been to a cattle sale barn Muddy.. The area barns near me run thousands of cattle through them in a day. No going to stop for anyone, you get what you get. If i haul a cow there that is open, there is no need to flag someone down and explain why, open cows pretty much mean kill pen unless someone want to take a 'chance'....

 

[Muddy]

Like I said, I won't sell a problematic cow as a bred cow, even if they're bred. Not every sale barn does palpated the cows.

 

[glacierridge]

That is what a sale barn is for...and for the record, a bad breeder would go to the sale open. So, i would not have them preg checked. You buy an open cow, you get an open cow when i bring one. Prolapsed cow is a nice cow...will probably have a calf and a nice one at that. If she prolapse, the new owner can do like i did and haul her to the vet. Pretty simple. I'm beginning to think that you've never been to a cattle sale barn Muddy.. The area barns near me run thousands of cattle through them in a day. No going to stop for anyone, you get what you get. If i haul a cow there that is open, there is no need to flag someone down and explain why, open cows pretty much mean kill pen unless someone want to take a 'chance'....

And this is why so many would rather privately buy...

 

[cowgirl8]

Like I said, I won't sell a problematic cow as a bred cow, even if they're bred. Not every sale barn does palpated the cows.

I've never been to a sale barn that doesnt have a big sign asking if you want Preg Tested....they charge a fee. So, unless we know the cow is bred, we dont ask for it.

 

[Muddy]

Like I said, I won't sell a problematic cow as a bred cow, even if they're bred. Not every sale barn does palpated the cows.

I've never been to a sale barn that doesnt have a big sign asking if you want Preg Tested....they charge a fee. So, unless we know the cow is bred, we dont ask for it.

Yet you stated you'd rather sell your problematic cows as bred cows.

 

[TexasBred]

Since people are willing to pay over 2000 for an old bred cow, we sold a lot of old cows that if fed last year, the new owners got a nice calf this year. Really hated to sell them, but really glad after the winter we had. A few would not have made it in our area.
I've watched many sales and do not recall ever being informed about a cow running through main stream that the announcer stopped what they were doing to read off information about said cow to one person sitting in the stands. Maybe our sales are way different than the sales you guys go to....

Catch the auctioneer or the ring man before the sale and tell them about the cattle. If they're worth their salt they'll remember and will tell the buyers about the cattle.

 

[greybeard]

I see the auctioneer read off a few notes now and then--last one I went to, he read off a whole long book about a goat they had in the ring.

 

[Rafter S]

As some of you have seen on other discussions, I'm pretty particular about my cows having a nice udder. If a cows udder looks like it might have a chance to go bad in two or three years I'll sell her, long before she gets to the point that I might have to help her calf nurse. It doesn't bother me a bit to have one like that palated at the sale barn. She may very well raise 4 or 5 calves without a problem, and even if her bag does go bad, there's plenty of people that don't mind helping a calf get started nursing. (I know that because so many people on this forum have said they don't mind it.) Besides, anyone that buys a cow at the auction barn should have enough sense to know that there's probably a reason she's there, and they're taking a chance.

I have also taken cows to the auction that have prolapsed, and been sewn up. I tell the folks at the barn that those need to go to slaughter. Others may disagree with that decision, but if my conscience is giving me too much trouble it keeps me awake, and I'm an old man. I need my sleep.

 

[cowgirl8]

As some of you have seen on other discussions, I'm pretty particular about my cows having a nice udder. If a cows udder looks like it might have a chance to go bad in two or three years I'll sell her, long before she gets to the point that I might have to help her calf nurse. It doesn't bother me a bit to have one like that palated at the sale barn. She may very well raise 4 or 5 calves without a problem, and even if her bag does go bad, there's plenty of people that don't mind helping a calf get started nursing. (I know that because so many people on this forum have said they don't mind it.) Besides, anyone that buys a cow at the auction barn should have enough sense to know that there's probably a reason she's there, and they're taking a chance.

I have also taken cows to the auction that have prolapsed, and been sewn up. I tell the folks at the barn that those need to go to slaughter. Others may disagree with that decision, but if my conscience is giving me too much trouble it keeps me awake, and I'm an old man. I need my sleep.

The prolapsed cow we are selling was not a full prolapse. She just had tad hanging out and although we had her stitched up, i'm sure her calf will hold it in now. If she prolapses now, it will be way after her calf is born and the new owner will notice it and either sell her, or take her to the vet. Not life threatening, so i do not have any conscience problems. Technically, if a cow prolapse and is sewn up, she's not going to be bred. Our vet sewed her up in a way so that she could get bred. I will pull out the stitch before she is sold....Would i want to buy this cow at the sale barn...no.... I do have a little bit of a problem with udder problems only because many people dont watch their cattle well and the calf can starve. But if you're watching your cows and calves closely, you'll see a problem. So thats what i say to myself, everyone watches their cattle as closely as i do....they should. As far as old cows, they check teeth, so its written on their sides. If you buy one of our old bred cows, they are going to need more food than normal to survive the winter. Nothing wrong with selling an old bred cow. Buyer should know, the cow is old....Being a commercial business, i cant have cows with special needs. People who have smaller herds should have no problem with anything we sell that is bred, it just does not work for our operation....

 

[Toad]

I can tell if a cow is old or has a bad bag or maybe had bad feet and can bid accordingly. But someone who would sell a cow who has prolapse issues is essentially saying its okay to screw the next guy in line.

 

[cowgirl8]

I can tell if a cow is old or has a bad bag or maybe had bad feet and can bid accordingly. But someone who would sell a cow who has prolapse issues is essentially saying its okay to screw the next guy in line.

Then dont buy at a sale barn buddy....

 

[Muddy]

I can tell if a cow is old or has a bad bag or maybe had bad feet and can bid accordingly. But someone who would sell a cow who has prolapse issues is essentially saying its okay to screw the next guy in line.

Then dont buy at a sale barn buddy....

Or....what about just don't sell prolapse cows as a bred cow. You are the example why some people got screwed up by dishonest sellers at the sale barn.