PRCattleCo
Member
Ok, I am not in the cow/calf business, but I have more than enough experience in it from Illinois to Alabama/Georgia, to North Dakota, to ranches in Colorado and the Texas Panhandle.
This has been a super harsh winter, to say the least. I am now in the custom preconditioning/backgrounding business in Central Western Illinois. I have a serious gripe to voice after this winter.
At both our North and South Feedyard, we have received 325-900 weight cattle to precondition for the purpose of heading to a feedyard further west.
Our death loss has been atrocious and it isn't due to lack of try on our side of the house. We post every animal that dies. What we continually find is what can be described as, "Old Pneumonia" that was a product of where they came from and we received them from sale barns.
Even though we have an extremely aggressive processing and hospital treatment protocol, the results have been lacking considering what we are dealing with. When we post an animal that is only 7-days on Feed (DOF) and has 90% lung damage with puss pockets, it is a result of whoever had the calf originally that did not take care of business in the beginning and unloaded it at the sale barn.
If you have 1hd to 1000hd of calves you sell, in the name of God!!!....PLEASE doctor them when they are calves and are sick!!!
I have watched WAY TOO MANY cattle that were not treated early and have to either watch them suffer as I pump meds into them or have to shoot them as they don't have a chance.
LOOK AT YOUR CALVES!!!!
This has been a super harsh winter, to say the least. I am now in the custom preconditioning/backgrounding business in Central Western Illinois. I have a serious gripe to voice after this winter.
At both our North and South Feedyard, we have received 325-900 weight cattle to precondition for the purpose of heading to a feedyard further west.
Our death loss has been atrocious and it isn't due to lack of try on our side of the house. We post every animal that dies. What we continually find is what can be described as, "Old Pneumonia" that was a product of where they came from and we received them from sale barns.
Even though we have an extremely aggressive processing and hospital treatment protocol, the results have been lacking considering what we are dealing with. When we post an animal that is only 7-days on Feed (DOF) and has 90% lung damage with puss pockets, it is a result of whoever had the calf originally that did not take care of business in the beginning and unloaded it at the sale barn.
If you have 1hd to 1000hd of calves you sell, in the name of God!!!....PLEASE doctor them when they are calves and are sick!!!
I have watched WAY TOO MANY cattle that were not treated early and have to either watch them suffer as I pump meds into them or have to shoot them as they don't have a chance.
LOOK AT YOUR CALVES!!!!