My mother is thinking of getting some calves and raising them to sell as beef cattle. She only wants a few. Can anyone tell me what she should pay for the calves for the mixed breed ones I would assume. Any info for her at all would be welcome.
I don't know the prices, but you could find out by visiting a local sales yard or checking out the local dairies, which is where my dad got his starters. It is pretty hard to find a beef calf since one cow to one cow is all that is going on out in that pasture. The dairies on the other hand will usually have some cross breed calves that they got to just freshen the cow. The way my dad started was with one Guernsey cow and a beef bull (borrowed from a neighbor) The cow could feed us three older kids, and raise her calf plus two or three others each year. SOmetimes, it is really surprising what an enterprising calf raiser can do if she gets to know the ranchers and farmers around her. Good luck.
