Club Calves from Colorado

[rancherswife]

I need alittle help here :lol:
We are making a trip to Colorado over Labor day to pick up some longhorns we bought at the Select sale. Our Grandson is looking for a steer and we figured we might have some better luck out of state. Our kids always raised just good honest steers from a local breeder here, but from the looks of things you can't compete like that any more We have contacted a couple of club calf breeders in Colorado and will be going to take a look.
In all of your opinions what would you suggest?? What are the judges looking for as far as breed,color etc??
I also have a question about prices :shock: So far we have been told 1000.00 to 3500.00 is the price range. YIKES!! I am not willing to buy this boy a championship :lol: :lol: Without seeming way to NOSEY, do these prices sound about right?
Thanks for any help you can give me :cboy:

 

[TheBullLady]

lol... yes, those prices sound about "right". With the internet and all the club calf sites, the "jockeys" pretty much have a level playing field, and charge similar $$ for steers. If you dont' want to spend that much, and have the time, why don't you call individual breeders and see what they have? Generally you can get them cheaper off the farm than from a dealer.

 

[Tracy740]

"Show" calves in Colorado are ALWAYS over priced. We go out of state to buy our calves. What we could pay in Coorado, say $3500.00 it would cost about $1200.00 to $1500.00 in NE, IA, KS or SD. A $800.00 steer in the other states mentioned would cost you about $2000.00 to $2500.00 in Colorado. I would not buy calves here, if I were you. Just my opinion of course.

 

[jaydill]

I think if you're looking for a club calf, those prices are right. I personally went out to a farm and picked my steer from there. If you've got an eye for cattle, you can pick yourself a decent calf. But were you to come down here to TX to pick a calf, you would be looking in that range for a clubby type calf. Good luck with your search.

Jay

 

[certherfbeef]

Is this calf going to be shown as a feeder this year and a fat next year or just a fat steer next year?

Buy private treaty not thru a jock or broker.

Buy the calf off the cow, wean him on the trailer and nut him when you get home. Treat him like a calf bought from a salebarn. Couple weeks into it he will be eating good, halter him and start the show calf treatment (fans, washing etc).

You should beable to get one close to market price this way. He just won't be ready for shows till later in the summer. Buying one of the fluffy already broke on feed club calves will cost ya.

There are lots of great calves out there, you just have to look in unlikely places.

I can't help you with who's place to look at or what breed to look at. What breed usually does the best in the shows that your grandson will attend?

 

[Tracy740]

Ok, as far as what judges are looking for......


This year the judges we showed to, wanted a good honest calf, one that was structurally correct, had natural thickness and moved freely. At the county show the judge also added amount of finish.

We always buy off the farm, calves still on the cow, wean in the trailer on the way home, they are already steers at this point. However the sales we go to are a bid process, so you show interest in a calf, put a bid on the calf and then if someone else has put a bid on the calf they get you both on a phone and have a bid off, if there is more then 2 people then the phone bids go on until all but one person has dropped out.
The problem with the phone sales is you have to have some trust in people, and hope they are not just bidding their own calf up. We have mostly had good experiences with this type of sale, and then we had a couple not so good experiences. Good luck.

 

[rancherswife]

Well shoot....I guess I'll be gettin out the ole checkbook!!

I was afraid those prices were the going rate for club calves. He wants to show the calf as a feeder until next fair. He is just turning 10 so the extra money will be worth having a calf that is a little halter broke. I don't have time for all that!!!
I'm just not use to all this high powered showing stuff. Like I said my kids always just showed cattle and pigs from local ranches. No genetics involved LOL Times have sure changed. I talked to one kid at our county fair who had paid 4000.00 for his steer outta Kansas and when it went through the sale he got 1.10 a pound I felt so bad for him. I told my Grandson he better start courtin buyers now and keep it up all year!!
Thanks for all the opinions and advice!

 

[Colorado2008]

May I ask where you had planned on visiting??

 

[rancherswife]

Oh Gosh...I think one was colorado club calves does that sound right?? My daughter has them all written down and in her billfold and she went to town
The other ones are harder to remember and have escaped my Feeble ole mind at the moment
Like I said we just thought while we were in the area we could pick a nice one up.

 

[jaydill]

Oh Gosh...I think one was colorado club calves does that sound right?? My daughter has them all written down and in her billfold and she went to town
The other ones are harder to remember and have escaped my Feeble ole mind at the moment
Like I said we just thought while we were in the area we could pick a nice one up.

If you don't want to spend that much, I don't suggest you do. The risk you take by spending that much is starting off with quite a bit out of your pocket, then add up the expenses in feed, supplies, and show entry fees and you've got quite a tally. Then you have to hope you make your county sale. I suggest you take Cert's idea (it's what I did). I picked a good calf from a farm. While I didn't make the sale, I still was less in the hole than I would've been spending a couple thousand dollars more for a calf that I don't think would've been that much better. Good luck, either way you go.

Jay

 

[AAOK]

If you want a Steer that can compete, $1500 is a bare minimum. Our County hasn't seen a Grand that was purchased for under $2000 in 10 years. You can find some good ones at Lee's Cattle in Chandler, AZ, but expect $2500 and up. Shane Geist in Madera, CA can find you what ever you want, but I don't think he has ever seen a calf under $5000. The Dorsey family in Eaton, Co and the Sidwell family in Gill, Co are good folks with good cattle. Prices?

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

"Show" calves in Colorado are ALWAYS over priced. We go out of state to buy our calves. What we could pay in Coorado, say $3500.00 it would cost about $1200.00 to $1500.00 in NE, IA, KS or SD. A $800.00 steer in the other states mentioned would cost you about $2000.00 to $2500.00 in Colorado. I would not buy calves here, if I were you. Just my opinion of course.

:roll:

 

[CWT Angus]

Well, what did you find? I am in Oregon and intersted to find out.

 

[rancherswife]

well....we didn't find any steers in Colorado, but we did find a new trailer with living quarters!!
The Colorado state fair was going on that weekend so it didn't work out as far as meeting with anyone who had steers. They were all going to be at the fair and we had to pick up the new longhorns we bought.
We did end up finding steers here in California. My Grandson couldn't make up his mind which one he wanted so we bought 2 :shock: What the heck was I thinking??? I am never going with him steer shopping again! I'll post some pics for everyones feedback when I geet a chance to go take some.