culls

[rookie1978]

at an auction what characteristics do you look for to tell a cull cow from a good cow

 

[Caustic Burno]

Son you could right a thesis paper on this. Best thing for you to do is to find a mentor to go with and learn.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

at an auction what characteristics do you look for to tell a cull cow from a good cow

Several general and specific things (by no means all inclusive!):

1. General physical appearance: body well nourished, symmetrical, "looks" like a good animal, legs balanced.

2. No obvious signs of illness: coughing, watery eyes, drooling, loose stools, standing alert, eyes not cloudy, walks well (no stumbling, shuffling, etc.)

3. Is calm in the pen. Will come to your outstretched hand and sniff it. Doesn't charge you or the walls of the pen.

4. Hair coat looks "good": no excessive dullness, patches of hair falling out, etc. If you can get close enough to feel coat, feels "good".

5. Topline is straight. Underline reasonably straight with minimal naval flap evidenced. No bony protrusions on hip area (except the more lanky "traditional" longhorns). Ribs well sprung and not slab sided. Brisket is good size for the breed. Ears not too long (except Brahman influenced cattle).

6. On female, no discharge from vulva (unless she is about to calve). On bulls, testicles descended well and size appropriate for weight of animal.

7. Hooves are symetrically cloved, no mulefoot. Tail is nice & full and reaches about to knees (ensures good flyswatter).

8. No sign of recent cuts, injuries, etc.

9. The list can go on and on....

 

[WORANCH]

at an auction what characteristics do you look for to tell a cull cow from a good cow

Most important thing to remember is that everyone sells their culls at the local weekly auction .

 

[cherokeeruby]

Tail is nice & full and reaches about to knees.

This tail remark makes me ask why above the knee? On Brahmans I like a tail that reaches almost to the ground. Tails are above the knees when they are calves. Also, why are show cattle (except Brahman) switches balled?

 

[brokenmouth]

the best advice is to get with somebody who knows and will show you. takes time like anything else. pick a somebody who is not loud and cocky but has been doing ths a long time. if your nice and show respect a lot o f folks will enjoy sharing knowlege about what they enjoy

since your new at it when a cow comes in the ring you can learn by using the auctioneers cue. if they start her by the pound you know they consider her a cull. if they start her by the head they figure somebody might want to run her. look at her eyes and bag and watch for a limp. look at her age and see how old the vet thinks she is. if she has more than two brands you might want to pass because at least two other people didnt think she was worth her trouble. buy pairs if you want to play it safe. this is just some basics there are lots of other things you will pick up as you learn and youll make mistakes assuming your human.

 

[Tod Dague]

I never bought cows from the auction barn before. So when I needed some commercial cows I visited a buyer that was buying for my grandpa when my father was young. I told him what I wanted, he made the purchases for me, and I paid him a finder's fee. I ended up with a couple that weren't the greatest (they were the cheapest of the group) but the others were good and at a good price. Sometimes it pays to pay for experience. ;-)

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I've sent osme awful nice looking stock to the sale barn. Hard calvers or barren heifers is the biggest reason, but sometimes a flat crazy one grows wheels. Flat crazies are asy to pick out but the others you would never know.

 

[dun]

At fall work up we cut the bottom off of the switch. All of our tails are about half way between the knee and the ground. I guess I'll have to start culling on tail length now.

dun

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Hmmm - culling for tail length AND length of ears. All kidding aside, the only cattle I send to a sale barn (actually most sell on the rail) are pretty much same as DR Cattle. You would NEVER know by looking at them that they are problem cattle except dispo.
Length of tail can indicate age. If they are running a heifer through and she has a tail dragging (or close to it) the ground and is open, she's probably not going to breed, because the long tails indicates she has some age on her. Calves tails are above the hocks and they start growing in length after that.
I would NEVER buy from a sale barn. I would buy from a production sale, or from another breeder at the farm. Call your local extension beef person & they would be glad to recommend someone to trust.

 

[dun]

Over the years we've bought some pretty good cattle from the salbarn. Our two oldest cows are salebarn cows. Now after 5-6 years we're going to ship one after she weans her calf. She's got arhtritis in her hips and has a hard time getting around in her last few months of pregnancy, but she throws and raises a whale of a good calf, not bad for a 10-11 year old. The other one is about 3-4 years older then her and is just like she was the day we got her. Usually raises the top 1 or 2 calves each year.
But, we've gotten some real doozies at time too. I'm such a sucker for a pretty face..........

dun

 

[rgv4]

Just a little inside info. that I know:

There is a big well known ranch that sells a lot of two to three year old heifer's through the sale barn that won't breed. It is a little known fact that the ranch has problems with heifer's breeding out of some of their genetics.

I personally buy direct from ranches, that way I have someone to go back to in case there is a problem.

 

[Old Man]

Gotta add my two cents (about what it's worth)! One time our local horse and cattle dealer who has dealt livestock all his life and sells from NY to Wyoming, came in to look at my cattle. He picked one out and said she was half dairy cow. Now she looked like all black angus to everyone else, but I knew she wasn't. When I asked him how he knew, he said her tail was too long--the switch was too long to be exact. So honestly, just a couple days ago a commercial black cow I got (who raised a heifer calf last year out of a son of EXT that hung 585 lbs. at 11 months of age and never got but grass and hay and a touch of grain once in awhile) came in the barn to get a taste of grain (she just had another calf), and I locked her up and cut her switch back to the end of the tail, just to make her look better. That dealer also told me when he goes to Oklahoma to a big sale there, the "Ole Boys" buying can look at a steer and tell you where he came from????? I don't buy cattle much anymore, but when I use to, I learned what others have said. At a regular scheduled weekly auction, chances are you're looking at cull cows. So, what I use to do is ask the sale barn foreman who trucked it in. If he'd tell me, I'd find the trucker and ask him whose herd it was out of. Eliminated some of the mistakes on my part. Last cow I bought came from the NY Angus sale last May. Great cow from a reputable breeder. Worth the extra $$$.