Daughter with money burning a hole in her pocket

[MistyMorning]

Looking for some input here, will listen to all comers. My daughter just came into some cash from my parents. Lucky her!
She currently owns one bred cow with a calf at side. She is considering investing in another heifer or cow. Now one is a registered heifer not bred (highland). For the same price she can get a red angus bred cow with a calf at side.(purebred, bred to a purebred angus bull). Her focus here is to bank some money for college.

We have highland and highland crosses(angus, hereford) here and are pretty comfortable with keeping that plan.

Need some input on red angus, temperment, size, etc. Do any of you run different breeds like that together? Am I looking at a headache mixing breeding programs?

We haven't looked at the red angus yet, just doing some background first. Just looking for some input here, don't care how you weigh in on the subject or I wouldn't have asked.

Have a great day

 

[dun]

Size the run from 4.5 to 7 FS, good quiet temperment but they're are nuts in most every breed. I would think that as a money maker the RA would be better then the other.

 

[Ryder]

An open heifer vs. bred cow with calf. All other factors being equal I think the answer is self evident. Angus are good cattle.

I see no problem with having more than one breed in the pasture for commercial cattle. If you put bulls in with them, that is a different matter if you want to stay purebred. Bull management could be a problem.

 

[vs_cattle]

I would go with the Red Angus

 

[MistyMorning]

Ok guys scratch the purebred red angus thing. I just found out different info on this situation. The guy has two cows as follows:

Cows 7/8 Simmital 1/8 Angus
Calves out of purebred black angus
Calves born May07 (females)
Not Bred back

He is trying to get rid of all because he just wants steers for the freezer and doesn't want to deal with them (cows and calving) in the winter

So now my question, what are simmetals like?

Does this change the deal? Purebred registered(future $)or cow calf(quicker $)?

We are looking at them tomorrow.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Angus Guy]

Go with the pairs.

 

[Sir Loin]

Short and sweet
The demand today is for quality beef vs cheap and that is Black Angus.
See: http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38995

And you can add Applebee's to McDonalds, Wendy's, Hardies and Bi-Los etc etc

Your daughter will have a lot less trouble with marketing as the advertising has already been done for her and she will get a higher price then the others because of it.
SL

 

[TheBullLady]

Simmentals are a great breed of cattle.. we've had them for almost 20 years. But if your daughter wants to get into purebred cattle, she's going to need some knowledge about what bloodlines are popular, EPD's, where her market is going to be etc. etc. Purebred breeders work very hard to market their cattle. If the cow is bred to a popular AI bull, she may be able to make some $$ on a calf, but it's not usually that easy.

 

[MistyMorning]

Thanks all, we are going to look at them tomorrow. Doesn't mean she will buy yet. She is pretty thrifty especially with that kind of money. Thanks BullLady, now I know how to spell Simmentals!

 

[3waycross]

I'd go with the pairs. Too bad they aren't bred back.

Could be whatever you buy could be at a disadvantage with those other horned cattle.

 

[sedrick_hall]

If she really wants to bank money for college, I would put the money in a good growth mutual fund, one with a 10% avg. rate of return for the past 10 years.

 

[alabama]

If she really wants to bank money for college, I would put the money in a good growth mutual fund, one with a 10% avg. rate of return for the past 10 years.

As small as y'all sound in the cattle business I would put the money in a CD and not take a chance on cattle.

 

[MistyMorning]

Thanks all for the input. I want to agree with the investment advice myself, but this hopefully will make her some money as well as being a good life lesson. This will be her second cow calf pair. She can only afford one of the set.

We took a look at them yesterday, and they all appear to be very healthy, well taken care of animals. They are 7/8 Simmentals 1/8 angus(cows) Weight around 1100 to 1200 lbs. the calves are out of an angus.(born May 07) My vet did the AI on them. One is a little bit larger then the other and she has the bigger calf which is about a month younger than the other. A neighbor is going to look at them tomorrow to give us another opinion. Don't have a good enough camera to get you a photo.

Heres another question on this. If we do decide to get one pair, do they need to be kept from our herd for a time or can they be put right in with the rest?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Have a great evening!

 

[Brute 23]

If she really wants to bank money for college, I would put the money in a good growth mutual fund, one with a 10% avg. rate of return for the past 10 years.

:nod:

 

[Keren]

Thanks all for the input. I want to agree with the investment advice myself, but this hopefully will make her some money as well as being a good life lesson. This will be her second cow calf pair. She can only afford one of the set.

We took a look at them yesterday, and they all appear to be very healthy, well taken care of animals. They are 7/8 Simmentals 1/8 angus(cows) Weight around 1100 to 1200 lbs. the calves are out of an angus.(born May 07) My vet did the AI on them. One is a little bit larger then the other and she has the bigger calf which is about a month younger than the other. A neighbor is going to look at them tomorrow to give us another opinion. Don't have a good enough camera to get you a photo.

Heres another question on this. If we do decide to get one pair, do they need to be kept from our herd for a time or can they be put right in with the rest?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Have a great evening!

I would say, unless you and your daughter have a registered Highland herd, and a particular interest in the breed then go with the pair.

Regardless of breed, if I were choosing between a single or a pair (or 3n1) the pair will always win.

That is of course, provided structural soundness etc is there.

Re: do they need to be kept away from the herd? I quarrantine all new animals on the property for 4 - 6 weeks, during which they get treated for internal/external parasites, and closely monitored for any problems. This is so I dont introduce any nasties into the main herd. However, this is completely up to you.

 

[OhioRiver]

is there really a chance to make better ave return with angus?

If she really wants to bank money for college, I would put the money in a good growth mutual fund, one with a 10% avg. rate of return for the past 10 years.

As small as y'all sound in the cattle business I would put the money in a CD and not take a chance on cattle.