DESERVED REST

[Brandonm22]

If you want to rebreed a ten year old open cow, given what calf prices are now, I don't think that is a bad risk. She is cheaper than buying and developing a heifer and in all likelihood she will be the first cow bred when the bull is turned in (be sure she gets all her shots this time around). Now for letting cows die on the place.......don't do it. We had a land speculator who let us take care of his handful of cows in exchange for us being able to lease his 110 acres......his neglected cows were always crossing the fence for our minerals and hay before the deal anyway. You could never talk him in to culling a cow. Even when she stopped having calves it was always........I am "going to let her die on the place." The unfortunate reality is cows' teeth wear out, they eventually get where they move with great difficulty. It is difficult to watch one suffer when you could have/should have ended it all with a trip to the stockyard. I probably dragged the whole sorry situation out longer by letting the old decrepit cows get a week ahead of the rest of the cows in the pasture rotation, tossing square bales out to them when they were too poor to come up and compete at the round bale rings, and barning them with corn and sweet feed when they needed a couple of weeks to recover condition (of course I would also have been the one facing animal cruelty charges if I let them starve I am sure). My point is when a cow clearly has no teeth left, is visibly lame, is two body condition scores lower than the rest of the herd, and/or is really struggling to get up and get around.....get rid of her. You are not doing her any favors by prolonging the suffering and in the wild the wolves would have taken her down before she got that bad off anyway. My Grandfather has taken cows all the way out to 22 years before (with them still having calves) by managing the old cows differently than the rest of the herd, but even then those cows usually ended up taking a ride to the stockyard.

 

[Keren]

Yep. Our old bull got to live happily under the tree even after he started firing blanks. He'd looked after us so we looked after him. The day he couldn't stand up was the day we sent him to the heifers in the sky. He'd been healthy, albeit slow and arthritic, but ultimately happy until that day.

I've also had some old goats that I've said could stay with me until they die ... and they did. One was 13, unfortunately she got really sick. SHe was a case of wanting to get one more daughter out of her ... so I tried to save her when I probably shouldn't have, the day I finally came to my senses and was going to put her down, she'd gone and done it for me. The next was 10, not as old in years but definitely showing her age more. She lay down in a shed, went to sleep and never woke up. That's how it should be. She'd done such a brilliant job for me, she deserved her retirement. Sadly she was a month away from delivering triplets (two girls ... groan). The third was not an old goat ... she was only around 2 yrs old. But she'd had complications from a caesar and was unproductive. Whereas every other animal I've let retire, it's been because they've produced well for me, with this girl it was purely sentiment. She was my first successful show goat, and just a real sweetheart. It was purely emotion, that made me keep her on after she couldn't breed anymore, she racked up $900 in vet bills for me, and needed a daily injection to keep her well. You probably think I'm an idiot for doing that. But I let her live out her very short life until her quality of life was no longer high, and then I had the vet put her down. I don't regret any of it. My goats are definitely a business but sometimes we have to just go with our emotions. Chicken soup for the soul and all.

 

[Suzie Q]

I agree Keren. My business is successful if I can do what I want to do, not do what I have to do.

I dont' know anything about goats, but if a cow has twins and one is a boy and one a heifer, then the extra testosterone in the womb means that the heifer will probably be sterile.

 

[dun]

I agree Keren. My business is successful if I can do what I want to do, not do what I have to do.

I dont' know anything about goats, but if a cow has twins and one is a boy and one a heifer, then the extra testosterone in the womb means that the heifer will probably be sterile.

That's sort of how it works but not really. Search on here for freemartin, you'll find out everything you ever wanted to know and then some about them

 

[tripleBfarms]

I would say it would depend on a persons financial situation. If I can get $600-$800 for a cull cow, I've got to ship her. I've got kids to feed. If someone was better off financially, they might take the luxury of retiring an old friend. Each to his own.

 

[kenny thomas]

Had a slaughter cow bring $1,005 this week. She ain't gonna die here.

 

[curtis]

Had a slaughter cow bring $1,005 this week. She ain't gonna die here.

Same here Mr. Kenny, killer cow brought a little over $1000.00 at the sale barn on Tuesday.

Theres a lot of ways an old cow can rest. They can rest in the freezer, rest on the grill, rest in the sewer.

 

[Keren]

I agree Keren. My business is successful if I can do what I want to do, not do what I have to do.

I dont' know anything about goats, but if a cow has twins and one is a boy and one a heifer, then the extra testosterone in the womb means that the heifer will probably be sterile.

fwiw the freemartin concept doesn't really apply to goats (being a polyoestrus animal). I think I've explained the details before, as have many others. Like dun said, do a search if you want to find out more.

 

[Suzie Q]

LOL I trust you.

We do have the luxury of not having any children. That said, I might keep a cow when she is down to having a calf every 2 years. But we are really overstocked now, so they would go......... once the ground has dried out enough to get the truck out.

 

[hillbillycwo]

I agree old and unproductive it is time to go to the market. With that said, my wife saved a little heifer from freezing so now I know of one that will die on the place. Momma ain't happy no one is happy!

 

[BILL CLAYLAND]

Had a Goat named willy we did that with, when he was gone we sold his mate and I bought 2 weaned pigs, now there over 150 lbs each,, cant wait to butcher them.