City Rancher
New member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2009
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Hi All,
New to the forum, joined to do some research on an idea I have.
This topic has been brought up before but the answers have been inconclusive so far.
Here is my idea: I have access to ½ acre to 1 acre of land. I would like to raise 3-4 beef cattle for my own meat and sell the rest. I want to buy them around 400 pounds when they have been weaned off their mothers. I would keep them approx. a year or so to get them up to 1000-1200 pound butchering weight. I would only feed them grass clippings from lawns in my local area (outside city of Los Angeles). In order to keep the small area where the cattle would be kept clean I would collect the waste and give it to neighbors for manure.
Could I support the bulk of the cows nutritional needs on lawn clippings? Bermuda, Ryegrass, Tall fescue, and Kentucky Bluegrass seem to be the most common types in my area. I live in a "horse property" area so it would be within zoning to keep a few cows.
This seems to be the ultimate in recycling, collecting waste lawn clippings for free feed, getting quality grass fed cattle (not that common out here) and using the manure for gardens etc.
Problems I foresee – Main problem would be any fertilizer/pesticides on the grass that were poisonous to the cattle. But keeping in mind most lawns here are watered 3-4 times a week, most of it should be washed off. At the same time, they spray vegetables and fruit with tons of pesticides and I eat them everyday.
Another problem is lawn clippings seem to start to rot very quickly, would this be harmful to the cattle if the grass had started to ferment? My plan would be to collect every day or two (the clippings could be a week old at this point) and spread out in the feeding area so what wasn't eaten right away had a chance to dry out.
From what I understand, most cattle in my area are sent to a feed lot at around 600 pounds and kept in less than clean conditions and fed less than quality foods for 3-4 months before being butchered.
So could feeding cattle grass clippings with some potential pesticides on it be worse than the low quality corn, cereal grains, chicken poop, etc. cattle are fed, of which none are their natural diet requiring the cattle to be shot with antibiotics to keep somewhat healthy?
Some questions:
I realize this question is area specific but is it reasonable to expect to pay $200-300 for a calf weaned from its mother and be able to sell a finished cow/steer for $1000-1500?
I am interested in what type of cattle people feel would be best? Easiest to handle, not too picky of eaters, good and quick weight gain.
Also, any other must have nutrients I should supplement with that the lawn clippings would not provide (if it is even felt they could survive on lawn clippings) Plenty of water and a salt lick would be provided.
So what does everyone think, could this be done???
New to the forum, joined to do some research on an idea I have.
This topic has been brought up before but the answers have been inconclusive so far.
Here is my idea: I have access to ½ acre to 1 acre of land. I would like to raise 3-4 beef cattle for my own meat and sell the rest. I want to buy them around 400 pounds when they have been weaned off their mothers. I would keep them approx. a year or so to get them up to 1000-1200 pound butchering weight. I would only feed them grass clippings from lawns in my local area (outside city of Los Angeles). In order to keep the small area where the cattle would be kept clean I would collect the waste and give it to neighbors for manure.
Could I support the bulk of the cows nutritional needs on lawn clippings? Bermuda, Ryegrass, Tall fescue, and Kentucky Bluegrass seem to be the most common types in my area. I live in a "horse property" area so it would be within zoning to keep a few cows.
This seems to be the ultimate in recycling, collecting waste lawn clippings for free feed, getting quality grass fed cattle (not that common out here) and using the manure for gardens etc.
Problems I foresee – Main problem would be any fertilizer/pesticides on the grass that were poisonous to the cattle. But keeping in mind most lawns here are watered 3-4 times a week, most of it should be washed off. At the same time, they spray vegetables and fruit with tons of pesticides and I eat them everyday.
Another problem is lawn clippings seem to start to rot very quickly, would this be harmful to the cattle if the grass had started to ferment? My plan would be to collect every day or two (the clippings could be a week old at this point) and spread out in the feeding area so what wasn't eaten right away had a chance to dry out.
From what I understand, most cattle in my area are sent to a feed lot at around 600 pounds and kept in less than clean conditions and fed less than quality foods for 3-4 months before being butchered.
So could feeding cattle grass clippings with some potential pesticides on it be worse than the low quality corn, cereal grains, chicken poop, etc. cattle are fed, of which none are their natural diet requiring the cattle to be shot with antibiotics to keep somewhat healthy?
Some questions:
I realize this question is area specific but is it reasonable to expect to pay $200-300 for a calf weaned from its mother and be able to sell a finished cow/steer for $1000-1500?
I am interested in what type of cattle people feel would be best? Easiest to handle, not too picky of eaters, good and quick weight gain.
Also, any other must have nutrients I should supplement with that the lawn clippings would not provide (if it is even felt they could survive on lawn clippings) Plenty of water and a salt lick would be provided.
So what does everyone think, could this be done???
