first cows

[aquajon]

i bought 4 of theses guys unknowing what they are. i am new to the cattle raising. i knew i wanted some steers to raise and fatten up this winter and steers they are but as far as breed i am not sure. they seem small they are only about 36 tall to the front shoulder. and as far as age i am guessing less then a yr since there ear tags are labeled 07 with a # any help would be great thanks..

hope these photos help

 

[Frankie]

Oh, my. :shock: You are going to need a lot of help. Try this site:

http://www.basicrancher.com/

 

[MikeC]

i bought 4 of theses guys unknowing what they are.

I'll tell you what they are in one word...........


MALNOURISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aquajon]

they are improved from when i got them, i thought maybe they were just small. i have been feeding them about 20lbs or so of cattle chow every other day and they eat a bale of hay over the course of 3 days or so. they also of course are grazeing on the grass in the pasture.

 

[CPL]

Have you dewormed them yet? Might be a step in the right direction. Depending on your location in Florida you will probably want to deworm with Ivomec Plus to get any flukes.

 

[ROCKSPRINGS]

The person you bought these from needs to be in jail, they are in really bad shape. Good luck with them. Don't be afraid to ask any questions.

 

[Sir Loin]

Re:

I'll tell you what they are in one word...........
MALNOURISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My word would be "CULLS".
IMO he bought someone's culls.
Most likely all 4 were born runts and will never make a decent steer.
I wouldn't eat em!
SL

 

[hillsdown]

Sorry but I have to ask why you would buy something that looked like that?

You couldn't even sell something like that here they would be condemned and the owner would be facing criminal charges.

Poor things something is very wrong here.Even a Johne's cow doesn't look this emaciated.

 

[MikeC]

Those will make good "Before" and "After" pictures.

Call a vet to come and give them the full works, then feed them well. You won't lose too much on them...............

 

[milkmaid]

Those will make good "Before" and "After" pictures.

Ditto.

Feed them grain every day at about 2-3lbs/hd/day for starters, keep free choice hay in front of them, worm them, and then just wait. I'll bet they'll turn out alright once they get going, because you're going to get a LOT of compensatory growth. :shock: Pamper them a little and they'll be OK.

Best of luck!

 

[grubbie]

Absolutely criminal. Whoever you bought them from should be strung up.

 

[milkmaid]

Oh, and... this sounds very uncaring, but I've a favor to ask. I like pics for my "cow problems" folder. Could I ask you to get a side view of one of them from down on their level? they may or may not be bottle calves, but they look like underfed, potbellied bottle calves and it'd be a great addition to my folder. You can PM the pic to me if you'd rather not post it on the boards.

So you can see what my collection is like, a post I made awhile back of cow problems is here...
http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38923

 

[fourstates]

Good for you. Those are some real lucky cattle. You sure didn't start out the easy way.

I can't wait to see some pics in about 3 months.

 

[jvicars]

i have bought some small calves knowing they might have issues. my luck has been mixed. i still buy thin cows once and a while but its not for the faint of heart.

 

[TheBullLady]

Gosh, those calves are BAD. But obviously lucky since you've bought them and are feeding them now.

No doubt about it.. JERSEY crosses. Good luck!

 

[Frankie]

Do you think they could be minatures?

 

[Hippie Rancher]

aw they are thin and pot bellied, but their hides, ears and wapping tails look healthy enough. Cattle all over the world look like that don't take the comments too personally. Agree have a vet come give them the works jsut to be safe and feed 'em up. don't over grain them too fast - build up slowly - lots of advice on this site.

 

[CattleHand]

Can we get another picture? They look pretty bad in that first one but maybe they have shaped up. Get them vaccinated and such or else they dont stand a chance

 

[msscamp]

i bought 4 of theses guys unknowing what they are. i am new to the cattle raising. i knew i wanted some steers to raise and fatten up this winter and steers they are but as far as breed i am not sure. they seem small they are only about 36 tall to the front shoulder. and as far as age i am guessing less then a yr since there ear tags are labeled 07 with a # any help would be great thanks..

they look to me like Jersey cross, although I don't know what the cross is. Also looks to me like they need some serious feed! I know that is not your fault - but I would caution you to be careful how much grain/high protein hay you feed them. In cases like this, too much is just as bad - if not worse - than not enough. Start them out slow, and build them up slow. Provide moderate quality grass hay/pasture free choice all the while.

 

[jvicars]

dont take the comments here to hard. this is a great place to learn and keep from making more mistakes. i think i know where you purchased those since i am in your area. i have purchased a few thins ones from the same place and had luck getting weight put on them. as mentioned you need to get them wormed asap and watch for mucus from the noise. I had a few that I had to dose with LA 200.

The big I mistake I made is taking lightly the advice of getting facilities to treat them. I thought I had ok working pens etc until I need to treat a wild sick cow I purchased.

Then i realized the errors I had made and since I have corrected them. I ended up have to have a cowboy here rope her to give her injections.

Its a learning process for a newbie (like me as well). Expensive if you dont listen to what is written here.

good luck.