Headed to the sale barn
- Thread starter blackladies
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kenny thomas
Well-known member
Are you hauling them in a day early?
Consider that if weighing 600 and they loose even 5% thats 30lb per calf. At $3 a lb thats $90 per calf. Looks like 8 calves so thats $720 lost. Weight loss gets serious when prices are this high.
Consider that if weighing 600 and they loose even 5% thats 30lb per calf. At $3 a lb thats $90 per calf. Looks like 8 calves so thats $720 lost. Weight loss gets serious when prices are this high.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Oh, and they look very good.
greybeard
Well-known member
I was wondering if they had sales on Sunday..
BC
Well-known member
Kenny, OP is in southwest Missouri. I bet they are selling at Joplin. Sale starts at 6 am tomorrow.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
SBMF 2015
Well-known member
The flip side of that is that with such high prices buyers are looking even harder for an excuse to discount cattle. The calves that are shrank out the most will sought after more.
Not saying they will bring the most gross dollars but they should.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
If they are announced as being brought in the day before i totally agree. I always check out the overnight pen to see if any of them match any orders i have.
wbvs58
Well-known member
Nice calves, they will do well for you.
At our weaner sales all calves have to be in by 7.00pm the evening before, no feed or water overnight and they all get weighed the following morning, sale starts at midday, 3500 calves. They are all on a level playing field re shrink and buyers know what they are getting and bid accordingly.
Ken
At our weaner sales all calves have to be in by 7.00pm the evening before, no feed or water overnight and they all get weighed the following morning, sale starts at midday, 3500 calves. They are all on a level playing field re shrink and buyers know what they are getting and bid accordingly.
Ken
Dave
Well-known member
If they are weaned and use to eating hay they can gain back any shrink. Not hard for 600 pound calf to eat and drink 30 pounds worth.
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
I like that!!
Double R Ranch
Well-known member
Looking forward to seeing how you do. We are getting ready to ship in a few weeks. Earlier than normal for us but it doesn't make sense to feed them longer with the prices how they are.
Back when we had a huge Saturday sale in this county...the largest cattle sale in north Ga... people would bring cattle in Thursday night, Friday, and Friday night, and this was viewed as a PLUS when they sold Saturday. They called it dry-lotting, and the auctioneer would actually announce how long they had been there. Dry-lotted cattle would bring a little more per pound that those loaded up and brought to the barn Saturday morning. A gallon of urine is 8 pounds, Dunno what a wet cow turd weighs, but I could see how a good crap or two would take 20 lbs or so off. So, I guess it made sense that a dry lotted cow would bring more er pound, I do remember that the pens they went to after they left the ring, had hay and water in them. so they didn't suffer all that long. Head cattle had hay and water in the pens that they went in after they were tagged in, as well.
Travlr
Well-known member
I've known of people that would bring animals in and they had a deal with the sale barn to restrict water and feed salted hay... and just before they were brought to the ring they were supplied with water. It was obvious to me and I'm sure others... but twenty pounds of water was being sold in a 500# calf.
blackladies
Well-known member
Hauling a day early, they are supposed to provide feed and water. If they get a chance to eat then I would think it would help. Will lose money to shrink but some would happen day of anyway. Would be interesting to know one vs the other. Weaned for over a month now.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Weaned helps a lot. I have been involved in a stockyard here for 30 years or more. We have weighed a lot of calves on Sunday night and compared the weight to when they sold on Monday after lunch. Always a loss.
I remember a big bull that lost 105 lb.
Being weaned they should sell very good.
So you're saying they should be brought in the same day as the sale?
I'm going to ship some an hour and 30 minutes away, I was going to ship them the day before and put in a feed/water pen... should I ship the same day? Weaned 100 days.
I'd think if they really have access to food and water they they will actually consume, I would be inclined to ship the day before.
I'm a bit hesitant to take day before for the reasons listed above. I like to arrive close to sale time. Probably some fault in that way too though.
Dave
Well-known member
Back when I was on the Washington coast I would ship 180 miles over the mountains to get a much better price. They had feeder special on Tuesday. I shipped weaned calves on Monday. Sale started at 6:00 pm on Tuesday. I spotted my calves at around 4:00 pm. They all had their heads in the feed bunk except 4 who were at the water trough. The calves sold real well.
Ring scale they get weighed as they sell. This was a group only sale, no singles. The ring is big enough to hold 50+ 500 pound calves. Steak feed at 5:00, sale start at 6:00. and they would sell 3,000 calves in about 4 hours.
Ring scale they get weighed as they sell. This was a group only sale, no singles. The ring is big enough to hold 50+ 500 pound calves. Steak feed at 5:00, sale start at 6:00. and they would sell 3,000 calves in about 4 hours.
