holsteins

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Beef11 said:
The big question is are you going to buy bred cows or slaughter animals that might be bred.


My Question is "How Will You Know What They are Mated Too" ???????
If the whole purpose of the project is to sell day/week old Holstein heifers.
e.g. Farmer Brown could be using a beef breed bull. :shock:
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What ever is cheap. If I spent over $500 it wouldn't be worth it. This is because of the chance the cow is breed beef, or everthing else in this post. If it was breed beef I would probably raise it on the cow with 2-3 more calves. It would probably make a huge nice feeder.
 
a 1500 pound holstein is going to cost more than $500 @ .40 you will have to buy all the small ugly open ones if you want to stay under $500. Seems being bred beef is better than being bred holstein and having a bull calf.
 
1500# x .40 = $600 still very profitable. Plus more beef to sell at the end. I would stay to bred cows that are under weight, but either way would work for me. Holstein bull calves get good money. $200 at birth 1.20 at #300. If that is the down side it won't keep me away.
 
auctionboy":3erp1zen said:
1500# x .40 = $600 still very profitable. Plus more beef to sell at the end. I would stay to bred cows that are under weight, but either way would work for me. Holstein bull calves get good money. $200 at birth 1.20 at #300. If that is the down side it won't keep me away.
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I have to say Auctionboy, I have been to auctions within the last two days, and I have yet to see a holstein cow go for .40/lb if she is able to have a calf. The ones that were going that cheap, could barely walk, had bad legs, or they only had one quarter, and at best that was drying up too. The lowest price I saw on a #1300 grade holstein cow was .74/lb.
 
ive sat here an watched this post quiet awhile.an i dont care where you are new york minn wisc new mexica ca where.plain open or bred holstein cows arnt cheap.around here the fresh lowend cows an heifers sale for $800 to 1200.bred cows 800 to 1500.so its 1 big gamble thowing dice betting on hol heifer calves.nothing is cheap no way.ive spent all my life buying dary cattle an i know what im talking bout.
 
.40 was a kill price someone else listed. I began this post to see what others have done, not to argue prices with people 1000 miles away. Everyone has a right to there opinion, but the same stupid arguements keep coming up. I want to type about something else.
 
I have to say Auctionboy, I have been to auctions within the last two days, and I have yet to see a holstein cow go for .40/lb if she is able to have a calf. The ones that were going that cheap, could barely walk, had bad legs, or they only had one quarter, and at best that was drying up too. The lowest price I saw on a #1300 grade holstein cow was .74/lb.
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I still can't figure the idea is to buy cull steins and hope their bred or buy breds and hope they have a calf. I have seen steins go for meat around here for .40-.48 the cheap ones have pretty serious issues. In that price range you have no idea about reproductive status. Most will be open. If you are going to buy bred holsteins i think you will be on the losing end if you send them for slaughter.

I am going to buy 75 holsteins this summer. All bred and i figure i'll just buy ones that are carrying heifers as well. It seems that i can use that method to build up a herd rather quickly.
 
If you where trying to go dairy, Which I remember you say in the past. I think it would be a great idea to do something like this. Just keep your milking stock and the culls well seperated.
 
How can you not milk a holstein :???: . Unless you have a bunch of other calves and need a nurse cow its not a great idea. Holsteins give at least 80 lbs. a day, Its bad if you dont milk them out at least twice a day every day. I have a hard time seeing this working out at all. Talk about a mess.
 
Holseins milk atleast #80 a day? I am not against geting some milk cows, but atleast #80. Nurse cows good to me but this guy has no idea when you cut out the silage and a lot of the supplement. This thread is not about peak production.
 
I think he was addressing the problems with drying off heavy milkers. Not peak production. And I've read there are producers getting 50# a day with just grazing. But hey you've got it fingered out for you so....................dig in and gopher it.
 
The problem with holsteins for beef cows is they dont hold their body weight to breed back when raising a calf alot of the time. But we are not talking about that kind of cow, here. We are talking about a cull holstein to get a high dollar holstein heifer calf and then pounding her out to get most of you investment out of and make a very good profit on the calf.
 
stocky":1108q2xm said:
....cull holstein... to get a high dollar holstein heifer calf and then pounding her out to get most of you investment out of and make a very good profit on the calf.
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Right from the get go your going in the wrong direction -- if its a "cull", then you don't want to be reproducing from it. Thus, calves that are produced, won't be good quality, and if you sell crappy stock, word gets around -- you won't be in business long.
 
Nope, mastitas, limping, stifled, or even 3 quartered cows have nothing to do with genetics. These are mature cows that have the genetics or they wouldnt have been producing this long. We have a different definition of "cull" cows. The cows that have poor genetics but look good bring way too much money to buy for this type of money maker. Mature cows that are sold because of physical problems will sell for slaughter and these are the cows that you buy for this purpose. Also, because of the tighter somatic cell count regulations, many people do not give alot of money for 6 year old and older dairy cows, so when they have a physical defect, they get knocked down to slaughter price.
 
If the cull is old or has bad legs or is 3 teated it can still have a good calf. Also one mans cull could be another mans best cow. I would mind feeding some grain and taking advantage of that milk supply with some additional calves. Also a dry cow on good pasture would gain for sure.
 
Dairy cows going through the auction with the "cull cows" at slaughter price have one or more of the following things wrong with them...(in probable order of frequency)

1) open and/or infertile
2) not producing enough milk
3) mastitis, usually chronic
4) lame
5) "something else" - Johnes, hernias, past prolapse, bad attitude, etc, etc

I sat at the auction a few weeks back and watched cows going through. I recognized a few of them, believe it or not. Four cows from a neighboring dairy; had talked with the fellow not long before and knew why they were there as he'd pointed them out to me as they went through the milking barn. One was a first lactation cow - been serviced a dozen times and wouldn't take. One had a high SCC and mastitis. Then I saw a cow go through that I saw at my vet's clinic about 3 weeks prior; she'd been there for surgery to correct a displaced abomasum. Was it obvious to the folks around me?...I think not.

There was a "know-it-all" fellow behind me that needed a serious class in dairy cows - he had to comment on every cow that walked through the ring and I knew for sure that he was wrong on a significant portion of them, because I knew the cows. He missed the cow with the DA completely - pegged her as one with a "high SCC" - oh the willpower necessary to keep from laughing. :lol: ;-)
 
auctionboy":3w0g50a7 said:
Also one mans cull could be another mans best cow.
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I won't argue with that. That's where all my personal nurse cows came from. Open too many times, not producing enough milk, foot rot, etc.........BUT, I did not and would not risk picking up one of those cull cows from the auction and turning her into a nurse cow. I knew what was wrong with every last one of my cows before I brought them home, and they came straight from the dairy to my barn.

I remember my boss sent a cow to the auction a few years ago - cow had a hernia through the abdominal wall that developed overnight. Cow quit eating and drinking and obviously wasn't going to live long. Coincidently, by the time she went through the auction, she hadn't eaten in long enough that the hernia was no longer visible. The fellows in there buying up cull cows (for slaughter) paid $600 for her. She looked perfectly fine - but you can't tell anything by looking!
 
Do the cows get preg tested at other auctions? I believe it when I'm told bred. Thank you milkmaid those were great points.
 
milkmaid":3fccgxmz said:
Dairy cows going through the auction with the "cull cows" at slaughter price have one or more of the following things wrong with them...(in probable order of frequency)

1) open and/or infertile
2) not producing enough milk
3) mastitis, usually chronic
4) lame
5) "something else" - Johnes, hernias, past prolapse, bad attitude, etc, etc

I sat at the auction a few weeks back and watched cows going through. I recognized a few of them, believe it or not. Four cows from a neighboring dairy; had talked with the fellow not long before and knew why they were there as he'd pointed them out to me as they went through the milking barn. One was a first lactation cow - been serviced a dozen times and wouldn't take. One had a high SCC and mastitis. Then I saw a cow go through that I saw at my vet's clinic about 3 weeks prior; she'd been there for surgery to correct a displaced abomasum. Was it obvious to the folks around me?...I think not.

There was a "know-it-all" fellow behind me that needed a serious class in dairy cows - he had to comment on every cow that walked through the ring and I knew for sure that he was wrong on a significant portion of them, because I knew the cows. He missed the cow with the DA completely - pegged her as one with a "high SCC" - oh the willpower necessary to keep from laughing. :lol: ;-)
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WELL SAID!
 

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