Holsteins

[Dixieangus]

I see them come through the sell every now and then for pretty cheap and i know they are thin and wore out but could you take them dry them up if they arent already and givem some good feed and them breed them to say a angus bull... I guess the question is could you get them to breed and them raise a good calf for you with all that milk..... Just a thought

 

[dun]

When a Holstein cow goes through a sale barn you can bet there is an underlying problem. Chronic mastitis, failure to breed are the first 2 that come to mind. Stear clear of them unless you can get an accurate history on them.

 

[Dixieangus]

Where would you suggest looking for say one or two girls that arent wore completly out but not one of those 1200 dollar ones

 

[dun]

From someone that has kept a cow for just home milk

 

[bird dog]

I have one about 7 or 8 years old that I bought a few years back that was 5 months bred for $590. She is a smaller cow that is apparently crossed with something, maybe a long horn. She raises a good good calf and if it is solid colored will bring about the same as the rest. She does milk out well and the calves grow quick. Two things I have learned is to breed her to angus as you mentioned to get solid black calves. The other is the calves rapid growth seems to play out when they get 6-7 months of age and need to be sold then. They don't seem to grow as well as the others after weaning. I doubt if you can get them cheap enough at this time with the current price of slaughter cows.

 

[piedmontese]

if u do get one and breed her there is a good chance that 1 calf would not b able to keep up with her milk output,even a wore out milk cow is going 2 give more milk than 1 calf needs.