gman4691
Well-known member
Exactly
How did you get into cattle business?
- Thread starter Jeanne - Simme Valley
- Start date
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Travlr
Well-known member
I'm not any kind of beaver (dam) expert, but if they plugged the spillway wouldn't they also plug any kind of drainage over the rest of the dam? I mean, I know it has to have an outlet but don't beaver adapt to those things and make sure their dams don't force erosion so their ponds go dry?
gman4691
Well-known member
Don't know much about that but I do know the construction on the spillway absolutely had to come down…if they want to build somewhere that doesn't cause undue risk to the earthen dam, they are welcome to it…but the location they are so persistent on now is a non-starter…it has to go and that's non-negotiable..might be better explained with pics but I haven't been taking any
Travlr
Well-known member
Yeah, I know the priority is the dam. Still don't like killing them if they could be useful somewhere else. Just floating ideas...
gman4691
Well-known member
On the other hand, only fed cows down in the pasture today and tore down the the rest of the beavers' work…then blew the leaves off of our roof and mom's roof and cut them all up with the zero-turn…yards look much better
gman4691
Well-known member
I have a friend who does 19th century re-enactment stuff (mountain man, frontier man, etc.). If I can retrieve them when either trapped or shot, I'll give them to him…he will tan the hides and make hats or something with them
Travlr
Well-known member
Have you ever tried roasting a tail? I've heard it's really good... and I've heard it's really bad. I'd try it just to find out.
gman4691
Well-known member
Just got off the phone with our local VFD. They are eager to assist with burning off the giant brush pile from cutting up downed trees over the last several years and burning off the back pasture that I just finished mowing. No charge but they ask for a donation if you are able (I will give them a good one). A good burn would do wonders for that back pasture. Not much in the way of fall-winter grass out there so the vast majority is dormant - probably won't take long to knock it out (just a matter of keeping it out of the surrounding woods). Going to meet with the guy tomorrow AM and show him the "targets". He seemed eager to assist. I suppose their guys can use it towards maintaining their certifications. I am pumped. There is a local outfit that will do it but they would probably charge alot more than I would be able to pay. This could turn out well for all parties involved. I'll let you know how it went...hopefully, we won't burn the place to the ground...lol. Fire it up!
We do a lot of prescribed burning in the parks...the park I manage is all wooded and those fires never get out of hand (so far). What I'd like these guys to burn is pretty clear so there's very little potential to cause a wildfire. I would burn the brush myself and probably could without incident but I don't have the equipment to handle things should it get out of hand. Just not that brave, I suppose. If these guys roll with a brush truck and a tanker, it can be done a lot safer for my taste.
We do a lot of prescribed burning in the parks...the park I manage is all wooded and those fires never get out of hand (so far). What I'd like these guys to burn is pretty clear so there's very little potential to cause a wildfire. I would burn the brush myself and probably could without incident but I don't have the equipment to handle things should it get out of hand. Just not that brave, I suppose. If these guys roll with a brush truck and a tanker, it can be done a lot safer for my taste.
gman4691
Well-known member
A couple of pics of the back 40. If you zoom in on the first two, you can the the woody stuff- most is dead from spraying last spring.
This one shows a portion of it after mowing:
Should burn off pretty clean.
This one shows a portion of it after mowing:
Should burn off pretty clean.
gman4691
Well-known member
Probably going to have to let it grow some to get a good burn.
Mark Reynolds
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a 60 mph breeze might do it!
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
I'm no beaver expert either. But I tried like heck to kill one the other night. Tough little boogers...
This thread has REALLY went off the rails by the way!
This thread has REALLY went off the rails by the way!
I pride myself in all the beaver I have caught over the years.
Dave
Well-known member
Beavers are about the easiest fur bearing critter there is to catch. I trapped a lot of them back in the 80's when was running a long line trap line. The best day I ever had was 12 in one day. Now days the fur is one step above useless. And trapping is easy but putting up the fur is a lot of time consuming work. I use to just do a quick job of skinning and toss the hide in the freezer until after trapping season. I had some dam the river up here. They were falling the trees along the river which took out the fence and landed in the hay field. I trapped 6 of them. Still had one doing damage. Took a lawn chair down to the river one evening. A 12 ga shotgun with 3 inch magnum #2 lead shot. No more than sat down and Mr Beaver swam by. One shot, no more beaver damage.
beefgirl
Well-known member
Enjoyed reading these so much I decided to go ahead and tell my story of how I got into cattle. I was always a horse girl and didn't even like cows. Went to a cow sale and thought I can make money on these. I had planned on buying some cheap weaned calves but ended up buying a black crossbred heifer. Went back the next week and bought a bull calf to keep her company. Sold the steer that fall and Kept the heifer. With the money I got for him I bought 2 more (beef) bottle heifers and a steer. Bred those 3 heifers when they were old enough to an angus bull and they all three had heifer calves. Kept those. Started to AI my cows. Culled hard for disposition, good feet and legs, and fertility. 7 years after starting I had the herd I wanted. Calves I sold would bring between middle and top prices. Ended up selling the whole herd in November. The pasture I was renting just wasn't working out. At least all my girls went together and they went to a good home. I might raise a few bottle calves or group some feeders but I will never get back into cow/calf pairs until I buy land of my own.
OP
OP
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Sorry you had to sell a herd you started from scratch.
beefgirl
Well-known member
Thank you. Me too.
chaneysranch
Member
I started with a dirt cheap Jersey cow that turned out to have a mummy calf. Later after My vet had looked her over.. said she was hamburger. She also had 2 bad teats. That was 14 years ago. I honestly cried. She was a very gentle cow, broke my heart.
I then went on to the bottle dairy bulls, that was a total nightmare. More scoured than lived, again a novice learned hard lessons there too.
7 years ago I went to Herefords, invested in good stock. Worked ok first 2 years and suddenly my cows were struggling to deliver. Bull was calm, gentle but had the huge head and shoulders. Went a year with no live calves. Finally I went with a Longhorn X Angus cross bull proccesed my big Hereford guy, 2180lb live weight. This year 3 live calves for 3!, 2 were bull calves. My health is poor, so we won't be keeping them much longer. I have a close friend That will take my herd, we a splitting cost 50/50.
Tell ya what, Hereford beef has been the best I've ever had. I've know this man since he was about 10, he's just hit 22. He's bottle fed cows, goats and cuddled so many ducklings and goslings.
Feel Very fortunate I'll be helping but not shouldering all the work myself anymore.
I then went on to the bottle dairy bulls, that was a total nightmare. More scoured than lived, again a novice learned hard lessons there too.
7 years ago I went to Herefords, invested in good stock. Worked ok first 2 years and suddenly my cows were struggling to deliver. Bull was calm, gentle but had the huge head and shoulders. Went a year with no live calves. Finally I went with a Longhorn X Angus cross bull proccesed my big Hereford guy, 2180lb live weight. This year 3 live calves for 3!, 2 were bull calves. My health is poor, so we won't be keeping them much longer. I have a close friend That will take my herd, we a splitting cost 50/50.
Tell ya what, Hereford beef has been the best I've ever had. I've know this man since he was about 10, he's just hit 22. He's bottle fed cows, goats and cuddled so many ducklings and goslings.
Feel Very fortunate I'll be helping but not shouldering all the work myself anymore.
Bob Kinford
Well-known member
Was raised in northern California, six miles from the nearest town. Dad was an electrician, but we were surrounded by small farms and ranches running sheep, and or Angora goats, and cattle. When I was five, the neighbors were doing something with the goats. Asked the old man what they were doing and he told me to go find out. After that I was there anytime I saw them doing anything with the animals. Parents would tell me to take a hike, just be home by dark, so my childhood was spent running around and joining in when people were doing anything with the animals. Before I was ten, I was wondering why sheep, goats, and horses grazed together but cattle scattered out. Never accepted the "thats what cattle do" answer.
In the beginning I wanted to just work on one ranch until I retired. Without the moving around I would have never had the mentors which kept me thinking and experimenting. Several mentors wouldn't tell me what to do, but ask me questions about how I did something, then ask me to figure out how I was doing it. This is why I sometimes answer a question with a question. The answer is right there in front of you IF (and only if) you think about it rather than grasping onto what you assume the answer is.
I got hooked on to grass management in the 70's and started following Savory's work. Other than the fences, it made sense to me. Through a lot of experimentation in different environments, I eventually figured out how to have cattle behave as the wild herds of herbivores do so that larger places can practice biologically correct grazing without adding fences.
Several things I've learned along the way are
1) Just because it was in a book, or taught in school doesn't necessarily mean its right.
2) More often than not we go through the motions of this profession without thinking about (or knowing) how we are doing things. When something goes wrong, the tendency is to blame the animal without wondering if their "wrong" behavior is a response to what we are doing.
3) Trying to learn stockmanship or horsemanship through videos, lectures and demonstrations is the worst way to learn. It takes exposure to the concepts through demonstration, then being walked through it, then doing it alone while being critiqued (in as close to actual working conditions as possible.)
4) We're only beginning to expose the tip of the iceberg of soil health and how we can influence it with grazing. Concerning how we can affect it by changing our livestock's behavior (without fences,) the iceberg is only beginning to come into view. There's a lot more to be discovered.
5) The most overlooked thing in grass management is plant succession. Learn how to distinguish when it is heading to, or away from the direction we want.
6) Never get complacent on your methods. There's always more to learn, and small changes you can make to get even better.
In the beginning I wanted to just work on one ranch until I retired. Without the moving around I would have never had the mentors which kept me thinking and experimenting. Several mentors wouldn't tell me what to do, but ask me questions about how I did something, then ask me to figure out how I was doing it. This is why I sometimes answer a question with a question. The answer is right there in front of you IF (and only if) you think about it rather than grasping onto what you assume the answer is.
I got hooked on to grass management in the 70's and started following Savory's work. Other than the fences, it made sense to me. Through a lot of experimentation in different environments, I eventually figured out how to have cattle behave as the wild herds of herbivores do so that larger places can practice biologically correct grazing without adding fences.
Several things I've learned along the way are
1) Just because it was in a book, or taught in school doesn't necessarily mean its right.
2) More often than not we go through the motions of this profession without thinking about (or knowing) how we are doing things. When something goes wrong, the tendency is to blame the animal without wondering if their "wrong" behavior is a response to what we are doing.
3) Trying to learn stockmanship or horsemanship through videos, lectures and demonstrations is the worst way to learn. It takes exposure to the concepts through demonstration, then being walked through it, then doing it alone while being critiqued (in as close to actual working conditions as possible.)
4) We're only beginning to expose the tip of the iceberg of soil health and how we can influence it with grazing. Concerning how we can affect it by changing our livestock's behavior (without fences,) the iceberg is only beginning to come into view. There's a lot more to be discovered.
5) The most overlooked thing in grass management is plant succession. Learn how to distinguish when it is heading to, or away from the direction we want.
6) Never get complacent on your methods. There's always more to learn, and small changes you can make to get even better.
