Im ready, I think

[Beckett]

For the last 10 years ive been raiseing bottle babies. First year i started out with 2 holstiens. The next year i added a few more. I only kept them until the got to about 900 lbs then started over again. The next year i added a few more. same deal. Last summer i bottle raised almost 40 calves from bottle. The younger the better. I paid very little for some and the rest were givein to me by other farmers to show some sort of apprecaition or a trade for a favor. Also they have been many differant breeds. btw, Im a sucker for brown swiss. Ive made money every year. I kept 5 over this winter to sell later on. I think this year im gonna make the change and buy some pairs or 3 in 1's (2 or 3 cows) and start building something. I still have to figure out what breed to go with yet. i really do enjoy cattle. Its time to move foward. Im thinking of just starting with holsteins again or do you think i should go ahead and go with a beef breed?

Beckett

 

[Kingfisher]

Where will you keep the ' cows?" I like those little brown ones too!

 

[jerry27150]

bred holstein heifers always bring a good price

 

[Frankie]

For the last 10 years ive been raiseing bottle babies. First year i started out with 2 holstiens. The next year i added a few more. I only kept them until the got to about 900 lbs then started over again. The next year i added a few more. same deal. Last summer i bottle raised almost 40 calves from bottle. The younger the better. I paid very little for some and the rest were givein to me by other farmers to show some sort of apprecaition or a trade for a favor. Also they have been many differant breeds. btw, Im a sucker for brown swiss. Ive made money every year. I kept 5 over this winter to sell later on. I think this year im gonna make the change and buy some pairs or 3 in 1's (2 or 3 cows) and start building something. I still have to figure out what breed to go with yet. i really do enjoy cattle. Its time to move foward. Im thinking of just starting with holsteins again or do you think i should go ahead and go with a beef breed?

Beckett

If you're going to put some money into it and keep the cows as breeders, I'd bit the bullet and get a beef breed (Angus, of course ). Dairy cattle are bred to produce milk. They cost more to finish in the feedlot. They may be cheaper to buy, but if you're going to run the calves through the sale barn, you'll take a hit on the price you get for the calves. Plus, under range conditions, dairy cattle have a harder time keeping their condition to breed back for another calf. If you're going into the freezer beef business, I've read that Jersey's produce very good beef.

 

[shadyhollownj]

Is that true about jerseys. My neighbor told me that use to be the thing for freezer beef was a jersey/ hereford cross. I can actually get jersey calves for free and always considered it for freezer beef that I sell but I wasnt sure if it was true.

 

[Beckett]

I dont know if its true or not but i raised 4 jerseys last summer. It completely drove me nuts because i had a hard time just getting them to 450 lbs. Neighbor ended up buying them from and hes going to finish them for the freezer. Neighbor also said the same "there the best eating". just made me crazy feeding the heck of them and they just didnt grow as i thought they should. Everything else i raised surpased the jersey growth rate bigtime. I might try 3 more this spring and designate pasture just for them.

 

[hillsdown]

Where are you going to find 3 in one dairy cows Beckett ???? That might work well if you can use them as nurse cows and add some extra calves on them. The selling heifers part not so sure, how is your dairy industry doing now after the big drop in milk prices last year.

 

[MoGal]

We have a few holsteins and cross them to beef breeds. For the last 4 years we've been keeping the heifers out of them and cross them again to a beef breed.
1/4 holstein, 1/4 angus and 1/2 another english breed makes a good momma cow. The hubby always bred the holsteins to angus before we married. There isn't a hit on them at the salebarn like some think there is. Sure, those gals are going to put legs on a calf but I am not interested in lowlines so it doesn't bother me.

The 1/2 holstein, 1/2 angus cows are 1400 to 1525 pounds (majority of them), but then again, that doesn't bother me. Cross them to another english breed and you'll shave off another 100 lbs in their weight.
Most of the time you will get a solid black calf. I have never researched it, but in my opinion only, the holstein brings consistency and growth to the table. Our calves are consistent in size and growth, so it makes for a more uniform group when selling.

The hubby likes holsteins so I've learned to work with them or should I say incorporate them into the herd. Do a google search and you'll find holsteins consistently grade choice so I'm hopeful that by my choice of english breeds we are adding tenderness and marbling. To me, its important to be raising beef that will taste good to the consumer. That should be our goal.

As for the "funnel butts" (this board is famous for), I got over that too. Besides, there's only one left side and one right side rump and when we butcher one, we have it ground up with the hamburger (I get my roasts off the front end). The size of the rump doesn't make it grade higher, doesn't mean it has more marbling and doesn't mean it is more tender. Would it be nice if they had a limo or charolais butt, yes, but after a while you learn to not sweat the small stuff.

For those that mentioned jerseys, you can do a google search on "jersey marbling" and you'll find numerous studies on it. They marble behind wagu but their growth is a deterrent (much like wagu or is it spelled waygu) however, for those who sell direct to the consumer probably if you got your calf down to 1/4 jersey and 3/4 good beef stock you'd have well marbled meat.

You have to raise what is best for you that you enjoy looking at, feeding and taking care of. You can get 100 different responses telling you a 100 different breeds but first figure out what you're going to do with the calves (sell at weaning, fatten and butcher, etc......) then get what fits in your environment and your management.

 

[regolith]

Where are you going to find 3 in one dairy cows Beckett ????

Good point - and what Holstein would you want as a 'calf at foot, one inside'. You'd be looking for a 5-in one - three to feed. Just keep doing what you're doing but give the calves to the cow, two or three at a time, instead of bottle feeding.

Jersey crossed to beef I've seen some well-grown animals. The pure Jersey calves, compared to Holstein - they're born smaller, take forever to start mushrooming and never get big. The big advantage of the Jersey cow is they're easy to handle, docile, calve easily, don't eat much.
I don't know about your area, but someone who isn't dairying trying to sell homebred dairy heifers would take a big hit in price here.

Jerseys - my heifers would be 450 at about 12 months old. They need to be fed differently than the Holstein - Holstein will clean up rough pasture, Jerseys need to be offered clean, short pasture all the time or they simply won't eat it. If that can't be done by grazing management, I cut the long pasture with a mower to restore it if it gets out of hand.
My Brown Swissx calves are growing the best, but there aren't many straight Holstein-Friesians in the group to compare them with.