Implants

[Anonymous]

One last point. If you market 1000 head a year. And by implanting you can make another $25/hd. or even $10/hd. If you are in the business to make money, why would you leave 10-25 thousand dollars on the table? Think about it. I would call that "cutting your own throat" to borrow Rod's line.

 

[Anonymous]

if they would only stop & think about where eggs come from.

 

[Anonymous]

You mean hey don't come from a chill box in 12 packs?

dun

> if they would only stop &
> think about where eggs come from.

 

[Anonymous]

> One last point. If you market 1000
> head a year. And by implanting you
> can make another $25/hd. or even
> $10/hd. If you are in the business
> to make money, why would you leave
> 10-25 thousand dollars on the
> table? Think about it. I would
> call that "cutting your own > throat" to borrow Rod's line.

You got an apology from me. I gave you my perspective. I understand yours. The decision is totally yours!

 

[Anonymous]

I was looking at things online this week and came across some sites of vegetarians and vegans and their fight to get more to join their cause. They are some of the uninformed misfits around! their picture of our industry is completely backwards. The lies and false quotes they had were amazing to me!

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[Anonymous]

And propogated by the yellow press!

dun

> I was looking at things online
> this week and came across some
> sites of vegetarians and vegans
> and their fight to get more to
> join their cause. They are some of
> the uninformed misfits around!
> their picture of our industry is
> completely backwards. The lies and
> false quotes they had were amazing
> to me!

 

[Anonymous]

You have nothing to apologize for. Just a good discussion. Sorry if it seemed I was taking a shot at you. Thanks for posting! Good luck to you!

 

[Anonymous]

> Im not for implants not because of
> what it might do to me, but to my
> kids and there kids. All the facts
> are not in yet concerning long
> term efects.ok that said there was
> a news report some years ago that
> to this day I can,t forget. It
> concerned a consumer about to
> purtchase beef and the problems
> with sanitation in slaughter
> houses... You remember e-coli
> etc..Well I wouldn't purchase my
> beef from one of those places..Why
> not? There filthy.. Well where
> dose beef come from Brand X
> Store.You know there is really a
> part of the population that really
> dosn't know what a cow is or where
> it comes from..Think they care
> what they really eat..They only
> get concerned when the news points
> out something is wrong. I find it
> intresting!!! Cindy Again my
> thoughts..

I was riding with a neighbor (who came from El Paso) when she got real excited and told her boys to look at the flock of horses. It was a herd of cows!!! I was laughing so hard I was crying and couldnt breathe! She didn't know the difference between a horse and a cow and said she had never seen a pig either. I know she grew up in the city, But what about picture books?



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[Anonymous]

> I was riding with a neighbor (who
> came from El Paso) when she got
> real excited and told her boys to
> look at the flock of horses. It
> was a herd of cows!!! I was
> laughing so hard I was crying and
> couldnt breathe! She didn't know
> the difference between a horse and
> a cow and said she had never seen
> a pig either. I know she grew up
> in the city, But what about
> picture books?

Really something!!! LOL

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[A. delaGarza]

I'm very interested in implants, personally I implant at 6 months of age and sell my steers from 9-10 months old.

How many are couple of months for you? Maybe I can implant at 2 months an later at 5 and will sell my steers earlier.

implanting can definitely increase gain. we implant at a couple of months of age (only the steers), at the same time we give the first blackleg vaccinations. the results can definitely be seen at weaning. any show steers will be implanted again, except those for carcass shows. implants will increase yield but research has shown that implanted steers don't grade as well. others are welcome to agree or disagree.....

 

[A. delaGarza]

I'm very interested in implants, personally I implant at 6 months of age and sell my steers from 9-10 months old.

How many are couple of months for you? Maybe I can implant at 2 months an later at 5 and will sell my steers earlier.

implanting can definitely increase gain. we implant at a couple of months of age (only the steers), at the same time we give the first blackleg vaccinations. the results can definitely be seen at weaning. any show steers will be implanted again, except those for carcass shows. implants will increase yield but research has shown that implanted steers don't grade as well. others are welcome to agree or disagree.....

 

[txag]

we work our calves for the first time around 3-4 months of age. they get blackleg and a little dose of pour-on insecticide and the steers get an implant. we give a blackleg booster a couple of months later but do not give another implant because we sell at 7 months and probably wouldn't see the added benefit soon enough. only the steers being sold as show steers are given implants again and that is usually the day the kid picks up the calf. i would think if you're holding them until they're 9 to 10 months you could see the advantage yourself by giving a 2nd implant. *** Something to consider, if you're concerned about grading, research has shown that implants can lower quality grade (thus the reason we don't give 2nd implants to carcass steers).

 

[A. delaGarza]

At 7 months old I imagine you sell them to a feedlot. What is your average weight of sale, maybe it will be profitable to sell them at 7 too. I have my farm in N.E. Mexico (I live in McAllen,TX) and sell my steers to a friend 's feedlot in Laredo since 14 years ago.

we work our calves for the first time around 3-4 months of age. they get blackleg and a little dose of pour-on insecticide and the steers get an implant. we give a blackleg booster a couple of months later but do not give another implant because we sell at 7 months and probably wouldn't see the added benefit soon enough. only the steers being sold as show steers are given implants again and that is usually the day the kid picks up the calf. i would think if you're holding them until they're 9 to 10 months you could see the advantage yourself by giving a 2nd implant. *** Something to consider, if you're concerned about grading, research has shown that implants can lower quality grade (thus the reason we don't give 2nd implants to carcass steers).

 

[txag]

we sell them through the auction barn. we have a really good relationship w/the barn we use and sometimes they will run them through in groups but we've found running them one at a time averages out to about the same thing as selling as a group. our barn also separates the steers and bulls into 50 lb weight increments and will send out little slips to the seller with the top price per pound animal and the top total dollar animal in each category. by selling in groups we miss out on this list but as individuals, we frequently have at least one make the list. as for weights, i would say that the average is close to 650, but hard to say for sure (all our records are computerized & i can give you a more exact number but i'm on a different computer right now).

 

[A. delaGarza]

what I have just learn will help ,I will began, in 2004, with the use of implants at 3 months of age and see how they go for the first 3 months and then decide if I sell or reimplant. thank you for the advise

we sell them through the auction barn. we have a really good relationship w/the barn we use and sometimes they will run them through in groups but we've found running them one at a time averages out to about the same thing as selling as a group. our barn also separates the steers and bulls into 50 lb weight increments and will send out little slips to the seller with the top price per pound animal and the top total dollar animal in each category. by selling in groups we miss out on this list but as individuals, we frequently have at least one make the list. as for weights, i would say that the average is close to 650, but hard to say for sure (all our records are computerized & i can give you a more exact number but i'm on a different computer right now).

 

[jcarkie]

i implant steers a a couple of days or when i band them. at weaning i implant again if i am going to hold them for a couple of months or longer. usually i wean 60 days before selling. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

as i said, NO CREEP and we DO NOT feed the cows. they get mineral year-round and hay in the winter and that is all. we do fertilize and weed spray (which you may not approve of either, but i don't care to argue about) so we have very good pastures and grass. we do feed the bulls and heifer calves (AFTER WEANING) although most of our bull calves are sold before they're 18 mos old so we don't have to feed them very long. we usually wean in the fall and retain about 25 registered heifers and they are fed 100 lbs every other day until spring. if you call that a big feed bucket, i guess we do have one.

to use or not to use implants is a personal decision & you can weigh your ethical beliefs vs the weight gain & make a decision based on that. we will continue to use them.

i as well have weaned heavy calves ( salers and salers cross) In excess of 850# no creep, no cow feed, these calves are around 270 days. Sounds like our friend is an angus breeder to me.

 

[sillco]

> Give me some thoughts on
> implanting steers. I have been
> told it increases gain but have
> never done this before. Never
> really believed in steroids but am
> getting to the point were money is
> more important to me.

We used implants on 4-H market steers when our sons were still in the 4-H program. Our animals were not treated and fed as commercial cattle. They were fed and pampered to be competetive and successful at our county fair. One would quickly lose their shirt if they treated all their cattle like these were treated. While we did see some possible gain using steroids, one thing we found on the animals we butchered for our personal use was that in approximately 50% of the steers, there was extreme liver damage. Don't know for sure if it was from the steroids, additives in the feed, or from something else, but found this interesting enough that I would not consider using steroids on heifers that I planned to keep. I would be interested to know if anyone else has seen anything similar to this.

I have worked as a Meat Inspector at a harvesting plant and the cattle that were fed hoter feed ofen had bad livers. I don't think it is the implant.

 

[fit2btied]

Harry, thanks for the response. We still don't use implants on replacement cattle, but do use them on market animals of either sex.