It just amazes me !

[Joy in Texas]

Went to the sale barn in Karnes City saturday. And yes everything is high. But I bought 2 heifers anyway. I'll take pictures today and post them later.
Why do baby calves sell so high ? I mean the calves that are a day or so old. A one day old calf came out and it sold for 285.00. I don't get it. Most of these calves are not going to make it. The only ones that sold for35.00- 45.00 a head was 4 jersey bull calves. Other than the jersey nothing sold for less than 247.00.

 

[mnmtranching]

That is amazing, the price of milk replacer and calf feed.

Must be a lot of competition for baby calves down there.

Day old Holstein bulls here are 125 to 150.
Heifers are at least double the price.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Most of these calves are not going to make it. The only ones that sold for35.00- 45.00 a head was 4 jersey bull calves.

Somebody fed momma for 280 days and delivered a live calf. Unless they looked sick or something, if you move them to the right environement, throw vaccs and a bag of replacer into them, with a little luck you have a decent calf in 6 months.

Depends on the feed you have on hand how much profit there is in it, depending on what weight you sell em at. And your husbandry skills with young cattle.

Here's a link to a poll I did a while back Joy, thought it might interest you.

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic. ... =mortality

ALX

 

[Lammie]

We were at the sale barn yesterday. Didn't stay to see the babies sell. We were looking at the odd assortment of other animals. Two ponies, two llamas, some really ugly Longhorns that had their horn tips removed, and about a million goats.

I am telling you, goats are a big deal around here. I saw some of them sell for 90 bucks. Quite a few. Makes me wonder.

None of the babies looked real good. Most were all Holstein bull calves. Had to pick them up to get them to move. They had some really nice looking cow/calf pairs that I am sure would be split. Weaned calves looked good, too. We just weren't prepared to take anything home. And I had a crick in my neck and just didnt feel like messing with it.

It was dinner and a show. Grilled cheese sandwich at the salebarn.

I have all the fun dates! :heart:

 

[suscofa]

I see them in the paper all the time for around $50-$75. Great weed eaters but you better have understanding neighbors.

 

[*Cowgirl*]

90 dollars for goats??? They sale around here for 150-200 dollars a piece and if they are registered stock ive seen em sale for upwards of 4000 dollars. There is a guy near me that bought a registered boer buck for that much and resold some of his off spring bucks and does for thousands of dollars.

No kidding. Goats are a huge market around here.

 

[Limomike]

As I have said before.. Goats are the # 1 meat that is consumed in the whole world. That is a fact.

 

[Joy in Texas]

That is amazing, the price of milk replacer and calf feed.

Must be a lot of competition for baby calves down there.

Day old Holstein bulls here are 125 to 150.
Heifers are at least double the price.

Milk replacer that I use went up. The last time I bought a bag was 76.00 and they said it would be going up again. Thats about what holsteins are costing here. It's mainly the beef breeds that cost out the wazoo.

 

[Joy in Texas]

Most of these calves are not going to make it. The only ones that sold for35.00- 45.00 a head was 4 jersey bull calves.

Somebody fed momma for 280 days and delivered a live calf. Unless they looked sick or something, if you move them to the right environement, throw vaccs and a bag of replacer into them, with a little luck you have a decent calf in 6 months.

Depends on the feed you have on hand how much profit there is in it, depending on what weight you sell em at. And your husbandry skills with young cattle.

Here's a link to a poll I did a while back Joy, thought it might interest you.

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic. ... =mortality

ALX

Thanks ALX, it was an interesting read. But I still don't see paying those prices for a day old or so calf. It's not for a fact, but I would say some of those calves never had colostrum. For the simple reason,most calves are separated upon delivery to the barn. Then spent 24 plus hrs with no food or water.
By the time they are bought and you get them home it's way to late for colostrum. So I guess you would load them up on meds.
Anyway, by the time someone spends all that money for a bottle calf and what ever else to keep it going the first few days.Plus all the time that goes into messing with one. I don't see alot of profit being made.
I myself would rather spend a 100 or so more and buy an older calf.

 

[Joy in Texas]

As I have said before.. Goats are the # 1 meat that is consumed in the whole world. That is a fact.

You are so right Mike. The first of the year we had a parent come and ask us about a show heifer. We told them to stop by and see what we had. After a couple of months we hadn't heard anything. So I called the lady. She apologized for the delay. But they decided to go into the goat business.
They went to Louisana with some friends to to a goat sale. One of the top billy goat sold for 45,000. She got to talking to the guy that bought it. He told her how to get started in goats. So she now has about a hundred nannies.
I was also told that alot of the 4-h kids here are showing goats. With the cost of the animal and the feed,goats are cheaper and more econominal.

 

[backhoeboogie]

The babies can be put on nurse cows. That is what I do anyway. I wouldn't pay that much tho.

Goats. Ah yes. Back in the 70's daddy used to go down down south of here about 100 miles to goat country and buy a trailer full cheap. I hated it. We would stuff the worm pill applicator down their throat and worm them. We give them pennicilin and meds. By then we stunk something fierce. He'd turn them loose in pastures that had already been grazed down. The goats would clean up everything. Excellent weed control plus take out all the brush as high as they could reach. A few months later we'd load them all back up and haul them to Fort Worth. They were nice and fat. They'd sell at good profits every time.

 

[Lammie]

90 dollars for goats??? They sale around here for 150-200 dollars a piece and if they are registered stock ive seen em sale for upwards of 4000 dollars. There is a guy near me that bought a registered boer buck for that much and resold some of his off spring bucks and does for thousands of dollars.

Gotta remember, we are at the sale barn, so we aren't talking about just goat sales. I think it's getting bigger and bigger, though. I though 90 bucks for one little old goat was a lot. It has been steadily going up in the past two or three years. Parking lots full of little make shift trailers they haul in.

 

[Limomike]

As I have said before.. Goats are the # 1 meat that is consumed in the whole world. That is a fact.

You are so right Mike. The first of the year we had a parent come and ask us about a show heifer. We told them to stop by and see what we had. After a couple of months we hadn't heard anything. So I called the lady. She apologized for the delay. But they decided to go into the goat business.
They went to Louisana with some friends to to a goat sale. One of the top billy goat sold for 45,000. She got to talking to the guy that bought it. He told her how to get started in goats. So she now has about a hundred nannies.
I was also told that alot of the 4-h kids here are showing goats. With the cost of the animal and the feed,goats are cheaper and more econominal.

Joy, thats true. I had a neighbor who had been a cattleman most of his life, and when he got older, he sold out his cattle (which I bought a few of them) And he got into the goat business. Only hassle with those goats was having to worm them about once every 2-3 months. Other than that, they are extremely economical.

 

[Misty]

As I have said before.. Goats are the # 1 meat that is consumed in the whole world. That is a fact.

They import millions of pounds of goat meat every month into the US. It is quite tasty. I like to butcher one, bone it, throw the meat in a cooler with some ginger/water to soak, then cook in a big roaster on about 250 with some onion, garlic, salt, pepper and green peppers. YUMMMMMM.
Misty

 

[zendog]

I have raised goats on my hobby farm for three years and am starting to raise cattle. For for cattle interested in goats, here are some things to think about:

Goats are easy to raise and easy to handle. The usually have twins or tripplets. They are friendly, affectionate and it doesn't hurt when they step on your feet. You need to trim their hooves and dehorn them but when was the last time you put your arms around your herford and picked it up.

With cattle the fence has to be good enough to keep the cow in. With goats, the fence has to be good enough to keep the coyote out.

The distinction between meat goats (boers) and milk goats is greater than the distinction between milk cows and beef cows. I raise 3 milk goats and one buck. Bucks stink in season but does smell no worse than cows. I get all the milk, butter, cheese I can consume and have about a gallon of milk per day excess for chicken and pig feed, but I am tied down just like any dairy farmer. There is no legal market for goat milk. In my state there is a $20,000 fine for selling goat milk.

the booming market in my state is for goat meat but it is somewhat an underground market. You can not buy goat meet in the local supermarket but Mexicans and immigrent middle easterners want it if you can find a way to sell to them. Marketing the product is a big part of raising goats for meat. A local slaughter house near me caters to mideasterners who sacrafice goats in religious ceremonies. I, personally, can not eat goat meat -- it would be like eating my dog -- but my sister says something to the effect that, "tastes like chicken." Hmmm.

A purebreed, quality milk goat is $125 to $250. Males are less. I have been known to give away kid bucks and weathers.

The meat goat market is emerging. It is something of a fad or bubble market right now. I have seen some outrageous prices for herd sires but when herd sizes are so large that meat sales are the source of income rather than breeding stock, I presume the price will be smaller.

Show goats of any breed is, like show animals of any species, not a commodity market. Prices are, in my opinion, completely artificial, like the whole llama alpaca deal.

 

[cowpunk'd]

Around here (Vancouver Island, B.C Canada) day old calves (holsteins) have no value, not even $5. Some farmers will give them away and I don't know what happens to the rest. Twenty years ago they were worth up to $150 each.

 

[flrooster]

here in fl it is also illegal to sell goats milk for human consumption.we clearly state ours is for animal use only{dog feed} and havent had any problems .got 6 bucks a gal. last year,dont know what it brings now. got divorced from my wife and her goats.sure miss the goats. :lol: :lol:

 

[dcara]

An old saying from these boards (don't remember who said it tho)

"In Texas you raise goats for money and cattle for respect"