Jersey bull calves

[JHH]

Going to pick up a couple jersey bull calves tomorrow night. 50.00 each. sounds cheap ?

Girls wanted a bottle calf for the fair so I guess we will see. I will get pics and post them.

 

[KNERSIE]

You get jersey bullcalves for free here.... and there is good reason for that.

 

[regolith]

Depends what age they are.

I'm making $NZ5-10 on the veal truck for mine at 4 - 7 days. Bought xbreds before the truck got there for $35, only the Holstein and Holsteinxbeef calves make $NZ50 at that age.

Jersey bulls kept entire are in demand as yearlings for heifer matings. Otherwise there's no market for the reared calf.

 

[JHH]

They should be ok to eat. We have ate alot of crossed up milk cows before. I havent noticed alot of difference.

 

[JHH]

You cant get a calf around here for free. Most of these calves, Holstein and Jerseys are bringing 100-350 depending on age. I would think we could feed them and grind them up for hamburger. They cant be any worse than an old cow is.

 

[cleland]

The problem with that is that they gain too slow and take too much feed to be profitable

 

[regolith]

The meat is good.

It's just as Cleland says - their mature weight is low and they take as long as any other beast to get there.
Also, the young calves are not as robust as the larger breeds. Lower cold tolerance is the main issue I'm aware of but some rearers won't touch them because they don't survive bad rearing. If the kids are mollycoddling them and know the basics of rearing a healthy calf they should be fine.

So you've picked them up for around half the normal price. Why? Naive seller, wants to get rid of them, doing you a favour... or passing on a calf that might not make it?

 

[E in PA]

they range from free to $25 up here.

 

[hereford]

I know that a lot of the Jersey bull calves go to veal. Just curious, how much to the veal producers get for the jersey bull veal calves?

:cboy:

 

[cow pollinater]

The going rate out here is $5 each and you have to have a good volume of them to get them sold for that.
They actually do make fairly good eating but the portions are small. Since they are bred for component rich milk as steers they flesh really easily. Most actually grow fairly quikly but you're starting with a thirty pound calf and turning it into a seven hundred pound steer, so it seems really slow.
I know of a huge jersey dairy out here that was shipping steers out of state to be finished and since nobody there knew what they were, there was no stigma(some were holstein cross so they were black, tan, and somewhere in between.) They graded just fine and the same buyers have been looking for more.

 

[angusdave63]

the jersey calf is a better freezer beef than people give them credit for some of the best beef we have eaten is jersey my mothers family have milked them for 70 years he will finish around 1000 to 1100 and will take 18 months to get him there but you will be pleased with the final product just put him on full feed and full hay or pasture as soon as he is off the bucket David

 

[JHH]

Got the calves home last night around 10 pm. , They came from a family that the father passed away and they are selling out of everthing. They have some heifers and some crossed up heifers that are 600 lbs. They really need some help wish I was closer I would have put in a helping hand. their kids really didnt want to get rid of them at the sale barn, Said they wanted to know they would be taken care of and loved.

Some feelings are getting in the way of some good business decisions. I did tell them they could get more from a sale barn and they didnt want to go that route.

 

[JHH]

As promissed a pic of one of the little guys.

 

[regolith]

Good luck with them.

I'm with that family - I've leased/sold a lot of animals this year and I'd rather they went to a good home even if they couldn't afford top prices.
Though it seems the people most likely to mishandle the cattle are also the most likely to screw the price up or down to their best advantage.

 

[SRBeef]

Neighbor has a reg Jersey bull and that is about the loudest, orneriest bull I have ever seen. He charges up to the fence, snorts and paws the ground when I am working nearby on my side - only a 10 kv hot wire on standoffs on his side of the fence keeps him on the other side.

Maybe a bull calf would be better if steered but I sure wouldn't leave him whole for long esp being around kids. Maybe it is just my neighbors bull but I have been told many Jersey bulls are like that. Main thing is safety of your kids. jmho. Jim

 

[cow pollinater]

Neighbor has a reg Jersey bull and that is about the loudest, orneriest bull I have ever seen. He charges up to the fence, snorts and paws the ground when I am working nearby on my side - only a 10 kv hot wire on standoffs on his side of the fence keeps him on the other side.

Maybe a bull calf would be better if steered but I sure wouldn't leave him whole for long esp being around kids. Maybe it is just my neighbors bull but I have been told many Jersey bulls are like that. Main thing is safety of your kids. jmho. Jim

Yep... Your best bet is to cut him young. These things are testosterone rockets. They go from cute and cuddly to knocking you down and rolling you up the fence and back in the blink of an eye and you won't see it coming. Jersey bulls are bad news.

 

[JHH]

He will not stay a bull for much longer. We have a dinner date with him as the menu

 

[Mpadams1990]

I was wondering were I can purchase bull calives at in Ohio and how much I want about 10

 

[M.Magis]

You can find them for sale on Craigslist every day, or at you local sale barn. This thread is 4 years old, they aren't $50 any more. Market report here lists baby calves $400 and down.

 

[Muddy]

With today's prices, jersey calves are no longer cheap.