Looking at these cows to buy...

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LazyARanch

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Howdy and good morning~

Took a trip and looked at some cows for sale by a private farm. Owner says the cows are hereford and hereford X, 3-8 yrs of age but he didn't keep records. They had some dandy baldies on their sides. All of the cows were home raised and never been off the ranch. He's looking to cut back, only had 8 cows for sale, including 1 with a month old heifer and they are bred back to an angus bull. Please let me know what you think. I will remind you all that I am fairly new to cattle although I attended an Ag college 30-some years ago when I was a pup, but most of my experience is horses. I do look for a good straight back, good legs, and temperament. These were quiet cows and we walked right up to them.
anyway, have a look, I'll check back in a few hours. Heading out to mow! :)

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You might want to ask him to at least mouth them for you so that you can identify the ones that might be broke mouth.

In general they look like real nice cows but maybe closer to that 8yr old number than you might want.

What does he want for them, and did you ask him why he does not keep at the very least BIRTH records. That makes my radar go on pretty hard.
 
They are definately mature cows, not perfect by any means, but they'll make decent commercial cows. I don't see any issues that you can't adress with a good bull.
 
There's a couple older cows in there but there's also some younger ones, too. Just plan on sending those older cows down the road in a year or two when you figure price. If they hang around longer, it's just a bonus. I think they're dandy for commercial cows, all you'd need next is a gelbvieh bull...
 
cfpinz":kqz5vi8x said:
There's a couple older cows in there but there's also some younger ones, too. Just plan on sending those older cows down the road in a year or two when you figure price. If they hang around longer, it's just a bonus. I think they're dandy for commercial cows, all you'd need next is a gelbvieh bull...


Ditto on that. I spent some time with Nancy Wilkinson from Model Colorado at the fair yesterday. She was telling me that their best commercial cows are the Hereford/Gelbvieh crosses. Great dispositions and they go forever.

You might also consider a Blk Balancer bull. That will give you maximum heterosis and some VERY saleable calves that should grow like the dickins. Just make sure he is Homo Blk.
 
The only thing that bothers me about the deal is you said he doesnt keep any records. If that is the case then just how does he know how old they are. Does he not keep vaccination records or calving dates on em either? If not I would have him pay to have the vet come out and check them out real good and if no problems found then I might take a chance on em if the price was right.
 
I like them!

I would suggest having them palpated and aged before buying. Being bred back to a bull and being actually pregnant are two different things.
 
S&WSigma40VEShooter":2brmnjkt said:
The only thing that bothers me about the deal is you said he doesnt keep any records. If that is the case then just how does he know how old they are. Does he not keep vaccination records or calving dates on em either? If not I would have him pay to have the vet come out and check them out real good and if no problems found then I might take a chance on em if the price was right.

If I was "HIM" I would then just sell the cows to some other willing buyer.
 
Look viable to me, as long as the price is fair. I'm curious about their diet. Are they just on grass? First pic looks like they're lined up at feed. That's important to consider, especially if he's cut out the sale cows from the herd. Could be feeding them up extra to make em look better for the buyer. Hope that doesn't sound too cynnical, but you don't want to buy up a bunch of cows that are going to eat you out of house and home to stay in decent condition.
 
KNERSIE":1ygpa0jx said:
S&WSigma40VEShooter":1ygpa0jx said:
The only thing that bothers me about the deal is you said he doesnt keep any records. If that is the case then just how does he know how old they are. Does he not keep vaccination records or calving dates on em either? If not I would have him pay to have the vet come out and check them out real good and if no problems found then I might take a chance on em if the price was right.

If I was "HIM" I would then just sell the cows to some other willing buyer.

Would that be one who would buy them with no questions asked, who was ignorant and didn't mind staying that way.

Why is it wrong to want to know as much as possible before he makes the purchase. Besides if he had another."willing" buyer they would already be sold, wouldn't they.

You will have to excuse me for saying this but that statement seems to me to be a bit out of character for you Harley.
 
Looks like a nice commercial herd, like was said in the above posts there are a few older ones in the group.

I have learned the hard way so I am giving you my heart felt experience. Get your vet out, preg check all cows, anything open is a no go, and vaccinate the whole bunch. Anything your vet says do not touch, is out as well.

Good luck :wave: .

BTW Herefords are a good choice and cross well with many breeds.. :)
 
3waycross":2csd8l62 said:
KNERSIE":2csd8l62 said:
S&WSigma40VEShooter":2csd8l62 said:
The only thing that bothers me about the deal is you said he doesnt keep any records. If that is the case then just how does he know how old they are. Does he not keep vaccination records or calving dates on em either? If not I would have him pay to have the vet come out and check them out real good and if no problems found then I might take a chance on em if the price was right.

If I was "HIM" I would then just sell the cows to some other willing buyer.
I

Would that be one who would buy them with no questions asked, who was ignorant and didn't mind staying that way.

Why is it wrong to want to know as much as possible before he makes the purchase. Besides if he had another."willing" buyer they would already be sold, wouldn't they.

You will have to excuse me for saying this but that statement seems to me to be a bit out of character for you Harley.

No one knows what price he is asking for these cows. If he is asking sale barn prices or real close I wouldn't ask the guy for anything beyond looking at their teeth. I doubt too many people would pay for a vet to come out to check their own cows so someone else might buy them.

Walt
Walt
 
It depends. If he is selling them bred, then he needs the proof to back them up and guarantee them , no matter how cheap they sell for. That is why he is not selling them at a sale barn , he must be offering some type of guarantee.
 
3waycross":1yxpsgcj said:
KNERSIE":1yxpsgcj said:
S&WSigma40VEShooter":1yxpsgcj said:
The only thing that bothers me about the deal is you said he doesnt keep any records. If that is the case then just how does he know how old they are. Does he not keep vaccination records or calving dates on em either? If not I would have him pay to have the vet come out and check them out real good and if no problems found then I might take a chance on em if the price was right.

If I was "HIM" I would then just sell the cows to some other willing buyer.

Would that be one who would buy them with no questions asked, who was ignorant and didn't mind staying that way.

Not at all, i appreciate people who take their time to investigate well before buying from me, because I know they will take care of the stock.

Why is it wrong to want to know as much as possible before he makes the purchase. Besides if he had another."willing" buyer they would already be sold, wouldn't they.

nothing wrong at all to want to know as much as possible, its how you do it.

You will have to excuse me for saying this but that statement seems to me to be a bit out of character for you Harley.

Read the quote below again and ask yourself if you were the seller, would you be happy with it?

If not I would have him pay to have the vet come out and check them out real good and if no problems found then I might take a chance on em if the price was right

I'm not happy to pay for a vet to give someone peace of mind when buying my culls when the buyer MIGHT take a chance on them IF the price was right.

I guess I'm just not that hard up to make a sale, especially not when it involves my culls.
 
alacattleman":tej8syxy said:
i seez a few corn shucks thowed out,, what cow wouldnt belly up too em
My cows love em, but they only get some when I've shucked corn we're going to eat. I don't fault anybody for giving them a treat or throwing out a little something to get em all up for visitors to see either. I'm just saying I'd ask if they're in their current condition on grass alone or if he's taking them feed everyday. Shouldn't cost anything to ask a guy how he's been taking care of something he's trying to sell ya.
 
hillsdown":1fz4lkd2 said:
It depends. If he is selling them bred, then he needs the proof to back them up and guarantee them , no matter how cheap they sell for. That is why he is not selling them at a sale barn , he must be offering some type of guarantee.

Proof and guarantee? Why not just one or the other? Do you sell your heavy cows this way?

Walt
 
TX my cows are guaranteed bred and come with health records and either AI certs or a copy of the bulls regs and exposure time.

My replacement heifers are guaranteed open at time of sale and guaranteed as breeders. If you take them home and cannot get them bred ( forseeing a bull or AI problem on their part) I have guaranteed them. All so far have been breeders.

Even when the commercials go into a reg. auction sale. I have health records , age verifying certs and a vet cert saying how bred they are and whom they were exposed to etc.

The only ones that go in without preg guarentees are my real true culls, the ones that you should not buy and I won't sell unless for slaughter asap. They too come with age verifying certs.

A good reputation is something that takes a long time to build up and a short time to lose. I like to keep my good name as a breeder.

I will be selling off 80-90 percent of my herd and even though the cows young and old registered or not they will most likely go for slaughter and they will have all health certs as well. If someone wants a bred cow from me before that she will be guaranteed and vet checked for them. I sold to a few steers privately to a neighbor and he got all of there records even though they will not be alive long. ;-)

This is Alberta and we have premise ID as well as impeccable records, if we as an industry want to be alive and exporting in the years to come, it is what we have to do. I do not mind as I have nothing to hide and my closed herd is healthy and vaccinated.

BTW my vet will do the certs and copies for free as I but all vacc from him and meds as well as have him out at least once a year to preg check everyone, for what I save by not keeping an open cow over winter preg checking will pay for itself here with only 2 open cows, thankfully we have been hitting 100% the last few years..But it still is a useful tool that everyone should utilise.
 
I also should add if I did not know the seller or the herd, my vet would go with me and each and every animal I was interested in ,he would palp and look over with a fine tooth comb.

BUT maybe that is just me.. ;-)
 

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