ny_grass
Well-known member
howdy
what a year it's been! Lots of successes. A couple of serious problems. Two dead calves. A corral that never seemed to get finished.
But the biggest problem, by far, is that my 6 cows aren't bred. I thought I was going to have a bull in here last week but it fell through.
Which leads to my question:
4 of my cows still have nursing calves and their condition has plummeted since I got them on hay about 6 weeks ago. I know I need to wean the calves (and will be doing that soon) but I'm afraid that even a bull wouldn't guarantee that they'd breed back (because they are so thin). And, even if they did, I'd have September born calves. Here in upstate NY, where it freezes as early as mid-October, that strikes me as a potential problem.
I think I have a solution. I'm calling the butcher tomorrow to see when he can take the 6 cows in. I'll have him make hamburger out of the whole lot of them. I think I see a market for the ground beef. At a reasonable Wal-mart + a little price, I'd be back up more than what I paid for them. Then, come April, I'd buy a new herd (5-8) of bred cows.
So, is this plan a loser? It probably all depends on the market; can I get rid of (probably) about 3600 lbs of ground beef?
Updated:
I forgot to add. Would the fact that they're skinny result in terrible ground beef? Most of them are 3 years old; a couple of 4 years.
Is there some way that, without grain, I could fatten them up a little in the month before they go to the butcher - maybe some nicer quality hay?
Any advice? thanks ... JR
what a year it's been! Lots of successes. A couple of serious problems. Two dead calves. A corral that never seemed to get finished.
But the biggest problem, by far, is that my 6 cows aren't bred. I thought I was going to have a bull in here last week but it fell through.
Which leads to my question:
4 of my cows still have nursing calves and their condition has plummeted since I got them on hay about 6 weeks ago. I know I need to wean the calves (and will be doing that soon) but I'm afraid that even a bull wouldn't guarantee that they'd breed back (because they are so thin). And, even if they did, I'd have September born calves. Here in upstate NY, where it freezes as early as mid-October, that strikes me as a potential problem.
I think I have a solution. I'm calling the butcher tomorrow to see when he can take the 6 cows in. I'll have him make hamburger out of the whole lot of them. I think I see a market for the ground beef. At a reasonable Wal-mart + a little price, I'd be back up more than what I paid for them. Then, come April, I'd buy a new herd (5-8) of bred cows.
So, is this plan a loser? It probably all depends on the market; can I get rid of (probably) about 3600 lbs of ground beef?
Updated:
I forgot to add. Would the fact that they're skinny result in terrible ground beef? Most of them are 3 years old; a couple of 4 years.
Is there some way that, without grain, I could fatten them up a little in the month before they go to the butcher - maybe some nicer quality hay?
Any advice? thanks ... JR