more info please

[Anonymous]

i have a lot of question on what i need to do and what i need to breed do i need to cross breed these cows or try to raise registerd cattle. do i need to use an angus cow . i also was told that since i don't have a lot of land i need to stick with smaller cattle. any info would be a great help in getting me on the right track.

 

[Anonymous]

Unless we want to get into some particular niche market, it is awfully hard to beat the baldy cow, red or black. The key is to start with quality animals. If you start with mediocre cows and use the best bulls you are looking at 3 years before that cows improved calf has a calf of her own. You can start with Angus or Hereford based cows and breed them to the other breed, start with baldies, or sdtart with other breeds and crossbreed them. Good angus or angus based cows are ussually a little higher proced then other breeds. In our area you can buy darn good quality Herefords for from 1/2to 3/4 of what the equivelent angus cow will cost. Once you have the good quailty crossbred british cows you can crossbreed them to one of the larger continental breeds and market the calves. Your cow base will be smaller and more economical to feed, they'll provie quality calves and good maternal traits and abilities. If you have a breed in your area that really gets docked at the salebarn, assuming that is where you'll sell the calves, avoid that breed. Right or wrong, some places really hammer off color cattle, i.e. greys or yellows, spots, etc. Eared calves are docked pretty heavily in some areas. Around here it's Hereford get hit the worst, nest is greys/yellows, then eared or spotted. Having gone through the logical parts, if there is one breed that really spins you up, be it Longhorns, or traditional Simmenthal, hell, dachhound crossed with Holsteins, raise whatever it is. Being aware that you are going to be docked, having something in the pasture that you enjoy is sometimes worth more then the money you won't receive for the calves. We are slipping more an more Polled Hereford blood into our calves, we know they aren't popular, but I really enjoy the visuals of hereford calves. I can't imagine not having some around. That's what works for us, evertone has different goals, likes and dislikes. The botom line is raise what you like, keeping in mind the built in obstacles to making a decent profit.

dun

> i have a lot of question on what i
> need to do and what i need to
> breed do i need to cross breed
> these cows or try to raise
> registerd cattle. do i need to use
> an angus cow . i also was told
> that since i don't have a lot of
> land i need to stick with smaller
> cattle. any info would be a great
> help in getting me on the right
> track.

 

[Anonymous]

Dun

Your post is excellent advice. I still prefer my registered black angus. If you can get excellent quality herdfords for 1/2 to 3/4 price of angus I would use them. Just use a good quality angus bull "color dictated by local market or preference".

> Unless we want to get into some
> particular niche market, it is
> awfully hard to beat the baldy
> cow, red or black. The key is to
> start with quality animals. If you
> start with mediocre cows and use
> the best bulls you are looking at
> 3 years before that cows improved
> calf has a calf of her own. You
> can start with Angus or Hereford
> based cows and breed them to the
> other breed, start with baldies,
> or sdtart with other breeds and
> crossbreed them. Good angus or
> angus based cows are ussually a
> little higher proced then other
> breeds. In our area you can buy
> darn good quality Herefords for
> from 1/2to 3/4 of what the
> equivelent angus cow will cost.
> Once you have the good quailty
> crossbred british cows you can
> crossbreed them to one of the
> larger continental breeds and
> market the calves. Your cow base
> will be smaller and more
> economical to feed, they'll provie
> quality calves and good maternal
> traits and abilities. If you have
> a breed in your area that really
> gets docked at the salebarn,
> assuming that is where you'll sell
> the calves, avoid that breed.
> Right or wrong, some places really
> hammer off color cattle, i.e.
> greys or yellows, spots, etc.
> Eared calves are docked pretty
> heavily in some areas. Around here
> it's Hereford get hit the worst,
> nest is greys/yellows, then eared
> or spotted. Having gone through
> the logical parts, if there is one
> breed that really spins you up, be
> it Longhorns, or traditional
> Simmenthal, hell, dachhound
> crossed with Holsteins, raise
> whatever it is. Being aware that
> you are going to be docked, having
> something in the pasture that you
> enjoy is sometimes worth more then
> the money you won't receive for
> the calves. We are slipping more
> an more Polled Hereford blood into
> our calves, we know they aren't
> popular, but I really enjoy the
> visuals of hereford calves. I
> can't imagine not having some
> around. That's what works for us,
> evertone has different goals,
> likes and dislikes. The botom line
> is raise what you like, keeping in
> mind the built in obstacles to
> making a decent profit.

> dun

 

[Anonymous]

Hi , a few questions,Where do you live(area of country)How much land is a little? 15 ac. or 100 ac.?

If you live in the south or the hot west, I suggest a Brahma cross (Brangus,st. Gert, etc.) Your cattle choice needs to fit your area, get out and talk to other cattle people around, go to the sale barn see what the best, ask questions cow people love to talk... alf

[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

> Hi , a few questions,Where do you
> live(area of country)How much land
> is a little? 15 ac. or 100 ac.?

> If you live in the south or the
> hot west, I suggest a Brahma cross
> (Brangus,st. Gert, etc.) Your
> cattle choice needs to fit your
> area, get out and talk to other
> cattle people around, go to the
> sale barn see what the best, ask
> questions cow people love to
> talk... alf i only have 20 acres and live in central ky almost all farmers have angus i don't have anything against angus i would just like to add a little something diffrent that is compatable with angus maybe sell breading stock.

 

[Anonymous]

two years ago i bought some herford cows for fivehunded dollers.there calves sold for $535 that fall. thay were red baldey calves.

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[Anonymous]

> i have a lot of question on what i
> need to do and what i need to
> breed do i need to cross breed
> these cows or try to raise
> registerd cattle. do i need to use
> an angus cow . i also was told
> that since i don't have a lot of
> land i need to stick with smaller
> cattle. any info would be a great
> help in getting me on the right
> track.

Regarding the smaller cows, there is a fair amount of research being done that is indicating that you can raise more pounds of beef per acre with smaller cows (i.e. 1100 lb/cow) than larger cows (i.e.1400+ lb/cow). Over the next ten years I believe that we will see some downsizing of the average cow in the US because of the improved efficiency of smaller cows.

There are advantages to raising registered breeding stock and commercial cattle.

The big advantages I see to a commercial operation are less paperwork, less labor (no need to tatoo calves, weigh calves at birth, ...), ease of selling progeny (send weaned calves to auction barn).

However, if you enjoy maintaining good records (i.e. birth date, birth weight, sire, dam, ....), and are willing to spend more time selling breeding stock private treaty or in consignment sales, you should be able to increase the average sales price of your cattle with registered cattle.

You are right that there are a lot of Angus cattle in KY. Because of this, I would encourage you to look at breeds that compliment Angus. These include Gelbvieh, Simmental, Charolais, Braunvieh, and Hereford. You are not too far south so I'm not sure how much demand there is for "eared" cattle (i.e. Beefmaster, Gerts, Brangus,etc.) in KY.

It appears that today there is more emphasis on breeding complimentary cattle to get a more ideal, complete animal for the feedlot and packer. Many experts are promoting a combination of Angus (red or black) with a Continental breed (Limousin, Gelbvieh, Braunvieh, Simmental, Charolais), etc.

 

[Anonymous]

To do the job right you still need to weigh your calves. Educated eyeball will work for newborns (SWAG), but at weaning and older you need to weight those calves to see what cows are doing there jobs the best, what bulls worked in your environment and managment. Granted 20 or 30 lbs at weaning, if you sell at weaning, isn't much, but it is additional income. I just read a report that claims that cows weighing 25 percent more require 18% more feed. The interesting part was that higher milking cows not only require more feed then lesser milkers, but the feed must be of higher quality or she'll take it off her back and may suffer in reproduction capabilities.

dun