Today, Clay wanted me to go with him to pick out his 20 Black Simm x Chai-angus heifers. I suggested we ride the bikes, so we lit out to the NW corner of Ga. 1st time I had rode in 3 weeks, and it sure wad what the doctor ordered! When we got there, the man and his grandkids had already gathered everu thing, and had 20 for Clay in a small pen off the arena. And the other 36 were in another beside it. He told Clay that he had gone through and picked what he thought were the 20 best, but held the others in case Clay saw one of them he'd rather have. Only 36, because 2 of his Simm cows and 2 of his ChiAngus had hit 12 yrs old last year, so the man bred them to same -breed bulls to get their replacements. Clay had paid him a $50 per head premium to be able to get to pick and choose first. $1000,00!!! From what I saw today, he didn't need to waste that money. Every one of them was exceptional, and to me, any 20 would have been just fine.
On one of his trips last fall to haul cattle to the Oklahoma feed lot for Mike, Clay had brought back four 12 yr old geldings from the feed lot. They had just gotten some 4 yr olds they were working, and sold these 4 to Clay for a good price. You can NOT buy a broker, better horse for cattle work...especially sorting, penning, etc, than a horse that has been used on a feedlot. Mike had sold 3 to the man with these heifers...for him and a grandson and granddaughter. They had all the cattle caught, sorted and penned before we got there. I watched all 3 of them, and you'd think the man and those 2 kids were full time cowboys, spending 6 days a week in the saddle. That's what a good horse will do for you.
Anyhow, Clay told him that the 20 he had picked would do just fine. The man told him to plan on coming to get them after July 10. He weaned them today, but he wants to keep the weaned claves for at least 2 weeks, to get them started right, give them whatever vaccs etc, and that gives him time to see if they are eating good, or if the vaccs made them sick, etc. He said " all but those 2 right there. I wanna keep them til end of July-1st of August ". Clay asked him why, and he said. " Well you told he you had two daughters that wanted to show calves, so I am going to keep these, and have them halter-broke, broke to groom., etc, for your girls. And I am going to feed them like I do our own show calves. They gonna be ready to get those girls some blue ribbons! ". I thought that was right nice of the man to offer! One of Clay's (step)daughters is going on the 7th, so she will show 4h, and the other is going in the 9th and will be in FFA as well. Clay doesn't have the time, really, to get 1 ready to show...much lkess 2.
When we go get them, I am going to get someone, I swear, to take some pics, with something in there with them as a reference point. I want y'all to see the size of these 6 mos old heifers. Clay will weigh them when he gets them back to his boss's place, before he turns them into his feed pen. I bet they gonna all go 600+. Like I said, two of the man's Simm cows had Simm calves, and 2 of his Chi-Angus cows had Chi-Angus calves. Standing in there with the other BS x ChiAng , they were like stair-steps. Th crosses looked to be a month older than the Simms, and the Chi-Angus looked a month older than the crosses.
Can't wait to see how they grow on this feed program. And my Br x dairy heifers too! Last July, Clay's boss bought ,I think, 23 of this man's steers. That was the last year he didn't breed for all heifers. These steers may have been a little bigger than these heifers going in. Maybe closer to 700 than 600, but when he shipped them to the feed lot in 4 months, they were 1150-1200 pounds. He only fed them at the Ok lot for 3 months instead of 4. He doesn't want them much over 1500 pounds. The HCW has to be less than 1100 lbs to get CAB Prime+.
I hope these work out for Clay as well as we are thinking they will. I thought last July, when Clay contracted to buy these heifers a $1750 with the 1st choice premium, that these weren't a good buy, but the 2025 calves the man contracted at $2500, and they are all sold. Clay bought the last 6. He wouldn't have probably done that...give $15k for 6 heifers...... but he let the man have those 3 horses for $3k each, so he just has to pay $6k for the 6 heifers, and they will be worth that easy.
On one of his trips last fall to haul cattle to the Oklahoma feed lot for Mike, Clay had brought back four 12 yr old geldings from the feed lot. They had just gotten some 4 yr olds they were working, and sold these 4 to Clay for a good price. You can NOT buy a broker, better horse for cattle work...especially sorting, penning, etc, than a horse that has been used on a feedlot. Mike had sold 3 to the man with these heifers...for him and a grandson and granddaughter. They had all the cattle caught, sorted and penned before we got there. I watched all 3 of them, and you'd think the man and those 2 kids were full time cowboys, spending 6 days a week in the saddle. That's what a good horse will do for you.
Anyhow, Clay told him that the 20 he had picked would do just fine. The man told him to plan on coming to get them after July 10. He weaned them today, but he wants to keep the weaned claves for at least 2 weeks, to get them started right, give them whatever vaccs etc, and that gives him time to see if they are eating good, or if the vaccs made them sick, etc. He said " all but those 2 right there. I wanna keep them til end of July-1st of August ". Clay asked him why, and he said. " Well you told he you had two daughters that wanted to show calves, so I am going to keep these, and have them halter-broke, broke to groom., etc, for your girls. And I am going to feed them like I do our own show calves. They gonna be ready to get those girls some blue ribbons! ". I thought that was right nice of the man to offer! One of Clay's (step)daughters is going on the 7th, so she will show 4h, and the other is going in the 9th and will be in FFA as well. Clay doesn't have the time, really, to get 1 ready to show...much lkess 2.
When we go get them, I am going to get someone, I swear, to take some pics, with something in there with them as a reference point. I want y'all to see the size of these 6 mos old heifers. Clay will weigh them when he gets them back to his boss's place, before he turns them into his feed pen. I bet they gonna all go 600+. Like I said, two of the man's Simm cows had Simm calves, and 2 of his Chi-Angus cows had Chi-Angus calves. Standing in there with the other BS x ChiAng , they were like stair-steps. Th crosses looked to be a month older than the Simms, and the Chi-Angus looked a month older than the crosses.
Can't wait to see how they grow on this feed program. And my Br x dairy heifers too! Last July, Clay's boss bought ,I think, 23 of this man's steers. That was the last year he didn't breed for all heifers. These steers may have been a little bigger than these heifers going in. Maybe closer to 700 than 600, but when he shipped them to the feed lot in 4 months, they were 1150-1200 pounds. He only fed them at the Ok lot for 3 months instead of 4. He doesn't want them much over 1500 pounds. The HCW has to be less than 1100 lbs to get CAB Prime+.
I hope these work out for Clay as well as we are thinking they will. I thought last July, when Clay contracted to buy these heifers a $1750 with the 1st choice premium, that these weren't a good buy, but the 2025 calves the man contracted at $2500, and they are all sold. Clay bought the last 6. He wouldn't have probably done that...give $15k for 6 heifers...... but he let the man have those 3 horses for $3k each, so he just has to pay $6k for the 6 heifers, and they will be worth that easy.
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