My steers, before they go... (pics)

[IluvABbeef]

I'd feed those calves in a heartbeat.

They are gettin fed. The back bunch are out on fall pasture, and the front bunch are getting thier grain every day (barley) plus timothy/alfalfa bales which they eat up darned quick.

my Dad's the one doing the assessment, of how much feed they need and when, and even though I don't want to bring him into this, but he's been around cattle a heck of a lot longer than I have, and he's taught me alot about cattle too, and I know he knows as well as me that those steers are gettin their nutrients and their feed, and are the weight that I said they are.


Look, I'm not fooling with you lot, I'm being honest here, even though it is hard to really believe whether I am being so or not when we just know each other through what we type on the keyboard. You know that as well as I.

Okay, back to cattle.

I like you IluvABbeef! You seem to be the real stuff! Yes I do believe that 1000lb is streching it but at least you seem to be a real cattle person!!

Good luck with their sale and I hope you grow up to be what your dad is and more!!

Thank you very much SRR, that means a lot to me. :heart: I do hope strongly to raise my own herd of cattle someday, somewhere, but only the good Lord would know the when and where of that. ;-)

And thank you all the rest of you for your responses!

 

[IluvABbeef]

I like you IluvABbeef! You seem to be the real stuff! Yes I do believe that 1000lb is streching it but at least you seem to be a real cattle person!!

Good luck with their sale and I hope you grow up to be what your dad is and more!!

You can tell he is a real cattle person by the fact that he is HOPING they are heavier than they reallly are. Somebody who doesn't have anything emotionally invested in them can walk out there and guess the weights head on. I always overestimated my own calf weights too.....then I cross the scale myself and always weigh about 25 pounds MORE than I thought I did.

LOL, SHE brandon, I'm a she. :lol: :lol: tHanks anyway.

 

[dun]

I'd feed those calves in a heartbeat.

They are gettin fed. The back bunch are out on fall pasture, and the front bunch are getting thier grain every day (barley) plus timothy/alfalfa bales which they eat up darned quick.

my Dad's the one doing the assessment, of how much feed they need and when, and even though I don't want to bring him into this, but he's been around cattle a heck of a lot longer than I have, and he's taught me alot about cattle too, and I know he knows as well as me that those steers are gettin their nutrients and their feed, and are the weight that I said they are.

Look, I'm not fooling with you lot, I'm being honest here, even though it is hard to really believe whether I am being so or not when we just know each other through what we type on the keyboard. You know that as well as I.

Okay, back to cattle.

The expression has to do with them being worth keeping and feeding and not gotten rid of.

dun

 

[IluvABbeef]

I'd feed those calves in a heartbeat.

They are gettin fed. The back bunch are out on fall pasture, and the front bunch are getting thier grain every day (barley) plus timothy/alfalfa bales which they eat up darned quick.

my Dad's the one doing the assessment, of how much feed they need and when, and even though I don't want to bring him into this, but he's been around cattle a heck of a lot longer than I have, and he's taught me alot about cattle too, and I know he knows as well as me that those steers are gettin their nutrients and their feed, and are the weight that I said they are.

Look, I'm not fooling with you lot, I'm being honest here, even though it is hard to really believe whether I am being so or not when we just know each other through what we type on the keyboard. You know that as well as I.

Okay, back to cattle.

The expression has to do with them being worth keeping and feeding and not gotten rid of.

dun

dun it doesn't really matter 'cause we don't keep them for no longer than a year. Every year it's been like that, buy then sell, then buy a new herd and sell 'em. But correct me if I misread your post. ;-)

 

[S.R.R.]

At what wt. do you buy and how long do you keep them?

 

[IluvABbeef]

At what wt. do you buy and how long do you keep them?

I can't remeber the weight part (wild guess is about 600 pounds, but I'll ask Dad on that, he'll know), but the steers are purchased when they are 6 months old, which is when they're being weaned. By truck.

How long do we keep 'em? Around 12 months at the most, plus or minus a month, depending on whether we got drought or a good growing season.

 

[S.R.R.]

How long do we keep 'em? Around 12 months at the most, plus or minus a month, depending on whether we got drought or a good growing season.

Sounds like you are never without cattle in the field! I though at first you just kept them through the summer then sold. Why do you keep them so long? Having to feed them through the winter seems a bit counter productive or is it?

 

[IluvABbeef]

How long do we keep 'em? Around 12 months at the most, plus or minus a month, depending on whether we got drought or a good growing season.

Sounds like you are never without cattle in the field! I though at first you just kept them through the summer then sold. Why do you keep them so long? Having to feed them through the winter seems a bit counter productive or is it?

It does feel a bit empty when they're gone, but within a week or so there's new calves coming in off the truck bawling their heads off for their mommas for a few days, then they quieten down.

Now about why we keep them so long: You sure asked a hard question for me; I honestly don't know. But I think it's because of the feed we give them, it's not the real high quality diet that feedlots feed them to fatten them up in a 120 days or so or however long it takes to get them big enough to be shipped to the slaughter plant. Then again, we feed them good barley silage in the winter (they love the stuff) that get them growing quite a bit along with timothy-alfalfa mix hay.

Brain fart: profit. THAT's why we keep them so long, get more money off a 1000 pound animal than a 600 pounder. (Say cattle prices are about 1.43 per pound for animals that are 900-1000 lbs; multiply that with a 1000 lb animal, and multiply THAT with 100 of those animals with the same weight, and you get where I'm going! :nod: ) Maybe you get more from a fat 600 pounder, but that's what I believe is the main reson.

Counter productive in the winter? Nah! Keeps dad busy, and the winters less lonely when there's animals to care for and feed. And to look at. Besides, we stock pile lots of bales and make a huge silage pit for winter feeding, so it's productive management as far as I'm concerned!

 

[S.R.R.]

Counter productive in the winter? Nah! Keeps dad busy, and the winters less lonely when there's animals to care for and feed. And to look at. Besides, we stock pile lots of bales and make a huge silage pit for winter feeding, so it's productive management as far as I'm concerned!

O.K. sounds like there is more then one reason to keep them over the winter! I hope that my daughter wants me to enjoy life as much as you do your Dad when I am old. :cboy:

 

[rkm]

I just visited a friend of mine who just sold his 2005 spring calves. He got what I thought was a good price, 99 cents for 950 lb calves. This was for steers and heifers. I don't know what the percentages of steers to heifers were. He said the calves weaned last nov at about 550 lbs. He feeds them balage and pasture. I was curious so I came home and started pushing a pencil.

950lbs at $.99 $940.50
550 at $1.20 -$660.00
Kept 300d for $ 280.50

He made made 93 cents a day and they gained 1.33 lbs a day. I know he puts up cheap feed, but I don't know if it pays to keep them that long.

 

[IluvABbeef]

SRR, i hope so too ;-)

rkm, I'd say that the .99 cents for 950 lbs is a good deal too, but you lost me when you said you didn't know if it pays to keep them that long, for the extra 300d?

 

[rkm]

I figured if he would have sold them last nov. when he weaned them at 550 lbs he could have gotten $1.20 a lb or $ 660, but he kept them another 300 days for $ 280 more

 

[IluvABbeef]

Aaah, I see, smart thinking then ;-)

 

[somn]

19 month old steers weighing 950#. What breed are these cattle highland yaks or something. Before they make finish weight they will be over the 30 month threshold.
I'd guess that they had been starved.

 

[Caustic Burno]

19 month old steers weighing 950#. What breed are these cattle highland yaks or something. Before they make finish weight they will be over the 30 month threshold.
I'd guess that they had been starved.

That's no joke and dang funny I like the Yak line.

 

[IluvABbeef]

19 month old steers weighing 950#. What breed are these cattle highland yaks or something. Before they make finish weight they will be over the 30 month threshold.
I'd guess that they had been starved.

You would, but the steers were on cheap feed which means poor quality, not enough sufficient nutrients, proteins, whathaveya for them to grow and gain quickly on.

 

[IluvABbeef]

FINALLY!! We sold the steers!

Truck's coming to pick them up on Monday (couple days from now), so...yeah.

I'm gonna be taking some pics, as well as helping out, and I'm looking forward to seeing the old go out to make way for the new calves (which'll probably come a week or so after these big guys are gone).

WHOOOPEEE!!!

 

[Brandonm2]

Congratulations!! Paydays are always fun after you have spent a year plus of hard work.

I would ask what price you got....but I won't even pretend too understand how too convert Canadian dollars into numbers I can relate too.

Do you already have a source for the next crop of calves or are you just going to the stockyard???

 

[IluvABbeef]

Congratulations!! Paydays are always fun after you have spent a year plus of hard work.

I would ask what price you got....but I won't even pretend too understand how too convert Canadian dollars into numbers I can relate too.

Do you already have a source for the next crop of calves or are you just going to the stockyard???

We have a source, but I'll let you in on a bit of a secret: the private treaty that we sell the steers too does the looking for us and sells us those calves. I should say they're different sources...

 

[IluvABbeef]

All right THESE are the pics of those steers I was hoping were gonna go out sooner. :roll:

Sunning himself

The rest enjoying the little bit of sun they got today...

And same herd again...

And a few of the back animals. They were too lazy to come up to say howdy to me.