Need help deciding on a breed...

[XtremeDMax]

Hi ya'll,

I'm new to the forum, and I thought this would be a good place to post this question. I've read some of the posts in here, and ya'll seem to be knowledgeable about pretty much every breed. If this is the wrong place to post this question, then I apologize.

I need help/opinions from more seasoned cattlemen/women. I grew up on a small farm but that was many moons ago.

Some Background Info
I have a small plot of land (26 acres) that's mostly wooded, in NE Ohio. I have about 6 acres of connecting fields. The winters up here can be pretty rough, and being from the south I'm not sure about how to deal with the livestock as far as protecting them from the cold, so that would be queston #1.

My plan is to fence off about 4 acres, build a small barn with 2 12x12 stalls, with a small loafing barn attached. Currently, I only intend to put a bull calf and a 2 heifer calves in this area. My goal is to produce enough meat for my family, and extended family, and possibly be able to sell a calf a year. Later on, I intend to expand, but I just want to get my feet wet first and figure out what I'm doing before I get too much going on to learn things the right way without jeopardizing the animals' health/well-being.

#1) Given the climate, would the barn with sufficient bedding be enough to keep the animals safe from the cold/snow?
#2) Given the size of the land, and the goal I wish to achieve currently, what are ya'lls opinions on what breed I should choose?


Thank you for taking the time to read my post and answer my questions. Your opinions are graciously accepted.

 

[RD-Sam]

Black Angus! :cowboy: Herefords or Black Baldies are good too.

I wouldn't go to all the trouble to get a bull for a couple of cows, either rent one or do A.I. They should be fine outdoors in the winter, they usually do fine in the cold. Just make sure they get fed and the water isn't frozen.

 

[XtremeDMax]

Black Angus! :cowboy: Herefords or Black Baldies are good too.

I wouldn't go to all the trouble to get a bull for a couple of cows, either rent one or do A.I. They should be fine outdoors in the winter, they usually do fine in the cold. Just make sure they get fed and the water isn't frozen.

Thank you

 

[townfarmer]

My goal is to produce enough meat for my family, and extended family, and possibly be able to sell a calf a year.

If this is the case, then your choice of breed doesn't neccessarily need to be dictated by your local saleyard and you'll have plenty of options. I don't know how extreme your winters are in Ohio but Galloway and Highland cattle are well suited for raising home freezer beef and both will do well in extreme cold. In fact Highland cattle are the only breed allowed by law to be wintered outdoors in Finland. Whatever breed you chose make sure you're very particular about their temperment.

Andrew

 

[P.A.L]

My goal is to produce enough meat for my family, and extended family, and possibly be able to sell a calf a year.

If this is the case, then your choice of breed doesn't neccessarily need to be dictated by your local saleyard and you'll have plenty of options. I don't know how extreme your winters are in Ohio but Galloway and Highland cattle are well suited for raising home freezer beef and both will do well in extreme cold. In fact Highland cattle are the only breed allowed by law to be wintered outdoors in Finland. Whatever breed you chose make sure you're very particular about their temperment.

Andrew

All cattle breeds can be wintered in minimum of building with 3 walls and a roof here in Finland. It's funny becouse normal winter here is not so cold than winters in Canada? I think?

I personally think that "thick skin" Hereford is one of the most cold tolerant breeds in the world. They have made studies comparing HF's to lim's and char's. Difference was quite big. When you consider the feed requirements for winter, it has a economic meaning. Herefords consumed less feed in cold weather. So easy handling and cold tolerant herefords for you XtremeDMax

 

[XtremeDMax]

Thank you guys! Our winter this year wasn't too bad. Last year we had a 2 week period where we didn't get above 0 degrees farenhite. This year, we had at least 2 feet of snow on the ground for the entire month of February. We get a lot of lake effect snow from Lake Erie.

 

[SRBeef]

In a small operation as you describe, one of the main if no the main criteria for selecting cattle should be disposition. These calves get big. You don't want some ornery cattle around in a family setup like that.

One thought on buildings - if you build it you will need to clean it. I am a fan of outwintering. Cattle need protection from the wind as they would look for naturally. They do NOT need a roof over their heads. A building is a place for manure and disease to accumulate. Cattle are not people. They don't need a building. If you must build a shed make it open enough so you can clean it out easily. Do you have a skid steer or loader? I would forget the building. Cattle stay healthier in the open where they were designed to be.

My advice would be to find a good, local, well thought-of cattle broker and let him find some good, locally adapted, DOCILE cattle for you. Ask around at the feed stores to find the right person.

I find Herefords generally good in the situation you describe. Or Baldies (Hereford/Angus cross) as suggested above. They are hardy. When you fence this ground in try to include a natural windbreak of trees, etc. jmho.

Good luck. Jim

 

[P.A.L]

Thank you guys! Our winter this year wasn't too bad. Last year we had a 2 week period where we didn't get above 0 degrees farenhite. This year, we had at least 2 feet of snow on the ground for the entire month of February. We get a lot of lake effect snow from Lake Erie.

We had a baaaaad winter! From December to March temperature was -31 - 0 farenhite :x . Only four days nicer... Snow was only about 3 feet... still some snow in forests.

Normally we have easier winter.

 

[Frankie]

Welcome to Cattle Today. If you buy local cattle, I wouldn't expect they'd need any special care in the winter. A wind break would be good, but like SRBeef, I wouldn't expect a healthy beef animal would need a barn. Would the woods offer shelter? Or if there's a hill, they'll lay at the bottom to get out of the wind. You probably should stay away from Brahman influenced animals, though.

As for the breed choice, look around and see what seems to be working for other producers in your area. If you have neighbors, see if you can talk to them and get some advice. We raise Angus and I think you'll find they're readily available just about anywhere.

What age heifers are you thinking of? They're generally not bred until they're 14-15 months old. Gestation is nine months, then the calf probably won't be ready for slaughter for another year at least. First calf heifers are more likely to have calving difficulty than mature cows. Will you be around when they calve to help, if necessary?

As has been said, a bull for two cows really isn't practical. Leasing a bull might be an option or finding someone to AI them for you.

Your local extension office is a treasure trove of information. They should be able to give you guidelines on how many cattle your acreage can support. That's important. If you overgraze, it's tough to get that grass back. Good luck....

 

[XtremeDMax]

Thank you for all of your input guys. It's so nice to have a forum like this. I've researched a lot on the internet, but most of what I find is the same thing I can find in a book, which is open to a lot of interpretation. I'm thankful for the knowledge and experience you've shared with me.

 

[Alan]

Just my 2 cents, 4 acres is not a whole lot of area to have a couple of cow and calves. Plus you'll have more than some expense buying hay and supplements to winter them until they are large enough to butcher. You may want to think about buying 2 600 to 800 lb steers in the spring and letting them graze until grass gets done in the fall. Sell one and put the other in your freezer. No need to worry about them in the winter, hay cost is minimal and you'll recoop some of your cost for the steers when you sell the second.

Just a thought,
Alan

 

[XtremeDMax]

Well, I have 26 total (not including the 2 acres that my house sits on) that I can fence off if I need to. Hay supplementing won't be a problem, if need be. I just didn't want to fence off all of my fields (I grow corn on about 2 acres in the back). I guess if push came to shove, I could rotate the pastures.

 

[Lucky_P]

I like Alan's suggestion - and I've often thought how much easier life would be if I just bought in a bunch of stockers in April, ran 'em on grass 'til Sept/Oct, and sold 'em. No winter feeding, no slogging through the mud, little to no hay/feed costs. But, there's just *something* about seeing those new calves hit the ground in spring and fall. It's a sickness.
You say your 26 acres is mostly wooded. That may be its best use. Most estimates I've seen suggest that it takes at least 40 acres of woodland 'pasture' to produce enough forage material to support one cow-calf pair - there's just not much in the woods for cows to eat; and cattle are notoriously poor timber-stand managers - they'll cause more damage to your timber and forest ecology than you'll ever recoup in cattle sales or meat production.
I'd have my doubts about whether it would be worth the expense to fence in the entire 26 mostly wooded acres - it'd cost quite a few $$$ for little economic return.

 

[deenranch]

.

You may want to think about buying 2 600 to 800 lb steers in the spring and letting them graze until grass gets done in the fall. Sell one and put the other in your freezer

I totally agree... It is a good idea... But it is also a great experience seeing a momma cow give birth to a calf and watching it grow... I would recommend the first but I do the second...

Good luck

 

[Brandonm22]

Fence and cross fence the whole 26 acres before you buy the first animal. You will need that additional acreage to help support your cows eventually anyway so you might as well build everything right rather than overgraze four acres and then have to do a rush job building fences and preparing paddocks.

 

[XtremeDMax]

I like Alan's suggestion - and I've often thought how much easier life would be if I just bought in a bunch of stockers in April, ran 'em on grass 'til Sept/Oct, and sold 'em. No winter feeding, no slogging through the mud, little to no hay/feed costs. But, there's just *something* about seeing those new calves hit the ground in spring and fall. It's a sickness.
You say your 26 acres is mostly wooded. That may be its best use. Most estimates I've seen suggest that it takes at least 40 acres of woodland 'pasture' to produce enough forage material to support one cow-calf pair - there's just not much in the woods for cows to eat; and cattle are notoriously poor timber-stand managers - they'll cause more damage to your timber and forest ecology than you'll ever recoup in cattle sales or meat production.
I'd have my doubts about whether it would be worth the expense to fence in the entire 26 mostly wooded acres - it'd cost quite a few $$$ for little economic return.

26 acres total... of that, about 12 are grass fields but they are not all connecting fields (small wooded areas in between, that total up to be more than the grass fields). I do have a low bottom that would be perfect for them to hide from the wind. It's an open area in one of the wooded areas so the trees and the surrounding hills would offer protection as described in previous postings are suggesting. So that would alleviate the need to construct a shelter. I use the fields for different purposes, so I was initially thinking that I could probably get away with only fencing off 4 - 6 for a couple of animals. I know when I was a kid, our pasture was only 10 acres and we had at least 8 cows at a time, but we fed them hay as well, and then rotated through the 8 cow "herd" selling a few cows one year and a few calves the next, maintaining a younger "herd." I wish I were older at the time so I could've learned from my Dad before he passed. One of our cleared grass fields is for family gatherings every Sunday (about an acre and a half or so with improvements) and that won't be fenced in. I have a pond towards the front on the edge of a dogleg woodline and one of the fields. I grow corn on 2 acres towards the back. The corn's purpose is more or less a food plot to bring the deer in, I really don't harvest any as the deer seem to enjoy doing that for me almost as much as I enjoy putting them in the freezer.

 

[XtremeDMax]

Fence and cross fence the whole 26 acres before you buy the first animal. You will need that additional acreage to help support your cows eventually anyway so you might as well build everything right rather than overgraze four acres and then have to do a rush job building fences and preparing paddocks.

I am a huge fan of doing things right the first time. Thank you.

 

[Roan]

Hello, Just a few idea's. Check out the 4-h program near you and see what the kids are showing. Will give you an idea what breeds you might like and you can sell to them in future. Crossbred blacks, shorthorns and herfs are most common. Upper Ohio is not cattle country so, its not like you have a lot to choose from locally, probably will have to drive a ways. See if your county has a cattlemans association also, we dont. They would be a good resourse. We have a barn for winter but only use it when its real bad out d/t like everone said, then you have to clean it and that can be tough in winter. We live in N ohio also. The cows actually like the cold. Its the ice and wet that get to them. Be prepared to buy hay, grazing only lasts to mid november if your lucky. Like the experts on here say, get your place ready before you get any animals. That is the safest way to handle cattle. Dont get a bull, you can find someone to AI. Best wishes, its a rewarding and fun investment, just dont plan on making any money. LOL

 

[XtremeDMax]

Thank you Roan. I had already come to the conclusion that I'd have to buy hay with all the snow we get. I also know I'm probably not gonna make any money off of it. I mainly want to be able to have beef that hasn't been injected full of growth horomones for my family, and sell a calf or cow every now and then to recoup a little bit of the cost. I'm sure that I'll probably pick your brain a lot, since you're so close... as long as you don't mind. LOL

 

[KNERSIE]

Have you considered Imbalancers Plus?