I'm writing a book and am doing some research so I thought i'd ask on here since cows are everyone's business here
The book takes place on an beef cattle farm I was wondering if I could get some specifics just so my time line is right.
When are calves usually born? is it a spring time thing? I assume it's all planned out by the farmer/rancher (i'm sorry not too clear on the terminology it's in it's rough staged )
What type of cow is used for beef typically? the ones on this farm are organic beef cows ... is there any specific type I should use?
What is the process through the year? How old are the cattle before their slaughtered? (i read somewhere it was 24months is that for veal or beef?)
When are they taken to the summer pasture? when do they come back?, what is done with them during winter?
I was thinking of having the herd split in half males for beef, females for milk. do people do that? lol and how many cows would be on an average farm run by five to six people... is that ridiculous? can five people work a farm productively? the idea is the foreman (is that even right lol) and a few farm hands , the farm owners son and then the main character. Is it possible to run a productive cattle farm with that many people? if not then how many?
is there anything else that I need to include that I don't know about? lol that's probably a lot
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks
The book takes place on an beef cattle farm I was wondering if I could get some specifics just so my time line is right.
When are calves usually born? is it a spring time thing? I assume it's all planned out by the farmer/rancher (i'm sorry not too clear on the terminology it's in it's rough staged )
What type of cow is used for beef typically? the ones on this farm are organic beef cows ... is there any specific type I should use?
What is the process through the year? How old are the cattle before their slaughtered? (i read somewhere it was 24months is that for veal or beef?)
When are they taken to the summer pasture? when do they come back?, what is done with them during winter?
I was thinking of having the herd split in half males for beef, females for milk. do people do that? lol and how many cows would be on an average farm run by five to six people... is that ridiculous? can five people work a farm productively? the idea is the foreman (is that even right lol) and a few farm hands , the farm owners son and then the main character. Is it possible to run a productive cattle farm with that many people? if not then how many?
is there anything else that I need to include that I don't know about? lol that's probably a lot
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks