New Additions

[creekdrive]

I'm pretty excited about these!
I've wanted a Speckle Park cow for a LONG time now. I had a 1/2 Speckle Park a few years ago that did not turn out very well. Needed a C-section, didn't want to take her calf. Gave me a solid grey bull calf. And was kind of a snotty thing when she wanted to be. Even after all that I still wanted to try another one - call me crazy!

Our auction that we uses had a Speckle Park featured calf sale this past Thursday. I've had it marked on the calendar for months.

This is what I came home with:

not sure what % Speckle they are, but it really doesn't matter to me. They 'look' like what I wanted and are built right IMO. And they seem to be pretty quiet heifers so far. Maybe they won't be the most profitable due to their color but they will sure make me happy looking at them Although the few times I've seen speckles go through the ring on a regular sale day - as long as it was clear to see that they were speckle park and not longhorn they didn't really take any dock if they were good animals.

 

[WalnutCrest]

My wife wants a couple of these.

My only excuse is we barely have enough dirt for what we already have! If we get the new farm, that excuse may go out the window!

Congratulations!

 

[mncowboy]

Pretty sharp! :clap:
When I opened it, my first impression was angus cattle after a snow storm

 

[creekdrive]

My wife wants a couple of these.

My only excuse is we barely have enough dirt for what we already have! If we get the new farm, that excuse may go out the window!

Congratulations!

I totally get why she would want some! They have really started gaining popularity here the last few years, and not just with the 'hobby' guys. A lot of bigger farms are starting to use them as well. For a relatively uncommon breed there seems to be a lot of quality animals. They have won a number of beef tasting competitions with Speckles too (that should be right up your alley with your Aubracs). At the sale Thursday there was roughly 580 speckle park influence calves. A little over 2400 calves total went through.

 

[creekdrive]

Pretty sharp! :clap:
When I opened it, my first impression was angus cattle after a snow storm :D

:lol: Those are over on the other thread I started today lol

 

[Ky hills]

I'm happy for you that you got them, I know the feeling of wanting a few of a certain breed or an individual calf of a particular bloodline. They look nice, and should do well.

 

[Nesikep]

I like the pattern on the whitefaced one

wow, 580 speckle park out of 2400 total is pretty high. I have a speckle park catalog from 10 years ago when I drove through your neck of the woods.. Really enjoyed my stop at Alta Cedar Shorthorn

 

[A.J.]

Congrats! They are some nice looking girls. Hopefully they will work out well for you. It's nice to have something out in the field you enjoy looking at.

 

[Muddy]

These females look so pretty and I like the pattern on the front one

 

[lithuanian farmer]

Congrats for your new purchase! I love their color.

 

[creekdrive]

Thanks all! So far they have settled in pretty good and I'm pleased as can be with them. I like how I got one with a white face, one with a black face and one with a speckle face. One of them is cycling today and driving all the bull calves across the alley bonkers.

I like the pattern on the whitefaced one

wow, 580 speckle park out of 2400 total is pretty high. I have a speckle park catalog from 10 years ago when I drove through your neck of the woods.. Really enjoyed my stop at Alta Cedar Shorthorn

How far east did your trip out this way take you Nesi? Alta Cedar (Alix, right?) is still quite a bit west (hour & a half roughly) of where we are.
I thought it was a good turnout for the breed. We didn't stay for the whole thing, but sounded like they had a lot of interest from guys wanting heifers to take home. These girls actually came through earlier in the day by accident as they were supposed to hold all the speckles till later in the sale so they would all be sold at once. Not sure what happened but I think it worked to my advantage as there wasn't as many interested buyers there yet.

 

[WalnutCrest]

<snip>
These girls actually came through earlier in the day by accident as they were supposed to hold all the speckles till later in the sale so they would all be sold at once. Not sure what happened but I think it worked to my advantage as there wasn't as many interested buyers there yet.

If I was the seller, I'd be pissed. Good for you for being early and paying attention. Good luck with them!

 

[Nesikep]

Alta Cedar just outside of Acme.. I was working in Balzac (I can't get over that name) at Rancher's Beef, a now defunct cooperative IIRC.. I was building and servicing packaging equipment at the time.. this was probably 2006 or so?

At auctions, as the seller I've learned to never be pizzed at the guy who bought them.. I'm pizzed at the runner up!

Auctions are strange sometimes.. Things you figure would go for a good amount have no interest, and some piece of garbage gets far more than it's worth

 

[creekdrive]

I don't think I ended up paying too much less for these than what they otherwise might have gone for but it's hard to know. One extra person bidding can make the price go up pretty quick. Looking at the sale results I think I paid about 5-10 cents less than the high price for heifers of a similar weight. It was still about 20 cents higher than the sale average - so that's enough of a premium to pay, IMO. If I had missed these girls though I probably would've had to take a group of 4+ or pick up singles that didn't fit with the rest of a sellers calves. 3 is exactly what I wanted so this was perfect.

Off topic a bit but, very few animals are bought without an order buyer at sales here. You can bid yourself but you better be prepared for those guys to run you up on the price of the first few you buy each day you go. There's a few guys that will buy a few replacement heifers every year, or some steers to feed. Most just have a buyer do it for them. We buy around 50 head of flyweights (350 lbs or less) every fall and have found it easier to just pay the commission to have a guy buy them for us. The guy we use is also a field rep for the auction and one of their auctioneers. The $4 per head he charges to buy them for us is well worth it as they don't bid him up like they do us. And we don't have to sit there all day. If he gets some bought we just have to go pick them up and pay for them. Works well for both of us I think.

Anytime someone in the stands bids up our calves I take it as a compliment, whether they take them home or not. A guy that we pasture next to, but don't know real well, bid on some of our heifer calves last fall. They sell a lot of bred heifers every year and have a good reputation. For him to bid on our heifers, I definitely think it's a compliment and we were sure to thank him for bidding on them even though he didn't take them home. Can't be too upset he didn't go higher, as everybody, rightfully is trying to make money.

Alta Cedar just outside of Acme.. I was working in Balzac (I can't get over that name) at Rancher's Beef, a now defunct cooperative IIRC.. I was building and servicing packaging equipment at the time.. this was probably 2006 or so?

I wonder if they moved? I googled them for the fun of it and their website says Alix? Alix would be a lot closer to our area... I don't think that huge mall that they have just outside Balzac would've been open when you were there? Cross Iron Mills it is called. It's no West Ed but it's still quite something. I like it better in a lot of ways, but both places are like a zoo and stress me out with so many people in one place. They have a huge Bass Pro Shop there, I like looking around in there just for the fun of it.

 

[gizmom]

I think my favorite it the speckled faced calf but I really like all of them. I'm glad you were able to get them it will be fun seeing your photos as they develop! How are you going to breed them?

Gizmom

 

[creekdrive]

I think my favorite it the speckled faced calf but I really like all of them. I'm glad you were able to get them it will be fun seeing your photos as they develop! How are you going to breed them?

Gizmom

Speckle face is my favorite too - right now.
Plan is to breed them to Black Angus. I like Red cows, but I'm not sold on the idea of Red Speckle. Not sure if these carry red or not... My husband says he likes the Red Speckle so maybe one day down the road we'll try that just for the heck of it.

 

[talltimber]

They look good. I like those speckled cows, my grandpa liked them, had several years ago. I have some old pics of him and a few of them.

 

[Nesikep]

I know it was a multi-generation family farm.. They've been in shorthorns for decades.. But perhaps the the father passed away and the son has another place (in Alix).. Just speculation on my part. I do remember a very nice older SH bull they had.. about 8 years old and just a big 2500 lb pet

 

[Backbone Ranch]

Very pretty heifers! I hope that they do well for you.