New Girl (drought cow)

[farmerjan]

I buy sale barn cattle every week. Sometimes 2. Sometimes 10. I don't immediately introduce them to the cattle on my farm but they are not the evil thing some makes them to be. They need treated as if they have never had anything before but they aren't the plague.

Right there with you @kenny thomas ... we are careful but not as "fearful" as some .... got to have an eye for what you are buying also.

 

[MurraysMutts]

If I had a separate facility where I could isolate them I might consider doing some 'Sale Barn Rescuing" or scalping as we call it.
As it stands I am most reluctant to introduce anything from the sale barn into stock that has been isolated albeit current in
shots and treatment. I can fix hungry and thin but I would be concerned about hungry and thin being exposed to sick and diseased
while at the auction then hauling it home. Also were I to get involved with the trader cattle I might be better served to go
across the state line which might add another 30 miles on a round trip.
I think it is great how Murray can turn a hunk of coal into something of greater value. Actually I envy his cast iron gut got getting in and
out of some of the situations he finds himself. and a note to TR mistreated livestock is a symbol of bad manners and poor judgement.
easy to diagnose but difficult to eradicate,,,

Some years back after I got my main herd going, I told my buddy.... ya know, one day I'm just gonna buy a couple of those ol cheap things and see what happens.
He looked at me like I was nutz!

He was right mostly.
I am a bit nutz...

 

[kenny thomas]

Some years back after I got my main herd going, I told my buddy.... ya know, one day I'm just gonna buy a couple of those ol cheap things and see what happens.
He looked at me like I was nutz!

He was right mostly.
I am a bit nutz...

But you are making money on them is what counts. I will be selling calves soon that I bought with cows this summer. Some will bring more than I gave for the pairs. Are they pretty. Heck no but they will make money.

 

[MurraysMutts]

But you are making money on them is what counts. I will be selling calves soon that I bought with cows this summer. Some will bring more than I gave for the pairs. Are they pretty. Heck no but they will make money.

THATS the way I like to buy em!

I really like a free cow


And like @farmerjan said. Gotta be very mindful of what your buying. The more info you can get and the more you can look em over before the sale the better!
I do pass on a bunch more than I buy.
AND I did NOT just go out blindly and start buying "junk"
Like I said. It took a few years to get my main herd together before I even thought about it.

 

[Warren Allison]

If I had a separate facility where I could isolate them I might consider doing some 'Sale Barn Rescuing" or scalping as we call it.
As it stands I am most reluctant to introduce anything from the sale barn into stock that has been isolated albeit current in
shots and treatment. I can fix hungry and thin but I would be concerned about hungry and thin being exposed to sick and diseased
while at the auction then hauling it home. Also were I to get involved with the trader cattle I might be better served to go
across the state line which might add another 30 miles on a round trip.
I think it is great how Murray can turn a hunk of coal into something of greater value. Actually I envy his cast iron gut got getting in and
out of some of the situations he finds himself. and a note to TR mistreated livestock is a symbol of bad manners and poor judgement.
easy to diagnose but difficult to eradicate,,,

Here the sale is where yo go to buy good cattle. And where you go to sell your best cows. People figure there is something wrong with your cows, if you are scared to bring them to the sale barn. And too, if you go to buy some at the farm, the owners are afraid you are trying to skin them by paying less than they are worth. They'd rather take good cows to the sale where they know they will bring a fair price. And they are right. I wont, nor any successful trader I know won't, give anywhere near what they might be worth for them at the farm. I will only buy them at a price that I am certain is well below what they will bring at the sale if there was to be something wrong with them.

I see why people in other areas think that there is something wrong with cattle at a sale. I have seen post after post on here about someone carrying this cow or that cow to be "culled", because something is wrong with it. Here, if you do that you tell them to put it in the weigh pen. If you tell them to sell it by the head, the auctioneer will announce what is wrong with it, and it won't bring a thing. He will then ask the seller if they want to weigh it. If the seller isn't in there, they will send it to the weigh pen any way. Good cows are sold by the head. They have the month preg, if they are, marked. The owner stands up and tells about them when they come in the ring. You are giving your word in public statement for the whole barn to hear. You can get away maybe one time with not being honest, and then you are pretty much finished unless you haul them to a sale a long way away. And even then, there may be a sale barn owner, or auctioneer, or what y'all called "cow hookers" (I think)..we call them traders, there who knows you.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Here the sale is where yo go to buy good cattle. And where you go to sell your best cows. People figure there is something wrong with your cows, if you are scared to bring them to the sale barn. And too, if you go to buy some at the farm, the owners are afraid you are trying to skin them by paying less than they are worth. They'd rather take good cows to the sale where they know they will bring a fair price. And they are right. I wont, nor any successful trader I know won't, give anywhere near what they might be worth for them at the farm. I will only buy them at a price that I am certain is well below what they will bring at the sale if there was to be something wrong with them.

I see why people in other areas think that there is something wrong with cattle at a sale. I have seen post after post on here about someone carrying this cow or that cow to be "culled", because something is wrong with it. Here, if you do that you tell them to put it in the weigh pen. If you tell them to sell it by the head, the auctioneer will announce what is wrong with it, and it won't bring a thing. He will then ask the seller if they want to weigh it. If the seller isn't in there, they will send it to the weigh pen any way. Good cows are sold by the head. They have the month preg, if they are, marked. The owner stands up and tells about them when they come in the ring. You are giving your word in public statement for the whole barn to hear. You can get away maybe one time with not being honest, and then you are pretty much finished unless you haul them to a sale a long way away. And even then, there may be a sale barn owner, or auctioneer, or what y'all called "cow hookers" (I think)..we call them traders, there who knows you.

That's a great topic!
There are some folks around several places here that you know are junk dealers. Just like anywhere really.

There was a pen of calves the other day that looked ok. I asked the barn owner who's they were. He said... does it really matter?
Hell yes it does!

I couldn't believe it. He's been doing this his whole life. I sat on my hands...

 

[Warren Allison]

That's a great topic!
There are some folks around several places here that you know are junk dealers. Just like anywhere really.

There was a pen of calves the other day that looked ok. I asked the barn owner who's they were. He said... does it really matter?
Hell yes it does!

I couldn't believe it. He's been doing this his whole life. I sat on my hands...

Down here, if you saw a pen of 50 calves, they may have been brought in by anywhere from 10 to 50 different people, and there would be no way for anyone to know which calf was brought in by what owner. Well, I guess you could write the numbers down and go to the office and see who owned them, but I agree...what does it matter, really?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

You already gave us a speech about how the integrity of the seller is important. ??

 

[Travlr]

Some years back after I got my main herd going, I told my buddy.... ya know, one day I'm just gonna buy a couple of those ol cheap things and see what happens.
He looked at me like I was nutz!

He was right mostly.
I am a bit nutz...

When I got serious about sale barn cattle I started by helping out the vet that was doing the bangs tests and preg checking. Most of the cows were done before the sale started so I got all kinds of valuable information. I worked at three sale barns with three different vets. I'd haul one or two late bred cows home or some calves and put them in my corral by the road to get them used to the place and to watch them for problems, and pretty soon the neighbors caught on and began to show up and ask if the cows were for sale. Before too long I was buying six or so cows and most would be gone before I turned them in with the rest of the herd. I was making good money at the time and the cattle doubled my income. I never bought anything that I'd have to feed in order to sell it. I always wondered about that, but there was too much easy money in the bred cows.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Her heifer is in much better shape than she is. Lil calf is good sized. Wide across the butt/hips.
They are really going to town on that scrubby hay. Least it's not going to waste.

Less than a week ago...

 

[Travlr]

Her heifer is in much better shape than she is. Lil calf is good sized. Wide across the butt/hips.
They are really going to town on that scrubby hay. Least it's not going to waste.
View attachment 23004

Maybe it's my imagination... but I think she already looks better.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Maybe it's my imagination... but I think she already looks better.

Added a pic from last week.
Her rumen being full seems to have made a big difference.

I was gonna wait another week to put any more pics. But couldn't help myself. I thought she looked a tiny bit better myself.
And her udder seems to be looking better too. Calf is really nursing well

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Neighbor up the road has some skinny ass red angus, some 1st calvers that never bred back and run of the mill open or short bred.
Talked like he was taking them to town this week. There is close to a 30 cent spread between shells (skinny) and fed cows.
He has corn coming out the ears. (pun intended) and could put $250 or more on the weight they carry now plus what they would gain.
You can see ribs and hip bones so I would guess most of them in the nines.
What makes this more interesting is there are 13? or more horses running with the cattle, one or two of which he rides when moving cattle.
The rest belong to family and friends and as far as I know are fed without cost.
I mentioned that a little corn would put some quick dollars on the cows.
He said, "Ain't no way I'm putting $ 7 dollar corn in a skinny cow!"
I guess the old adage ''Different strokes for different folks'' still applies.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Neighbor up the road has some skinny ass red angus, some 1st calvers that never bred back and run of the mill open or short bred.
Talked like he was taking them to town this week. There is close to a 30 cent spread between shells (skinny) and fed cows.
He has corn coming out the ears. (pun intended) and could put $250 or more on the weight they carry now plus what they would gain.
You can see ribs and hip bones so I would guess most of them in the nines.
What makes this more interesting is there are 13? or more horses running with the cattle, one or two of which he rides when moving cattle.
The rest belong to family and friends and as far as I know are fed without cost.
I mentioned that a little corn would put some quick dollars on the cows.
He said, "Ain't no way I'm putting $ 7 dollar corn in a skinny cow!"
I guess the old adage ''Different strokes for different folks'' still applies.

Yep!
I'm feeding about 3/4 scoop of 20% cubes
And about 3/4 scoop of 14% creep.
Twice a day for now. May be on that for about a month before I move em to the other place with a bull. We will see.

Cost of gain is real
I also think mama cows are gonna be real pricey when the drought breaks...

 

[faster horses]

Sounds like they are doing good. I second whoever said to give them some corn. Energy adds weight, protein adds strength. You will see results faster feeding some energy (corn, oats, etc).
Anyway, good luck and it's so good that you care!!

 

[Double R Ranch]

There is definitely an improvement. Wow. I am surprised at how fast she's turning around. That's really great. Thanks for the early update. Keep them coming!

 

[gcreekrch]

Don't beat yourself up over buying her after selling some others. You said you did alright on the others and got quite a few off the feed bill. Yes this girl will eat more for a bit... but it is one cow/calf pair and she will make you money once she gets some weight on her. I'd have bought her and the others and the bred one for those cheap of a prices....
Let her work on that mediocre hay... BULK, fiber, in her system.. that's what she needs along with the extra protein you are supplying in the grain/cubes.

The idea IS to buy low and sell high.

 

[50/50Farms]

I've had a few that even on lush grass looked like they'd never get fat again, but by God they'd wean me a 4-way cross calf (don't ask) that kept 'em from a captive bolt gun year after year.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Went ahead and moved em to the lease place. She's healthy as a horse! No issues and seems to be doing well now that she's got something to eat.

Odd coincidence here. As it turns out, this pair came from the same man that sold Bessie a couple years ago. I couldn't believe it. That explains her calm demeanor. She really belongs at home with my pets, but she's gonna be in the wrong calving group. I hope she stays sweet with my range gurls...

Knowing that, I should've went ahead and bought the 2nd pair even tho she went a bit higher.

And yes. Pics are mandatory! Her calf was off playing with her new buddies...

She will be on the same feed regimen as everyone else here now. I bet she blossoms. There is still a little green left too. The cows have not been pounding the hay like at home.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Went ahead and moved em to the lease place. She's healthy as a horse! No issues and seems to be doing well now that she's got something to eat.

Odd coincidence here. As it turns out, this pair came from the same man that sold Bessie a couple years ago. I couldn't believe it. That explains her calm demeanor. She really belongs at home with my pets, but she's gonna be in the wrong calving group. I hope she stays sweet with my range gurls...

Knowing that, I should've went ahead and bought the 2nd pair even tho she went a bit higher.

And yes. Pics are mandatory! Her calf was off playing with her new buddies...
View attachment 23247View attachment 23248
She will be on the same feed regimen as everyone else here now. I bet she blossoms. There is still a little green left too. The cows have not been pounding the hay like at home.

So is the person who sold her and Bessie just overwhelmed with feeding his “pets”? Wasn’t Bessie in bad shape too?