No Teeth

[ScottyB]

Wanted to get some of yalls opinions on a cow I purchased at the sale barn. She is a big braford cow that is 7 months bred, but she was sold as no teeth. I went out before and checked in the lot and really liked her. She has good bags, composition, and is gentle as far as I can tell so far. I wasn't going to buy her, because I wanted younger cows ,but no one bid on her at first and the price dropped to $560. So I am taking a chance on her.
This might be a loaded question, but How many years will she still produce and was this a good buy? How old are they when they are no teeth like that? Should I keep her as long as she calfs or don't take a chance on her?
I guess if anything I can let her calf and sale her back as a weigh cow, she was 1400 lbs, and keep her calf for awhile.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Lots of smooth mouth cows doing OK out there. As long as she has adequate hay or grass that's not grazed to short she should be able to make a decent living and raise you a calf. If she were mine, I would keep her until April or May and then ship her. Most years there is good grazing at that time of year and someone will usually take a chance on an older cow with a nice calf, especially if the cow has a good bcs. Also, the packer cow & calf markets are usually pretty good that time of year so they should bring good money either as a pair or if split. A word of caution-At the first hint of hot, dry weather get her gone. When there is plenty of grass, old cows have a few friends but when pastures start drying up so do their friends.

According to my calculator, you paid about $.40# for her. Sounds like a good buy for a large, 7 month bred cow. She should make you some money if marketed at the right time.

Just another 2 cents worth.

 

[BC]

You bought her at packer cow price on Saturday's market. Cows should be cheaper this week as lots of cows were around Friday and Saturday.

If she has adequate feed supplies, she should raise this calf. A zero mouth cow is about used up. When winter pasture was cheaper to put in,I used to buy old pairs and sell a big cow and big calf in the spring. One word of caution,sell the old cows in April while they are still buying meat for school lunches. Price usually breaks in May. You can keep the calf and graze it longer.

 

[ScottyB]

Thanks. i think that it was I will do. Keep her through the winter and sale back as a weigh cow and keep her calf and see what happens. I think I can make some money on her.

 

[TexasBred]

Thanks. i think that it was I will do. Keep her through the winter and sale back as a weigh cow and keep her calf and see what happens. I think I can make some money on her.

Give her a good worming and shots. Then just keep an eye on her body condition as she nurses her calf. If she starts losing condition fast get rid of her while she's worth the money. If you can keep her til next spring the calf should get your money back for you. Best of luck to you.

 

[bigbull338]

a smooth mouth old cow like that should raise the calf in her belly.but as said keep a close eye on her.an if she starts going down hill ship her.

 

[traderaaron]

This may wind up being the most money you've ever made on one animal if you don't keep her too long.

Remember the key here is the salvage value of the Cow is the primary cash flow, don't get wrapped up in valuing and focusing on the calf too much.

Hopefully she won't get thin on you after calving, that will be the main issue.

On today's market you bought a nice profit, your job is now to try and keep that profit and build on it if you can given any better market conditions going forward.

This year I railed 4 loads of broken mouth cows that I bought last Fall/Winter and pulled 390# calves off them in late August, started to get dry on me in June but July rains allowed me to get to my target marketing window for both the Cows and calves.

 

[farmwriter]

My parents still say the most money they ever made in cattle was buying some old bred cows, calving them out and reselling them.
Here's a brief dental overview you might like to see.
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1323/ANR-1323_3.pdf