Ok, I'm a rookie here, need advice starting out

[Utah]

Yep, I was raised a military brat and never even had a chance to raise anything but hamsters and tropical fish.

I need some advice from a few of you on what to do. I'd like to raise a couple of yearlings I think for the freezer next Sept/Oct.

Here is my situation:
I have 3 acres, I'm trying to get irrigation water. Power is at the street nearby but no connection for me yet. No shelters or corrals yet either. Relatively high water table - so a surface drain may work too. No culinary water yet. The fence is there but needs repair in several places. I dont want to go searching out lost animals.

I need to know what week to look for good prices, I only want two.
What waterers and feeders are best. What is the best way to get them
transferred to my property. How do I catch them in the pasture when needed? What are the auctions like in a small community like Northern Utah?

What else might I need to know besides that I am foolish for getting into this at this stage in my life?

Thanks for any reply!

Utah

 

[Bret]

Utah,
Spend a couple of days searching specific questions here. Most of your questions have been asked before. Don't research it to death. Just get started by making sure cattle are allowed at your site. Secure your fence and find a quality cattle person where you are to get you started. They will get you started. You may pay above market prices but you will get lots of follow up help and support. The cattle will give you free lessons every day. Have fun.

 

[Sundown Land & Livest]

I am also new to cattle(just fininshing our first year) and live in N. Utah. I have learned alot on these boards just crusing around gleeming info off of new and old posts. Hopefully we can bounce ideas off of each other and see what we can learn.

I bought my first group of calves at the Smithfield Livestock auction, which is held every thursday. You can find last weeks prices just by googleing Smithfield auction. Are you close to smithfield? or in the slc area?

Todd

 

[Beefy]

you need to get your facilities in order FIRST.
construct some kind of catch pen, make sure fences are in good order and get some source of water.

 

[Utah]

Thanks for the posts, There is a lot of stuff here on the boards to read - too much to search through. That's why I was asking.

I live in Davis County, but the Smithfield Auction may be a good way to go. There is also the Ogden Auction on Tuesdays but I was hoping to find some from a private seller.

Oh, I had some jerk come and steal 75 feet of fence this week so I got lots more to do there. What a joke! Stealing my fence.

How do I know if water from a surface well is ok for animals? what tests?

Are herefords best for a rookie?

And would I ever consider keeping horses together with the feeders in the same pasture? What are the problems?

Utah

 

[certherfbeef]

Here are some good links for you to look at.

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8875

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8591

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8195

These links all come from these boards. Have fun.