Poor cattle

[TheBullLady]

The past couple of weeks I've spent hours driving up and down the roads of central Texas. It is totally amazing to me how many herds of really really poor cattle are out there! For every good looking herd of 6+ BCS, there are 10 herds of 3's and 4's. What's the deal??? Is it because folks are just holding on to cows instead of selling, even though the prices are so good? Or is it folks that are "weekenders" that don't know what they are supposed to look like? It's got me baffled! I didn't see this many skinny cows in the drought of '95. :roll:

 

[dun]

Interesting that you should mention this. Yesterday I had to leave the farm and go look at some cattle about 35 miles from here. Nearly all of the cows I saw were in pretty sorry condition, and the pastures were grazed nearly to dirt. The pastures that had green looked like a pooltable, just a fuzz of green, but most were brown and as poor or poorer looking then the cows. I think that too many people are trying to take advantage of the high prices and are drastically overstocking. This past winter, even with lots of hay available, they're not feeding anything other then the overgrazed pastures. I had assumed it was a local thing, didn't realize the condition was wide spread. The herd sizes varied from around 20 head to 100 or more. Part of the problem could be the high cost of fertilizers with the oil prices being what they are, but I don;t see this having happened over just one year. On the old farm that would support 1 pair per 3 qacres for 6-8 months and needed hay the rest of time (that was during the 3 year drought) they jerk is now running closer to 5 head per acre and no hay. A lot of the lack of hay feeding seems to fall into the mindset of "if there's green grass they don;t need hay". Idiots

dun

 

[buckaroo_bif]

I see that here and there in my area n-w oklahoma. up here it seems to be just who is the operator some guys just Will Not spend the money to keep their cows in good condition. One guy in particular I was really considering to call someone and report him a few years back. His cows still look fairly poor now but they are in good shape....for him. Chaps my be nice...
Lot of older cows in a lot of herds here too. Then you have the guys that have excellent stock year in year out. But they have the money and time to keep them looking that way.
There are some really Stupid people out there too that turn loose cows on self feeders filled with starter pellets and then wonder why 54 head end up bloated and daid! Now that really chaps my be nice!

 

[dun]

There are some really Stupid people out there too that turn loose cows on self feeders filled with starter pellets and then wonder why 54 head end up bloated and daid! Now that really chaps my be nice!

At least they die with a full belly.

dun

 

[fellersbarnoneranch]

There are some really Stupid people out there too that turn loose cows on self feeders filled with starter pellets and then wonder why 54 head end up bloated and daid! Now that really chaps my be nice!

At least they die with a full belly.

dun

Hate to say, but that brings to mind another issue currently in the public eye.

 

[buckaroo_bif]

There are some really Stupid people out there too that turn loose cows on self feeders filled with starter pellets and then wonder why 54 head end up bloated and daid! Now that really chaps my be nice!

At least they die with a full belly.

dun

oh yeah they had full bellies alright! would you believe this guy calved out over 150 bred heifers this winter! or his hands did i should say.
his rule of thumb is pull the calf after 20 minutes if she is not delivering!
i asked one of his hands about that the other day, he said they give her an hour and a half thank God! jeeesh! i guess someone already mentioned *idiots* here... now he's selling pairs... :shock:

 

[Victoria]

It is sad to see the number of people who do not look after their animals. Neither ignorance nor stupidity is an excuse. I always hate selling our calves. I hope and pray they will go to people who treat them right not to those that don't feed them, check them or given them proper veterinarian help when needed. Through this BSE thing up here I have seen some sad cases go through the auction marts. There was one couple that brought in their cows all bone racks to sell. The woman was crying and saying how much she loved her cows. Yeah right, if you love your cows so much you aren't going to let them be miserable and hungry. If you can't feed them you will sell them right away to someone who can. The prices were pretty low on those cows, if they had sold them in better shape they would have brought more money.

 

[eric]

I've been to probably 10 salebarns in the past 3-4 weeks and I also was amazed at the number of skinny, undernurished cows for sale. I just figured it was a salebarn thing, but as I'm driving around, I am also noticing it more and more. Maybe they have always been there, and I am just noticing it more as I now have cows, but it definately seems folks are skimping on the winter feed bill.

 

[Craig-TX]

Just to keep things lively I'll take a little different stance, assuming the cattle are on good grass. 3's aren't desirable. But the 4's and 5's are the money makers. IMO a 4 will make you more money than a 6. Not as pretty to look at but they are putting grass into their baby instead of onto themselves.

Craig-TX

 

[Dave]

It might be because of all the rain that you have had in your area this year. We had an abnormally dry winter and all the cattle you see around here are fat. Rain is harder on cattle than most people realize. It takes a lot more energy when the cows are soaking wet every day. Some people are use to feeding just so much hay per day or for the winter, so they don't increase it when it rains.
Normally this time of the year I can buy thin bred cows or pairs to turn out. But with our low rain fall the cows are all fat already. The few thin ones I have seen are sick, not under fed.
Dave

 

[Craig-TX]

It might be because of all the rain that you have had in your area this year. We had an abnormally dry winter and all the cattle you see around here are fat. Rain is harder on cattle than most people realize. It takes a lot more energy when the cows are soaking wet every day. Some people are use to feeding just so much hay per day or for the winter, so they don't increase it when it rains.
Normally this time of the year I can buy thin bred cows or pairs to turn out. But with our low rain fall the cows are all fat already. The few thin ones I have seen are sick, not under fed.
Dave

Interesting theory. You are certainly correct that winter rain is hard on cattle, especially when it's mixed with wind. I'll take snow in the 20s any night over rain in the 30s. Now when it comes to what our friends in Canada, the northern great plains and upstate NY put up with, I'd just as soon take a whipping.

Craig-TX

 

[buckaroo_bif]

yeap, rain is much harder on cattle than snow and if they have to pull mud to get around it is no wonder they would be not gaining well. we saw it this winter with cattle on wheat. several herds only gained a little over 200 lbs in 4 months when i have seen them gain nearly 300.

 

[dun]

And yet, even with knee deep mud and wet windy cold miserable winter, the girls still got fat over the winter on stockpiled fescue. Not as fat as in previous years, but still fat. Later we did start feeding some old fescue hay, but that was to keep the pastures from getting torn up so bad. Maybe I need to feed grain to skinny them down.

dun

 

[ollie]

On this topic I have three or four of the sorriest cows you ever laid eyes on. If I took them to the sale they would't bring 200.00. One in particular was stiffled two or three years ago. She just had her third calf since the stiffle. At 650 each I would consider that a pretty good ROI. I'll cull hard when the price goes down. Now if they have one teat left or can gain the strength to calve they are part of the herd. Commercial herd that is.

 

[Craig-TX]

Slight hyperbole perhaps but makes sense to me.

Craig-TX

 

[cherokeeruby]

A wet winter is very hard on cattle, not only do they get rained on with cold rain there is no dry place to lay down and the cold wet ground draws a lot of body heat. We were complaining a few years ago about how sorry our cows were looking and our vet said all the cattle around here were looking bad due to the cold wet winter.

 

[Medic24]

Aaaaaahhhh, for this time of the year, there are bargains to be had at the sale barns, from all those poor cattle, if your willing to take a chance! :cboy:

 

[Crowderfarms]

One would think with strong markets, that folks would put money into existing herds, knowing their investment will be returned. Not all feel this way, I know, but animal Husbandry is one of my strongest subjects.You may be wore out from yor day job, and it might be cold, and raining or snowing, but your stock has to be fed,minerals put out, cows and cattle checked., hay put out etc. I see in this area about 75% of cattle well cared for, horses seem to fare the worst. Too many people think cattle just need a couple "trace" mineral blocks and some rolls left over from a neighbor from 2 seasons ago, or ones advertised for 10.00 a roll delivered...You know what your getting for 10 bucks, rotted broom sage and unfertilized grass hay. My point and quetion is why would you not take care of your stock? why let them get to the "sorry" condition?

 

[buckaroo_bif]

And yet, even with knee deep mud and wet windy cold miserable winter, the girls still got fat over the winter on stockpiled fescue. Not as fat as in previous years, but still fat. Later we did start feeding some old fescue hay, but that was to keep the pastures from getting torn up so bad. Maybe I need to feed grain to skinny them down.

dun

:lol: i'd probably wanna skinny em down too dun. this feller i know over in missouri was telling me you all have special tub grinders over there for grinding rocks! maybe you could try a grain ration with ground rocks for filler that might skinny em down pretty good!

 

[dun]

special tub grinders over there for grinding rocks! maybe you could try a grain ration with ground rocks for filler that might skinny em down pretty good!

I'ld sure like to find one of those grinders. Maybe I could get some of our rocks down to gravel(head size) and use them for fill

dun