Menu
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Forums
Cattle Boards
Beginners Board
Ranching as a Hobby?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support CattleToday:
Message
<blockquote data-quote="msscamp" data-source="post: 214506" data-attributes="member: 539"><p>It is not my intent to discourage you in your endeavors, but it sounds like your looking to do this alone - at least for a while. If you're hoping to find that special someone to help you, be very, very careful in your selection, as it takes a certain kind of woman to handle the ranch life. ;-) If I'm reading your post right and that is the case I see a couple of problems as this is not an easy undertaking for 2 people (let alone one) a lot of times, depending on the type of operation you're looking to get into. The first problem being that, between practice and games/meets or possibly both, coaching (depending on what sport or sports) tends to require a considerable amount of time - I have an older brother who teaches/coaches so I'm well aware of the time contraints it places on a person. Depending on the type of operation you opt for and the set-up you can afford to buy, who is going to be feeding, checking, and/or taking care of your cattle while you are otherwise occupied on these nights? What if they get out? Who is going to get them back in? Are you prepared to settle the damage if someone hits them on the highway? Are you going to have enough time to spend with your animals that you can tell when one is coming down sick and be able to take appropriate steps to head it off to avoid illness? If not, are you going to have the time required to doctor that animal - maybe over the course of several days - and get him back to health? Do you know what to feed them to keep them healthy and growing? Regardless of how well one plans a cow/calf operation, there is always the potential for a calving cow to run into problems that require human intervention - that potential increases when one is buying bred cattle because there is no way of knowing what they were bred to. The potential for calving problems pretty much doubles when 2 year olds are added into the mix. Are you prepared to do what it takes to get your cattle properly calved out in order to insure a maximum calf crop and that the mothers remain healthy? Bottle calves also require a significant time commitment due to feedings. Are you ready to commit to that? Do you know what the signs of scours are and how to recognize the different types? How about effective treatments? Are you prepared to give up trips and vacations when things don't work out and there is no one to look after your cattle? That's a part of ranching, too, even on a hobby level. Can your significant other accept that and deal with it? It sounds very easy, but the reality is much different. When one gets into cattle, one has to be able to deal with hot temperatures, moody and uncooperative cattle, protective momma's that are absolutely certain that your only intent is to murder their calf, snow, rain, cold, dust, cow crap, bulls kicking the gate back into your face, knee-deep muck that will suck your boots off if you're not careful, knowing how to fix a malpresentation in a calving heifer/cow, bottling dummy calves, dealing with scours, stripping down on the porch because you're covered in calf scours after doctoring them or just plain old cowcrap after working them, catching the little buggars and stuffing pills down their throats, fixing fence, rounding up cattle that have gone through fences on a whim, broken water lines, no water because something went wrong and knowing how to fix it, hauling hay (unless one is very, very lucky), bad attitudes (and not just on the part of the cattle), busted fences, calves that get crowded through the feed bunk and have to be put back in, and a whole multitude of other things as well. Are you ready for that? Stepper has a very good idea - find a local rancher and volunteer to help him so you have a realistic idea of what is involved with raising cattle, in terms of time, money, and knowledge required - and to gain some hands-on experience under the guidance of someone who is more knowledgeable than you are, and go from there. Yes, it is a wonderful lifestyle, very rewarding and fulfilling, but it does come with a price - the biggest one being that your life now revolves around these animals that you have chosen to be responsible for and that are dependent on you. As I said, I'm not trying to discourage you, but you did ask for feedback, opinions, and input. Just my thoughts.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="msscamp, post: 214506, member: 539"] It is not my intent to discourage you in your endeavors, but it sounds like your looking to do this alone - at least for a while. If you're hoping to find that special someone to help you, be very, very careful in your selection, as it takes a certain kind of woman to handle the ranch life. ;-) If I'm reading your post right and that is the case I see a couple of problems as this is not an easy undertaking for 2 people (let alone one) a lot of times, depending on the type of operation you're looking to get into. The first problem being that, between practice and games/meets or possibly both, coaching (depending on what sport or sports) tends to require a considerable amount of time - I have an older brother who teaches/coaches so I'm well aware of the time contraints it places on a person. Depending on the type of operation you opt for and the set-up you can afford to buy, who is going to be feeding, checking, and/or taking care of your cattle while you are otherwise occupied on these nights? What if they get out? Who is going to get them back in? Are you prepared to settle the damage if someone hits them on the highway? Are you going to have enough time to spend with your animals that you can tell when one is coming down sick and be able to take appropriate steps to head it off to avoid illness? If not, are you going to have the time required to doctor that animal - maybe over the course of several days - and get him back to health? Do you know what to feed them to keep them healthy and growing? Regardless of how well one plans a cow/calf operation, there is always the potential for a calving cow to run into problems that require human intervention - that potential increases when one is buying bred cattle because there is no way of knowing what they were bred to. The potential for calving problems pretty much doubles when 2 year olds are added into the mix. Are you prepared to do what it takes to get your cattle properly calved out in order to insure a maximum calf crop and that the mothers remain healthy? Bottle calves also require a significant time commitment due to feedings. Are you ready to commit to that? Do you know what the signs of scours are and how to recognize the different types? How about effective treatments? Are you prepared to give up trips and vacations when things don't work out and there is no one to look after your cattle? That's a part of ranching, too, even on a hobby level. Can your significant other accept that and deal with it? It sounds very easy, but the reality is much different. When one gets into cattle, one has to be able to deal with hot temperatures, moody and uncooperative cattle, protective momma's that are absolutely certain that your only intent is to murder their calf, snow, rain, cold, dust, cow crap, bulls kicking the gate back into your face, knee-deep muck that will suck your boots off if you're not careful, knowing how to fix a malpresentation in a calving heifer/cow, bottling dummy calves, dealing with scours, stripping down on the porch because you're covered in calf scours after doctoring them or just plain old cowcrap after working them, catching the little buggars and stuffing pills down their throats, fixing fence, rounding up cattle that have gone through fences on a whim, broken water lines, no water because something went wrong and knowing how to fix it, hauling hay (unless one is very, very lucky), bad attitudes (and not just on the part of the cattle), busted fences, calves that get crowded through the feed bunk and have to be put back in, and a whole multitude of other things as well. Are you ready for that? Stepper has a very good idea - find a local rancher and volunteer to help him so you have a realistic idea of what is involved with raising cattle, in terms of time, money, and knowledge required - and to gain some hands-on experience under the guidance of someone who is more knowledgeable than you are, and go from there. Yes, it is a wonderful lifestyle, very rewarding and fulfilling, but it does come with a price - the biggest one being that your life now revolves around these animals that you have chosen to be responsible for and that are dependent on you. As I said, I'm not trying to discourage you, but you did ask for feedback, opinions, and input. Just my thoughts. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Cattle Boards
Beginners Board
Ranching as a Hobby?
Top