Rookie Looking For Answers To Some Basics

[backhoeboogie]

Get yourself some nurse cows. A heifer or two and keep them gentle from bottle babies.

Go to the sale barn and buy split beef calves. Someone will be selling an aged cow with a young calf at her side. If no one is bidding on the pair, the ring man might offer them as a split. Buy those calves. THat cow will go for hamburger. At 500 pounds they are worth 25% more on average.

If you put 4 calves on a cow, your feed cost in to that cow is less than $1 a day per calf. Wean them at 90 days.

Lately I have just been putting three calves on the nurse cows and turning them out to pasture once the calves are good and grafted.

You can market 80 calves a year on 10 good nurse cows - if you have the time.

Some one mention Banamine. Absolutely. It will bust a fever quick. Nuflour is good too for pneumonia. I wouldn't buy a calf without having Nuflour and Banamine in this Texas climate. Heat will get you into trouble pronto with "shipping fever"

 

[Suzie Q]

Another one who suggests a nurse cow. Better for the calf and less work for you.

We wean at 6 months but we are not selling at that time and not looking for the best profit. We do what is best for the calf.

 

[TexasBred]

Ok young man YOU referred to yourself as a rookie so knowing this I'd recommend you buy weaned calves and go from there. They will cost you more money but you'll make most of that back in not having half of them die on you and not spending the rest of your money on vets and meds. Raising bottle babies is not a thing of "luck". It's more of having the gift to do it and do it right.

 

[mjnetex]

I too recommend nurse cows, if and when you go the baby calf route. But be careful buying nurse cows....
be sure all four quarters work and the cow will accept calves. Don't believe anything anyone who
wants to sell you something says. SEE FOR YOURSELF. Don't do anything without
the advice of someone with EXPERIENCE. Be persistent, be annoying if necessary!
Be aware of coccidiosis! Very easy to cure, you must recognize it quickly (runny poop, calf feels fine, have vet
look at a fecal sample).
As a previous post advises, I too liked putting three calves on
each cow and turning them out and just feeding the cows (and calves) twice a day, much easier than putting
them together twice a day. Two cows and six calves.....one big happy family! (one cow by herself won't be happy)
Also, you really must, in my opinion, others may differ--if you go with dairy-cross calves--buy from a dairy that you can trust
to leave the calves with mama for at least a couple of days, I did best with calves left with mama
for five days, but that was an exceptional dairy, very clean, obviously took great care of their cows.
If the cows aren't healthy and happy, don't take the calves, even if they are practically GIVEN to you.

 

[chippie]

How much will you be paying for the 3 month old calves?

 

[adpostel]

Three month oldish calves, not sure of exact birth date, off the bottle.... 70 bucks each for 10 of them..... We also bought 3 others that were off the bottle already, but paid 130 each for them. So by next week we will have all 13. Holsteins and Jerseys.

 

[chippie]

$130 is way too much money and $70 is pushing it. I paid $15 for the last day old Holstein bull calves that I bought, and I gave a way a month old Jersey bull.

You would be better off getting some nurse cows and getting in touch with a dairy and picking up free bull calves (or paying very little for them).

Keep accurate records about feed cost, hay and veterinary care. Even if you don't have to pay to pasture them, it still costs you $ to go check them (unless you live at the same location as the calves).

It can take a lot of feed to get weight on a Holstein. They are not genetically engineered to have a lot of muscling like a beef breed. I sold an 800 lb Holstein a several months ago. He brought $80 per 100. I was very surprised and did a happy dance :banana: He was a big raw boned thing that was about 10 months old. I paid $15 for him. He was raised on one of our cows, then turned out with supplemental grain to keep him used to being penned. He was far from being finished. His selling price was exceptional -- not normal. I sold his friend at 7 months old and he only brought $300 (weighed 550). I lost money on him. I guess that I may have broken even between the two considering the amount of feed they ate.
The jersey steers will bring much less than a Holstein at auction.

You might want to look into finishing them out and marketing them as freezer beef. You'll get a better return on your investment.

Good luck.