salebarn calves

[Anonymous]

I know i am going to stir up a lot of crap with this one but what the heck. I know most people say that salebarn cattle are their for one reason, because they were someone elses culls. i tend to agree with that. but what about the 4-7 month old heifers at the sale. a lot of people sell their calves at weining. Are these cattle worth buying and holding until they get of breeding age. thanks

 

[dun]

Some are, some aren't. You can run into the typical disposition/behavioral problems that can't be observed unless you can get into the pens with the animals and evaluate them. There is a chance they were implanted, some implants can cause fertility problems. Some weanling heifers of fast maturing breeds may be bred. In other words, they are pretty much unknown commodities. Could be candidates for calving problems, poor milk production, etc.
But I'm the last one the say that it shouldn;t be done. I've been a sucker for a pretty face too often.

dun

I know i am going to stir up a lot of be nice with this one but what the heck. I know most people say that salebarn cattle are their for one reason, because they were someone elses culls. i tend to agree with that. but what about the 4-7 month old heifers at the sale. a lot of people sell their calves at weining. Are these cattle worth buying and holding until they get of breeding age. thanks

 

[Campground Cattle]

I have bought replacement heifers from the sale barn, Never the cows or bulls. The heifers that I have bought I knew the rancher that was selling, and that has still been a 50/50 proposition. You really dont get to see a calfs disposition in the sale ring. I have a much higher sucess rate from private treaty probably 75/25%.

 

[shorty]

There are lots of good cattle going thru the sale barns but what always scares me iswhat they can pickup there and bring home to your other cattle ,I haven't bought any thing a an auction in years (had enough bad experiences years ago) but if I would I'd seperate them from my cattle for at least a few weeks , the cattle you bring home usually don't get sicks but yours will, we mostly keep a closed herd except for a new bull every 2-3 years and those are bought private from good places

 

[la4angus]

I think that the sale barn situation needs to be clarified.
What type of sale is it ?
#1 Regular weekly sale. Everything that everyone brings in
odd cows, worn out bulls culls, sick stuff, junk,
#2 Special consignment sales
#3 Graded feeder calf sales
#4 Special Dispersion sale along with the weekly sale
#5 Special Dispersion
#6 Assn. Sale
#7 Breeders Production Sale
Big difference between #1 and #'s 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7