Sheeps vs Cattle

[hurleyjd]

So.... I have a piddly 35 acre farm and am not likely to have more. Land prices are just too expensive and folks aren't selling. No generational wealth or land "in the family", either, and I'm starting as a brand new farmer/rancher with virtually no help from folks I know. The property was neglected for years, so I'm having to replace shop/shed/hay barn and house, which are either too small to meet need or just too far gone to justify renovation. Replacing some fences as well. Cost is substantial. Oh, and I'm fully disabled (thanks, flu shot).

Starting a new operation is tough, tougher if you're disabled, and tougher still if you don't do the right things.

I have cattle on the property right now. 13 cow/calf pairs is about all I understand my acreage will support. With my disability and inability to move quickly, I'm wondering if maybe I should go down to a smaller animal (sheep). By my math, if I set aside 30 acres and assume 1 cow per 3 acres per year of rotational grazing, I can have 10 cows to breed and sell maybe 10 calfs each year. On that same amount of land, I can have 90 ewes and sell as many or more lambs each year. Income is higher per steer vs per lamb, so it is hoped the difference in number of lambs raised and sold will make up for that. Looks like about $1200 per steer is going rate in my area, and $270 per lamb (based on average weight of steer I sold last year, and a guess on weight of lambs I might sell).

Any other disabled folks dealing with cattle here? I'm just concerned I won't be able to load them on a stock trailer or otherwise work with them due to mobility issues.

If you are disabled and have the means to live without animals then you should set back and enjoy the country life. Cows and other animals are high labor requirements. Cow and calf operations are 24/7. Sometimes in the middle of the night you can get a call from the sheriff office that someone has run through your fence and your animals are out. You need to get them up in a pen or another field until fences are repaired. Right now I will have to hay and feed also I need to take my own advice. Grass is getting green but not growing as fast as I want it to.

 

[mml373]

Appreciate all the replies, folks. I'm going to start with St. Croix and White Dorper and see how things go.

Some have asked about fences and my health. I have high tensile perimeter fence, hot, with portable mesh type fence on the interior that is also hot. Rams and ewes are separate and will move onto new grass every few days once things grow up.

As far as disability, a flu shot required by the military during my active duty years destroyed my spinal cord. A former competitive runner and fully fit and healthy, I can't run anymore or move too quick. I'm strong but don't have coordination and balance like I used to. My rams are OK to deal with now but I suspect when the ewes come into heat they will not be so nice. They have had a lot of handling before I got them, and I handle them every day. I won't have a very large operation, which will make it easier to personally engage with the animals daily than perhaps someone who's running a lot of sheep on big land.

 

[mml373]

If you are disabled and have the means to live without animals then you should set back and enjoy the country life. Cows and other animals are high labor requirements. Cow and calf operations are 24/7. Sometimes in the middle of the night you can get a call from the sheriff office that someone has run through your fence and your animals are out. You need to get them up in a pen or another field until fences are repaired. Right now I will have to hay and feed also I need to take my own advice. Grass is getting green but not growing as fast as I want it to.

I get what you're saying but could never take life so easy. (Former competitive runner, retired military, and always have to be doing something).

 

[puzzled in oregon]

St. Croix and White Dorper are a good choice. If dogs or predators are a concern, woven wire perimeter can be helpful.
Wish you the best

 

[Gobbler'sKnob]

Appreciate all the replies, folks. I'm going to start with St. Croix and White Dorper and see how things go.

Some have asked about fences and my health. I have high tensile perimeter fence, hot, with portable mesh type fence on the interior that is also hot. Rams and ewes are separate and will move onto new grass every few days once things grow up.

As far as disability, a flu shot required by the military during my active duty years destroyed my spinal cord. A former competitive runner and fully fit and healthy, I can't run anymore or move too quick. I'm strong but don't have coordination and balance like I used to. My rams are OK to deal with now but I suspect when the ewes come into heat they will not be so nice. They have had a lot of handling before I got them, and I handle them every day. I won't have a very large operation, which will make it easier to personally engage with the animals daily than perhaps someone who's running a lot of sheep on big land.

Though it can happen, and I've had it happen while working sheep that didn't know me in a corral, I've had plenty more close calls with cattle. Even as tame as they can be made, it doesn't take much to get accident'd by something that big and they're a hell of a lot harder to get out from under.