ship it! most offered advice??

[dun]

all it has done is cost you heartache or money or both

I couldn;t agree more.

 

[piedmontese]

i just dropped a pair off at the salebarn today.beautiful first calf heifer weighing 1,300lbs.has a 2 month old bull calf that just is'nt growing as he should.he always looks and acts droopy.i think she is a poor milker,her bag never has looked very full.anyway i decided she was way too big to b raising such a little calf.got a couple more that may go after weaning too.

 

[hillsdown]

I have neighbors that do not cull for disposition and they end up being a pain for me as the cows would rather be with my calm herd more than their own and go through/over fences which is really not the greatest for me as I have a closed herd. Cull for disposition DB you will never regret it, you will be happy and your neighbors happier.. ;-)

BTW I have buffalo fencing and everything is hot, so it is not a fencing problem on my part just some crazy cattle on the neighbors part.. :?

 

[AngusLimoX]

I have a closed herd.

You mean "had" a closed herd. :wave:

 

[hillsdown]

I have a closed herd.

You mean "had" a closed herd. :wave:

No ALX, there still was a quarter of a mile with a cross fence separating them, thankfully. ;-) Also they have a really good herd health and vacc program, which is more than I can say for alot of the herds . So my little herd is still closed .. :wave:

 

[AngusLimoX]

I have a closed herd.

You mean "had" a closed herd. :wave:

No ALX, there still was a quarter of a mile with a cross fence separating them, thankfully. ;-) Also they have a really good herd health and vacc program, which is more than I can say for alot of the herds . So my little herd is still closed .. :wave:

Thats your story , you stick to it!

 

[hillsdown]

Thats your story , you stick to it!

Bite me .. :lol2: ;-)

Glad too see you back again , things were dull here for a while .. :tiphat:

 

[bigbull338]

well i maybe making 1 of of those hard to cull descsions this fall.ive got this cow that im waiting to calve.an she prolly shouldve calved by now.so this fall she will be going to the sale unless she has a calf soon.

 

[backhoeboogie]

They are your cows DB. Run 'em the way you want to run them.

7 of mine went out last month. It was a hard decision on two of them but they needed to go for one reason or another. I was glad to cull the others.

I still need another 55 or so head to get to where things need to be. The kind I am looking for are hard to come by and need to be suited for this triple digit environment. This means a terminal bull is not in the immediate forecast. Hence, there are a lot of nay sayers on here for me as well. They are not in my shoes.
You know your ground. You may have more robust fences to handle critters. Make the most nickels you can off of your unique situation and forget what everyone else thinks. What works for one person may not work for another - in another market.

who were they and what did they nay say???

I really don't want to throw out names since most of them are good folks in the first place. They know who they are Their biggest argument seems to be buying heavy breds or replacement cows versus growing your own. When I find something I want, I do indeed buy it. Other than that I am doing what they refer to as a "crap shoot" here in the forum.

Lost one calf out of a heifer this year and can't tell anyone why because I wasn't there when the calf was born. Had another heifer that didn't want to let a calf nurse. She had to be crated several times and that was a pain. All the rest were a success. Call me lucky. Right now I have 17 heifers (I think) that should calve out come next spring. I culled some and am down to that 17. Probably culled too many.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I have bought my share of discounted bred heifers. Kind of scary to calculate what the ones that are left after a second calf really cost. If my buying skill was as good as my culling skill I would be a wealthy man.

I have had better results buying bred cows, rather than heifers. I cull some cows every year but they seldom show up w/o a calf, and they have higher salvage value. I have gotten my best results by buying rwf cows and putting a black bull on them.

I do keep heifers out of about the top 20% of my cows. I am getting to the point I can start culling some older average cows and replace them with home raised heifers. It would be cheaper to buy replacement cows but money is not the only thing. :cboy:

 

[lavacarancher]

Not shipping crazies while building a herd will only lead to a larger more crazy and frustrating herd. The old saying about one bad apple will spoil the bunch is so true with cattle.

Truer words were never spoken, Jogee. It just takes one crazy to work the rest of them up into a frenzy. Next thing you know you got em trying to bust out of the pen or jumping, or worse, running through a fence. I got rid of a whole bunch last year when I ran out of hay and money to buy hay. The ones I kept are very calm and easy to work.

 

[longtimelurker]

DB

My only advice I can give about a cow herd is simple cattle are animals, not your children. Are you trying to run a zoo or a successful business. Animals can easily be replaced. Lost money cannot. As far as the neighbors wanting to sell at auction market rather than you hand picking the cattle and then paying the average price at the market how about you just take a gate cut of those for sale then pay the average sale price. Sounds like you want to pick the cream of the crop then pay the average price for the remainder of the lower quality cows.