Shrink vs. Sale Order

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Stocker Steve

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I have two salesbarns I use. One is close and I can haul in the AM. The bigger one is farther and I need to ship the evening before, but they do run the overnight cattle through the ring first.

I realize you get up to 9% shrink with an overnight stand, but going though the sales ring early seems to be worth 3 to 5 dollars per hundred. I asked my trucker about minimizing shrink but he says the buyers adjust for fill... I am not so sure.

Any suggestions on how to manage the trade off between shrink and order through the sales ring?
 
I saw a report a while back that claimed that the majority of the shrink happens in the first 10 (maybe 20) miles of hauling.

dun
 
Through my own experimenting.... I feed a full package in the water the day before shipping of electrolytes and weighed them day of shipping and there wasn't much loss in weight (in fact one steer gained).

A pkg of electrolytes is what 2 bucks compared to a loss of 1.10/1.50 per POUND of calf weight lost.
 
Bovine Blue Lite. Smells like jello, mix it in their water a day or 2 before shipping to combat shrink. I have heard of farmers dumping salt in the water to get 'em to fill up before shipping.
 
most all the cattle will shirink 3% to 5% in the pens . that lose is maining from not drinking much if any water at the sale.as well as not having access to feed or hay in the pens. the buyers figure shrink as they buy the calves.scott
 

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