Skinny culled cows

[Central Fl Cracker]

I just sold a few older and skinny cows that did not bring very much money since they went for hamburger prices. My questions is: How can you put some weight on your culled cows economically?

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Thats easy just buy you some cheap feed.

 

[Joy of Texas]

Economically you can't right now. The price of feed goes up by the day. But the price of cattle isn't. If you had a good fertilized coastal pasture you could turn them out on. That would be about the only way to come out without putting to much into them. I decided to go ahead and haul mine. I got next to nothing . But I look at it this way,atleast I don't have to put anymore into them.
Things are not looking to good for the cattle market at the moment.

 

[1982vett]

Give em a good worming and put them on some excess (not needed for hay or productive animals) grass. If they are old and have bad teeth, I believe it will be a waste of time and grass that could be utilized by other productive animals. In my opinion, it is going to be hard to break even if you can find some of Red Bull's cheap feed. You will almost have to convert pound for pound to come out buying feed. Not going to happen.

 

[Brandonm22]

The best answer may be to not keep them around so long that they get to be old and skinny. A 12 year old bred cow in good flesh could bring $800 or more; while an emaciated 14 year old whose teeth are gone who fought off pneumonia and her last calf could bring as low as $300. It is hard to know when to cash in a good productive cow; but with what replacements are bringing it probably pays not to wear them out.

 

[bigbull338]

even with the high feed prices you can still put weight on them with feed an hay.put them on feed for 45 days an worm them.an theyll gain 100lbs pretty quick.

 

[SRBeef]

One way I found that puts weight on at maybe just the cost of some temporary electric fence is to pasture them on some corn stalks/residue. I don't know if that is possibility in all locations but maybe there is some other crop residue nearby a neighbor would let you pasture ahead of planting.

In the north there are a lot of stalks standing both in the fall and early spring. Those cows will find more corn out there than you might think and the price is right.

 

[KNERSIE]

Over here a fat old cow will sell for decent money, but a skinny one will be hard to give away.

For me it has always been worth my while to get them fat before selling, even if I had to buy feed. Fattening a mature (even old cow) from being suckled down to slaughter condition doesn't take long if she isn't parasite infested. Shouldn't take longer than about 6 weeks. I have found that pasture with a energy suppplement works very well if you have grass available.

Older cattle often don't chew whole grain well.

 

[JR Cattle Co.]

Thats easy just buy you some cheap feed.

What's that??? I don't believe there is such a thing.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

If there was i would be easy JR.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Thats easy just buy you some cheap feed.

The only cheap purchased feed in this country is usually grass hay, but they will not gain much on that. Corn stubble is a better idea but it is not readily available.

I think buying thin cows in the spring (that probably have lost their calf) is the best option for a grazer. They should put on 150 to 200# by the time the cull market peaks in late summer.

 

[Central Fl Cracker]

If I let the skinnie cows graze and fed 1 bag of range cubes per day how long would I have to bag feed them to gain 150 more lb's?

 

[bigbull338]

you could graze an feed them 45 days.an if they arnt wormy or sick they should gain 100 pounds or more in that time.

 

[TexasBred]

If I let the skinnie cows graze and fed 1 bag of range cubes per day how long would I have to bag feed them to gain 150 more lb's?

Feed them something with some grain in it. Cubes as fed as a protein supplement, thus not a huge amount of energy. And don't feed by the bag but rather "X" number of pounds per cow per day.

 

[bigbull338]

youd be better off feeding them 40% cottonseed or soybean meal.an feed them 3lbs a day.with 1.2lb protine plus pasture they should gain weight.if you was feeding cubes.youd need to feed 5 or 6lbs a day.at a cost of .75 a day.

 

[mnmtranching]

I agree that you need to start with healthy animals. To buy culls with current feed costs is risky, if you already own the old cow and are pretty sure of her health, with good feed she will put on weight very quickly. If you have an eye for picking healthy, thin cows and have grazing, good chance to make money.