some nu-be questions

[hotbarrel]

first off I should say I have zero experiance so you know ware I am comming from.
this is why I decided to join here, a friend at work mentioned he knew someone with 5 baby bulls for sale. they sounded cheap to me and when I asked around others agreed they sounded like a faire price. $250 and about 250 pounds. when I went to see them their was only two left so I decided on a jersey. the reason I picked the jersey was he looked much rounder and bigger than the other one. the owner said he was realy closer to 300 pounds. dose this sound like a faire price ??
I hope to send the bull out to slaughter at christmass "3 months" . I hope he will get to about 500 pounds if I feed him well. is this a realistic weight expectation??
he now is eating crimped corn, crisp 20% mix, for a total of 3 quarts, along with 1/3 bail hay. so I bought the same thing to feed him. I also have an unlimmeted supply of fresh apples, so think I will feed him a bunch of the apples. I was hopeing to slowly work my way up to 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket of apples a day to save money on hay. dose this sound like a good idea??
my bull is going into a "shed' that is about 8'X12' . it is three sided and had a dirt floor. at this time I do not think I will ever take him out because I honestly have no idea how to handel him and I do not want him to run away. what do you think, too small or OK??

I welcome ANY info that will make him better to eat! :???:
I have a BUNCH more questions but I guess that is enough for now.
believe me I am very uncertain about this whole project.

thanks in advance for any good advise , the hotbarrel

 

[Mat Man]

Good luck with the calf.
I sold 2 holsteins steers at sale a few weeks ago that weight 500 lbs. each
Sold For $250.00 each. No more dairy calves for me.I wish I had butchered them.
I would try to get some panals or something to make his pen larger.
I would also get him cut or banded soon.The only jersey bull I ever had you could
not get in the pen with him.He would push on every thing.Never had any problems
with steers.

 

[bigbull338]

you should be able to get 100 to 150lbs on him in 3 months.youll have to feed him grain an hay to get the weight on him.an he does need am outside pen.being inside all the time isnt good for him.he needs some room to move.a 12 by 12 space will get real dirty in 3 months.

 

[jcarkie]

if you butcher at 500 lbs that will not be alot of meat. they dress out about 50-60% of live weight, jeresy's may be different.

 

[msscamp]

first off I should say I have zero experiance so you know ware I am comming from.
this is why I decided to join here, a friend at work mentioned he knew someone with 5 baby bulls for sale. they sounded cheap to me and when I asked around others agreed they sounded like a faire price. $250 and about 250 pounds.

There is no way in this world that I would pay $250.00 for a bottle calf - it simply isn't going to happen. My limit is roughly $100, and that is for a beef breed bottle calf - they tend to have considerably more longevity.

 

[Jim62]

At 250 to 300 pounds, he's probably not a bottle calf.......... :???:

 

[gg4rebels]

If these are bottle calves, I paid $25 for a 5 day old calf and $40 for a 2 month old calf. They are Holsteins and are now 3 mos. and 5 mos. and can put away some groceries!!! They go through a bag of good calf starter every 3 days. They get 3% of their body weight a day - split into two meals - 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. One is going into the freezer at around 12 - 14 mos. next year and a buddy is buying the other for his freezer.

 

[Earl Thigpen]

Don't try to make a pet out of that animal. Eat him at 6 to 8 weight.

 

[shorty]

Watch it with the apples , he could choke on them .