Standing up for the little guy.

[rocket2222]

Well there's a small contingency on here, ( all right it's a large one ), that think us little guys, with our little lots and little pens don't count for much and don't raise um right. Well someone has to stand up for us, so I volunteered. :lol: Some of us little farts do expect our cows to raise a calf and stay in shape without any grain supplementing them. :lol:

A few cows browsing.

Calves browse too.

They learn from their lazy momma's to lick snow and keep on grazing.

He's been on pasture since late Feb.

Here's a 9 year old with her 3 month old calf.

Yes I spoil them, plowed out a trail to graze on. Not much left here though.

A couple more older gals ( 8 and a 9 year old ) and their calves get some hay.

Catching a few rays.

Oh, Merry Christmas everyone.

 

[CPL]

Nice looking cattle rocket. You mean to tell me those cattle haven't seen any grain? They surely don't look like it...... oh wait, that's the point!

 

[haase]

Nice pics and good looking cattle rocket, Im right there with ya, they call us hobby farmers, but we still have to do the same things as the big guys do only on a smaller scale. But at the end of the year you still have to look at the cows and bulls and if there not doing there job, you sell them.

 

[MO_cows]

Here in Missouri, we are 2nd in beef production in the US. Heard a guy from the extension service on the radio say that over 90% of Missouri beef producers have less than 50 head. So the "little guy" is the overwhelming majority here and this probably holds true of other places with similar population distribution.

Your cattle look good! Good udder on the older cow.

 

[Northern Rancher]

They look pretty darn good-that cow on the left has an udder going a bit south but other than that a good sety of functional cattle.

 

[farmwriter]

Last time I heard, the average cow herd in the US was about 40 head, and I don't get why more people don't get that.

 

[bigbull338]

you have some fine looking cows an calves.

 

[SirLoin]

There's pretty much nothing but little guys on DMV. There's a few larger cattle feeding operations, but I'd guess most people have well under 50 head. Since I started raising cattle a few years back I have seen a boom in people raising a couple of head for their own usage. I can count at least four farmettes on my road alone (4 miles) that are raising two or 3 head on a few acres. There are alot of smaller farms in this area, but it's been getting built up fast. The established cattle farmers in my area scoff at us little guys who raise "4-H" beef, but my freezer is full of prime dry aged angus beef, I have a waiting list of customers, and I about double my money on every animal I raise. I do wish I had a few hundred acres though and could do this for a living :mrgreen:

 

[3waycross]

They look pretty darn good-that cow on the left has an udder going a bit south but other than that a good sety of functional cattle.

Which picture are you refering to? The only pic I can see an udder in is the one where the cow is nursing a calf.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Last time I heard, the average cow herd in the US was about 40 head, and I don't get why more people don't get that.

What people need to "get" is what portion of the total cattle raised are born on less than 40 head farms.
Since you are a farmwriter maybe you can give us that number with your data base! :lol:

Nice cattle rocket , and you have way more snow than us up here. Those durned Texans have sent us 1.5 days of freezing rain starting this evening!

Merry Christmas everyone!! ( Back to Turkey bird cookin ).

 

[Northern Rancher]

A few cows browsing I thought I spied a wonky udder on the far left cow. As for doubling your money on 3 head-it gets a little tougher on 300. It seems whenever I step out to get rich quick a get bit in the ass-preBse we doubled our number of heifers we A'I to resell at $900 a head laid in-then the border closed and my guy backed out of the deal so we went to 330 cows in the middle of a three year drought-were still digging out from that one.The biggest ranches all started out small-you gotta crawl before you can walk.

 

[mwj]

A few cows browsing I thought I spied a wonky udder on the far left cow. As for doubling your money on 3 head-it gets a little tougher on 300. It seems whenever I step out to get rich quick a get bit in the ass-preBse we doubled our number of heifers we A'I to resell at $900 a head laid in-then the border closed and my guy backed out of the deal so we went to 330 cows in the middle of a three year drought-were still digging out from that one.The biggest ranches all started out small-you gotta crawl before you can walk.

I thought I agreed with you till I enlarged the picture. You are seeing the brisket on a calf faced the other direction :cboy:

 

[rocket2222]

They look pretty darn good-that cow on the left has an udder going a bit south but other than that a good sety of functional cattle.

I believe this is a pic of the udder of the cow in question, it's a older pic, but it was already online so I used it, udder is pretty much the same now anyways, not perfect, could have a little better attachment and shorter teats, but so far maintenance free, hopefully got rid of the bad ones a few years back.

 

[rocket2222]

Last time I heard, the average cow herd in the US was about 40 head, and I don't get why more people don't get that.

What people need to "get" is what portion of the total cattle raised are born on less than 40 head farms.
Since you are a farmwriter maybe you can give us that number with your data base! :lol:

Nice cattle rocket , and you have way more snow than us up here. Those durned Texans have sent us 1.5 days of freezing rain starting this evening!

Merry Christmas everyone!! ( Back to Turkey bird cookin ).

We also seem to be having mid/late Jan. temperatures, so it's not melting much, global warming strikes again.

 

[rocket2222]

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments.

 

[3waycross]

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments.

Pretty hard to knock cattle that look like that and do even better. You have a he[[ of a nice set of herefords there.

 

[Northern Rancher]

as long as the calf gets started on his own I run them-if they get a U- in the calving book we feed the heifer out. Calves get on a tit a bit better in May than February. That udder isn't all that bad for sure. I like to buy bulls from guys who run their cows as tough or tougher than I do. I'd like to take come pics of our replacement heifer calves that are out with mature cows on avererage hay and licking snow-they look as good or better than the steers up in the yard on water. Just cause you have a small herd doesn't mean you have to run them like pets-snow plowing to grass would work just about any where I'd think.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

I like the bull too. Nice, long, well structured, rounded and smooth bodied.

 

[stockman12]

Nothing wrong with the little guy, they are an important part of the industry that we need. I admire the guy who works in town and has a few cows and follows his passion. His sacrifices to follow his ambition is to be comended.

What is frustrating is a guy that has two calves that is an "expert" and thinks there is no difference in a "protein tub" and a "mineral tub" , that thinks any grain is bad or if cows miss a day without minerals the sky falls.

My cows are fed the cheapest way I can from crop residue to grass to sorry hay. Sometimes you can feed sorry hay which is nothing more than filler and then need to put grain with it to make it a balanced ration. Now putting so much grain in it that it makes a feedlot ration isn't the way to go. Some of the best cowmen I know can not give very good reasons in judging cattle but they will always pick out the top animals. It is just the experts who read a couple books and can offer all the advice of how to raise cattle but still don't know the difference in a protein or a mineral tub are the ones that get me. Anyone willing to learn and ask questions , great. The guys I have a problem with are the ones with two head so they think they are an expert. Heck I am by no means an expert.

 

[KNERSIE]

Well done little guy!

I must warn you though that your cattle are still useless in the eyes of the big'ns from up north because they have good phenotype, can hold their own without muscle degeneration and they are sound on their legs.