cowgirlxupx1034
Well-known member
How big should a starting herd be? We are planning to raise Club Calves. The herd is going to be on 15 acres, is this enough?
Starting Herd
- Thread starter cowgirlxupx1034
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I would reccommend you talk with your county extenison agent and see if he would come out and look over your 15 acres and get his oppinion.
And the type of cattle you plan on running will factor in to how many you can run. In your post you ask how big of a herd and then you mention club calfs. So if you are planning on running cow/calf pairs it will be alot less than if you just run calfs etc.....,
But on 15 acres i would not think you will be able to run many of either one. At the best if your 15 acres is 100% clear and top quailty pasture. In my opinion you might get by grazing 15 400 lb calfs until the grass quits growing. Or 6 cow/calf pairs and that is if you have a top quality producing pasture. And if all 15 acres are pasture and not 2 or 3 acres of it woods.
But to be on the safe side. I would start out with alot smaller number of each and see how your grass holds up the first summer arround. That is just my opinion.
But if you get with your local extension agent i think you will get some good sound advice that will help you decide what you can and can not do.
Good luck
And the type of cattle you plan on running will factor in to how many you can run. In your post you ask how big of a herd and then you mention club calfs. So if you are planning on running cow/calf pairs it will be alot less than if you just run calfs etc.....,
But on 15 acres i would not think you will be able to run many of either one. At the best if your 15 acres is 100% clear and top quailty pasture. In my opinion you might get by grazing 15 400 lb calfs until the grass quits growing. Or 6 cow/calf pairs and that is if you have a top quality producing pasture. And if all 15 acres are pasture and not 2 or 3 acres of it woods.
But to be on the safe side. I would start out with alot smaller number of each and see how your grass holds up the first summer arround. That is just my opinion.
But if you get with your local extension agent i think you will get some good sound advice that will help you decide what you can and can not do.
Good luck
cowgirlxupx1034":2zfbrahn said:
As big - or small - as the owner can afford, and can properly care for. You have chosen to not share where you are from, so it is impossible to even hazard a guess as to the 2nd question. I would suggest you follow Stepper's advice and talk to your local county extension office for proper stocking rates in your area. Please bear in mind that reputation and quality tend to play a rather significant role in selling cattle private treaty - especially when one is talking about club calves - and make your plans accordingly.
bigbull338
Well-known member
since you have 15acs.an want to raise club calves for the shows.i suggest you start off with 5hd.because when the grass is gone youll be haying an feeding those cows.an that can get costly.unless you have a source for reasonably priced hay.cowgirlxupx1034":2i7av1za said:
arterburncattle
Member
Out here in south western neberaska its 10 acres per 1 cow and getting worse. Thats is for cow/ calf pairs.
OP
OP
cowgirlxupx1034
Well-known member
Well I'm talking in Colorado near the Rockies cause we are going to move there.
cattleluvr18
Well-known member
well here in se nebraska the grass runs out pretty fast. i dont know for sure how many cows/acre but im sure its probably not much. so far we've started out with 15 heifers that were gonna start AIing in late may early june. but we also have more. but my dad has experience with cattle its not like were starting out totally lost...kinda :? anyway...i would check with someone who has experience and cattle around there. JMO
cowgirlxupx1034":19vzbvkk said:
That covers a lot of ground - but I do know that a fairly large part of Colorado has been in drought for a year or so, and has little to no grass. You might want to do a little more research.
Clodkicker
Active member
We are in the northern part of Colorado--north of Denver and north of Fort Collins. It is very dry here--drought has hit us bad. We are running cow/calf on 20 acres on buffalo grass.
