stockers

[cross_7]

when i was young i wanted to be one of the big boys, so i bought a bunch light weight calves and got an educatioon on shipping fever, brd, scours and you name it.
after that i was on my way.(in my mind)
then i came across a deal on some feather weight florida calves and i learned my lesson the hard way, so i admire guys like pete bonds
http://beefmagazine.com/beeftv/1001-nat ... rd-winner/

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Well I for one and glad to hear somebody in the cattle business admit there is money to be made.

Congrats to Mr.Bonds on his award and his business model!

 

[cross_7]

all it takes to make money on cattle is resources and intelligence.
so that counts me and lots of other folks out.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

You must be lacking the resources 'cause from what I've read you've got the brains for it.

 

[cross_7]

You must be lacking the resources 'cause from what I've read you've got the brains for it.

yep thats what the banker thought too but i showed him

 

[Sir Loin]

Well my hat's off to Mr. Bond. :tiphat:

Here is a little tip for you beginners, from an old timer.

"Calves appreciate, cows depreciate".
This is why I always tell you beginners to start out in the business with calves. You would have to be a total idiot not to make money with calves.

SL

 

[cross_7]

Well my hat's off to Mr. Bond. :tiphat:

Here is a little tip for you beginners, from an old timer.

"Calves appreciate, cows depreciate".
This is why I always tell you beginners to start out in the business with calves. You would have to be a total idiot not to make money with calves.

SL

 

[phydeaux]

So the above post implies that to make money with calves isn't rocket science after all?

 

[Sir Loin]

Re:

So the above post implies that to make money with calves isn't rocket science after all?

Yep! You got it!
Buy: yourself a 3 day old calf for $50.
A 25 lb bag of milk replacer for $35..
A nipple & get a quart jar for $5.
So for under $100 you are now in the cattle business.
What is so hard about that?
SL

 

[Dixieangus]

Yep! You got it!
Buy: yourself a 3 day old calf for $50.
A 25 lb bag of milk replacer for $35..
A nipple & get a quart jar for $5.
So for under $100 you are now in the cattle business.
What is so hard about that?

Where are these 50$ calves you speak of? Medicine? Death? its not as simple as that, maybe your experiences have been different than mine though :cowboy:

 

[Sir Loin]

Re:

Where are these 50$ calves you speak of?

At your local Holstein dairy farms. (the are bull calves he doesn't want )
I have paid between $40 and $100 depending on the calf. I have never gone over $100 for a Holstein calf.

Medicine?

You don't need any medicines! Why do you need medicine when the dairy farmer has taken good care of mamma and she produced a perfectly good calf. Complete with colostrums'. Remember, the only reason he is selling this calf is because it is a bull calf and not a heifer calf. If it were a heifer, he would keep it for himself. So he took just as good of care of your calf as he would do for his own.

Death?

Could happen! Especially if the dairy farmer is feeding momma corn gluten.
So before you buy, ask him if he is feeding corn gluten. If he is don't buy from him.
But even if it dies you are only out $50, as opposed to $1,000 for a cow you may buy.

SL

 

[Dixieangus]

The holstein bulls average about 80 bucks here coming off of a dairy farm fresh, medicine- scours? just a possibility.. Not arguing just didnt like the statement you made, thats all

 

[Sir Loin]

Re:

medicine- scours?

Buy medicated milk replacer. That is all the medicine you should ever need.
As for scours, if you just rinse your bottle and buckets with plain water and not use soap and/or bleach you will not ever have scour's.
Also for dairy calves only use ¾ cup of milk replacer instead of a full cup as directed.

Should you ever encounter scour's, stop feeding milk and replace it with sugar water instead.
2 teaspoons of sugar per quart of water, all it will drink at least 4 times per day for 24 hrs.
Then go back on milk.
A warm water flush in the butt will also help avoid any dehydration.
An aspirin every 12 hrs is also recommended for fever and any pain and/or inflammation that may be present.

Re:

just didnt like the statement you made,

Which one?

SL

 

[Dixieangus]

Thanks sir loin for the info, i know when i had some bottle calves i fought scours badddd. Didnt know about the soap.

You would have to be a total idiot not to make money with calves.

 

[Sir Loin]

Re:

You would have to be a total idiot not to make money with calves.

I meant that figuratively as "Calves appreciate and cows depreciate".
In other words, if you can provide basic care a calf will increase in value, whereas a cow requires a whole lot more care and still goes down in value.

Look at it this way. With a calf you only have to juggle one ball but with a cow you have to juggle 3 and sometimes 4 balls. Which is easier?

SL

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Assuming the cow doesn't just drop dead along the way isn't there a reasonable floor to her value to which she depreciates from high to low Sir Loin?

IE High end value = $1,300 at her peak down to say $500 as slaughter weight as she ages out.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Sir Loin]

TennesseeTuxedo

Re:

Assuming the cow doesn't just drop dead along the way isn't there a reasonable floor to her value to which she depreciates from high to low Sir Loin?

Yes.

A heifer calf appreciates to the day she puts her first calf on the ground. She then depreciates from there on out as her productive years have been reduced by one.
And each year she puts another calf on the ground she further depreciates.
Now add depletion of body condition due to age to her loss of future productivity and at about her 5 calf she is only worth about ½ of what she was as a first time heifer. And that's about slaughter price.

Even if you sell her at auction as a 3 in 1, the cow will only bring slaughter price.
Most of the time a 2 in 1 0r 3 in 1 do not even sell as such and are split up as a calf by the lb and the cow is sold at slaughter price. ( cow in weigh pen)

If you watch http://www.athensstockyard.com/ on Tues at noon, on line, you can see this happen.
SL

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Thank you kind Sir.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Sir Loin I am with you, except I prefer the nurse cow route.

When I retire I may run a dozen nurse cows and figure on 8 calves per cow per year.

The only dairy I would buy would be replacements for the nurse cows. When I buy calves, I buy the beef splits. Some are a bit older but with the right facility, they graft just fine. Hunger works wonders on the graft part plus I have a crate to put the cow in.

As far as the bottle calves go, If I am going to bottle feed one I may as well do several. Bottle racks and panel chutes for each calf make it simple.