Tell me about cows

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perryT200

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Because I don't know anything.

My buddy gets bucket/bobbie holstein calves and raises em up to feeders and sells them. Then he only got the males or the Free Martins.

He just changed where he buys them from and the new dairy breeds the first time heifers to hereford for lower birth weight. nice looking white face with black bodies, tho he did get a red one I am trying to buy.

I can't get him to try and raise anything, but I know the meat crosses are worth more. And he pays more for them.

A Herford / Holstein cross at around a week old is $175.
Pure holstein is $125 Males and an occasional free martin.
He can get Jersys for $60 but I don't know if any would be heifers or if they would be crosses yet

I've got 30 acres of pasture to play with.

I'm in deep south Illinois and if they are good enough most would be sold and processed privately, if raising them out to slaughter weight makes the most sense.

There are plenty of Angus bulls around to breed to and I don't think it would be to expensive.

So how do I make a couple bucks off this?

Buy his cross breed heifers and breed them? Feed them out to slaughter weight? Just get more bucket calves?

I'll answer any questions. just looking for a little advice
 
perryT200 said:
Because I don't know anything.
My buddy gets bucket/bobbie holstein calves and raises em up to feeders and sells them.
I've got 30 acres of pasture to play with.
I'm in deep south Illinois
So how do I make a couple bucks off this?
Click to expand...
Rent your pasture to your buddy or to whoever he sells the feeders.
 
What county you from? My great grandma and step great grandpa lived in Massac County.

I would think the dairy/dairy cross business would be tough. There's some cattlemen in the area who've been at the game a while. Go to the feed store and ask them who the best one is. Go talk to him and work out a deal on your farm to run calves or pairs in exchange for some of your own. Make a feeding area to fatten yours up. You'll get an education and take some of the risk out. In a few years you can buy your own or keep with the program if you wish.

Good luck!
 
at least around here, dairy/beef cross are not worth as much as pure beef. since you are just starting out, my advise is to get one foot in the door and slowly get the other foot in. buy yourself a few cows (5 -10) and see how things work out for you. If thing go the way you expect them to go, keep adding on. if they go the opposite way, sell what you have and make alternative plans for your pasture.
 
E-I-E-I-O and a cow cow here and a cow cow there, here a cow there a cow everywhere a cow cow

It is more than just knowing a song or doing an internet search. Find a local mentor because folks here are from the 4 corners and response will be all over the board. You will need quality Vet answers and support ASAP on dairy bottle calves or else you'll be digging a lot of holes.
 
Welcome to CT! Everyone's given you pretty good advice so far. If your sole goal is to make money, rent the pasture out.
If you love the land, love cattle, understand it's a way of life not a job, and are okay with the fact that you probably won't make any net income for a while. Buy some light wt Blk hided calves graze them all summer and sell them in the fall. You should at least break even. No frozen water. No hay. No equipment that won't start in the winter.
 
Last edited:
perryT200 said:
Because I don't know anything.

My buddy gets bucket/bobbie holstein calves and raises em up to feeders and sells them. Then he only got the males or the Free Martins.

He just changed where he buys them from and the new dairy breeds the first time heifers to hereford for lower birth weight. nice looking white face with black bodies, tho he did get a red one I am trying to buy.

I can't get him to try and raise anything, but I know the meat crosses are worth more. And he pays more for them.

A Herford / Holstein cross at around a week old is $175.
Pure holstein is $125 Males and an occasional free martin.
He can get Jersys for $60 but I don't know if any would be heifers or if they would be crosses yet

I've got 30 acres of pasture to play with.

I'm in deep south Illinois and if they are good enough most would be sold and processed privately, if raising them out to slaughter weight makes the most sense.

There are plenty of Angus bulls around to breed to and I don't think it would be to expensive.

So how do I make a couple bucks off this?

Buy his cross breed heifers and breed them? Feed them out to slaughter weight? Just get more bucket calves?

I'll answer any questions. just looking for a little advice
Click to expand...

The real question is do you drive a Chevy or a Ford? 🤔🤨
 
BFE said:
What county you from? My great grandma and step great grandpa lived in Massac County.

I would think the dairy/dairy cross business would be tough. There's some cattlemen in the area who've been at the game a while. Go to the feed store and ask them who the best one is. Go talk to him and work out a deal on your farm to run calves or pairs in exchange for some of your own. Make a feeding area to fatten yours up. You'll get an education and take some of the risk out. In a few years you can buy your own or keep with the program if you wish.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Perry county
 
I agree. Let your friend take the risk of bottle babies. Buy his when he is ready to sell, and you finish them out. Remember, dairy x beef won't have as much muscling as a straight beefer, but they should marble well with dairy in them. I would stay away from Jersey x. They are way too small. Get at least 2 - they eat better with a companion.
 
Chevy said:
Home of the Du Quoin state fair.
Toyota better than a Ford. 😁🤡 I'm just messing. I like to aggravate.
Three kinds of people, people that drive Chevys, Fords, and people that wish they could drive a Chevy. 😆🤡😝
Click to expand...
I miss the Street Machine Nationals.
 
kenny thomas said:
How about to start consider buying your friends feeders and finishing them to slaughter size
Click to expand...
That's where I am going to start. He gets a few bobby calves and doesn't have enough pasture to get them to slaughter size. I could save him a lot of time from going to the sale barn and waiting for his money. If it was just the Holstein steers, I probably wouldn't do it. But with the cross breeds they just bring more money at the sale barn, not as much as pure beef but better than milk cows.
Now that he is getting some cross bred heifers I might want to keep a couple to breed.

I'm not going into the "Cattle Business", anything I raised to slaughter weight would be sold locally to individuals, processed locally and hopefully be a little bit better than the stuff they sell at Wal-mart
 

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