DaveinMaryland
Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2011
- Messages
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Hey everyone. I'm brand new here and to be honest brand new to the entire concept of raising cattle. I'm a bit limited as the available pasture I have is no more than 2 acres that is cleared or is not yard. Here is what I know and then I need help with a few things.
I'm planning on raising a cow or 2 for personal consumption. I understand that one single cow does not do well, so I'll need to get 2. In MD I understand that 2 acres will not produce enough feed so I will need to supplement my pasture with hay. No problem. My plan is to buy them in the spring, raise them until the grass stops growing, then sell one and butcher the other to fill the freezer.
Now here are my questions. The field is fenced but it was only fenced with the idea of keeping in 2 dogs. It is the cheap roll out with the lightest 5 ft metal posts Home Depot provides. Now obviously that is not strong enough to keep in a cow. But most of the fence line is at the edge of woods. It's my understanding that cows tend to knock over fencing as they lean over for food. Does that mean the sections in the woods won't be pushed on as hard? Can a strand or 2 of barbed wire strung along the top of the fencing be enough to keep in the cows or will wood fence posts be require? At the top of the field a 3-4 foot picket fence that divides the field with the yard. Is that enough with the barbed wire on top to keep them in?
Any idea how much a calf costs? How much freezer capacity should I need for 1/2 of the cow? Cost to butcher? And finally if I have the neighbor fill the water trough every day or so is it a big deal to head to the beach for a week or do cows require you to kind of stick around? Another concern is that we have rasberry bushes as well as young, small (8-9 feet tall) fruit trees. Will the cattle stomp all over that stuff?
Sorry for the long post but as you can see I"ve got a ton of questions.
Thanks in advance.
I'm planning on raising a cow or 2 for personal consumption. I understand that one single cow does not do well, so I'll need to get 2. In MD I understand that 2 acres will not produce enough feed so I will need to supplement my pasture with hay. No problem. My plan is to buy them in the spring, raise them until the grass stops growing, then sell one and butcher the other to fill the freezer.
Now here are my questions. The field is fenced but it was only fenced with the idea of keeping in 2 dogs. It is the cheap roll out with the lightest 5 ft metal posts Home Depot provides. Now obviously that is not strong enough to keep in a cow. But most of the fence line is at the edge of woods. It's my understanding that cows tend to knock over fencing as they lean over for food. Does that mean the sections in the woods won't be pushed on as hard? Can a strand or 2 of barbed wire strung along the top of the fencing be enough to keep in the cows or will wood fence posts be require? At the top of the field a 3-4 foot picket fence that divides the field with the yard. Is that enough with the barbed wire on top to keep them in?
Any idea how much a calf costs? How much freezer capacity should I need for 1/2 of the cow? Cost to butcher? And finally if I have the neighbor fill the water trough every day or so is it a big deal to head to the beach for a week or do cows require you to kind of stick around? Another concern is that we have rasberry bushes as well as young, small (8-9 feet tall) fruit trees. Will the cattle stomp all over that stuff?
Sorry for the long post but as you can see I"ve got a ton of questions.
Thanks in advance.