bigrob":32502rqw said:
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Don't worry, as long as you keep answering I'll keep asking lol. That's what I'm thinking on the money making side you've got 1 cow with 2-4 calves to take care of instead of 2-4 cows with one calf each. Even feeding her more it still won't be as much as 4 seperate cows.
What would you breed a jersey to for a freezer calf or maybe a replacement if you're lucky?
Would a horse stall that's about 10x15 work for her and the calves to eat in?
I have a barn set up with 4 stalls and feeders all built out of sucker rod and drill pipe. The guy that owned the place was a welder and did a great job building all of this and I was wantin to utilize it as much as possible.
I've been running brangus bulls. That's what the cows are bred to and I have only eaten one. It was okay but not as good as most, in my opinion. Generally I just sell them at auction and take what they bring. It has always been decent - about the middle of the spread that day.
When I am grafting, the natural calf and graft calves are put in a pen all day. The cows is let in with the calves twice a day. 10 by 15 would work for most nurse cows for that brief period. It would help if you had a side gate to crowd the calves in to prior to letting the cow out.
You mentioned 2 to 4 calves. Why not 8? Wean the calves at 3 months per the almanac and put them on a weaning ration. Cycle another group onto that cow. Turn the weaned calves to a seperate pasture with other cows and let them gain on grass, after they are weaned. Or sell them then.
I mentioned running a dozen when I retire. I'd prefer to net 80 calves off of that dozen and retain some grafted dairy heifers for replacement nurse cows. In my opinion a dairy cow's OPTIMUM life span is much less than that of a beef cow. If you take care of the beef cow's teeth and health, she can calve up into her 20's. Never seen a dairy cow come close to that.