Weaned Calves
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Bez>
Well-known member
Depends on the market.
We have trucked them straight from the cow and we have gone the route cowboyup216 does.
Sometimes the money is there for that type of work and sometimes it is not.
Last December they went straight to the feedlot.
Bez>
We have trucked them straight from the cow and we have gone the route cowboyup216 does.
Sometimes the money is there for that type of work and sometimes it is not.
Last December they went straight to the feedlot.
Bez>
curtis":2ybhejte said:
Depending on the grass situation I have backgrounded the calves before sale, stockered the calves, AND I have sold them direct off moma's teat before with only their calfhood vaccinations. IF you are a calf buyer, you should just assume that unless you are at some kind of special sale that they were NOT preconditioned. Of course then it is all the cow calf guy's fault if some MORON buys 100 calves from 50 different sources, trucks them 700+++ miles and then dumps them all together in a drylot on a high grain ration without spending his own time or money too background the calves and they don't do well. In a perfect world we would background or stocker every single calf before he went to the feedlot; but I can't see that happening any time soon.
Brandonm2":wq25jg4h said:
Have seen a number of instances when calves weaned on the trailer, or in a sale barn turned out to be a catastrophe.
If everyone would precondition them, the risk would go down, and the prices may reflect less risk.
I have seen as many as 10% of some calves go down when shipped straight to the feedlot.
There should be an unwritten rule for everyone to contribute to the health of their calves after being sold. Everyone is paying the price for this risk.
IF you know that 95% of the calves at your sale barn were NOT preconditioned and you shipped them direct to the feedlot anyway.......that is the fault of the dummy running the feedlot!! When avg weaning weights of calves went from 440 pounds to 550 plus pounds, the feedlots decided to be greedy and cut out the people who used to stocker or background the calves to the 650 to 750 weights and put them direct on feed themselves. The feedlots caused this train wreck as they have caused most of the decline in quality grades and the whole industry is paying the price for their gross incompetence. Here is a novel idea for the feedlots, background the calves yourself or buy only stockered calves.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
the trouble around here if you take the time and trouble to background without a special sale you are wasting money. to take it to the local salebarn and have em thrown in the same pen with others that are trailor weaned. cause they will all be treated the same. even if you told the buyers they would still take advantage of the lower price
ALACOWMAN":1sh9cov9 said:
EXACTLY, been there done that. It is really silly for me to vaccinate a bunch of calves when the feedlot is going to put them on a truck with a bunch of unvaccinated calves. Even when the stockyard passes that information on to the order buyer he knows that the cowboys at the lot are going to vaccinate everything when they get to their end anyway. They aren't going to sort out the vaccinated calves from the unvaccinated and even if I have mine started on feed the cowboys at the feedlot are going to treat them exactly like the other 90% of the calves which have never seen a mixed ration in their lives. From a money standpoint, if I am going to hold the calves another 45 days, I would be better off leaving them on the cow (if the cows are in good condition) and selling 650 pound calves instead of 550 pound calves and not mess with the extra handling.
Brandonm2":1w68275r said:
I don't see this as a feedlot issue. I see it as a "producer" issue. When you take your calves to the sale barn without any shots, you're not "forward looking" on the health of your calves.
They should be vaccinated before leaving the farm.
These guys think they are saving money, but in the long run, they are costing everyone.
If they started a heavier weight, older calf their death losses would plummett. The feedlots have made the decision that they would rather have higher death losses than pay for an extra 200 pounds of calf. That is their decision. I am sure that their accountants know more about this than you or I do. IF they want to pay for preconditioning that's fine; but expecting somebody else to do their work for them with no cash up front and on the table is ridiculous.
KMacGinley
Well-known member
We do things the right way around here and I have seen my calves bought at the sale barn and had the buyers run them through the vet chute anyway and have them vaccinated and worked. They don't take your word for them and I can't say I blame them, as there are always a lot of trailer weaned calves there as well. I haven't sold at the sale barn for a while, we have been feeding out our own lately and selling extras locally for the price I want.
randiliana
Well-known member
We would, but from experience the buyers don't pay more for the preconditioned calves than they do for the ones straight off the cow. There are several "certified" programs up here, where there is a vet certificate that goes with the calves if they were preconditioned, so it is not just a producers say-so. When they start paying more for the extra time, effort and cost of the vaccine is when more producers will jump on that bandwagon. But, I am not going to do it if they aren't going to give me any more money for it. They don't seem to care if the calves are or are not preconditioned, so why should the producer do it?? The only reason that I can see doing it would be for your own benefit, that is so YOU have fewer sick calves in the ones you keep home.
Brandonm2":kzxfy422 said:
Less than half of the calves in feedlots are owned by feedlots and they WANT their customers to make money.
Do you think that people who retain ownership would fail to vaccinate? Sale barns are a "buyer beware" sales format.
Feedlots pay for extra for preconditioning every day and the prices of the board sales down here reflect it.
I'll say it again. If everyone vaccinated and prepped weanlings properly, the losses and risks would be less, and prices would go up accordingly.
Shouldn't be a premium paid for vaccing, should be a discount for those that don't. Calves need to be vacced before they are mingled with other cattle. ON THE FARM.
I will repeat myself again. IF this is some kind of board sale or preconditioned sale or you want to assume the risk of retaining ownership yourself then vaccination generally pays. The rest of the time that is spending money for no possible gain. If I were buying the calves, I would rather spend more for board sale or special preconditioned sale calves; because you know that MOST of the calves have been preconditioned. I would still treat the whole lot like any other group of calves (shots, starter ration, the whole works) because we both know that many producers are LIARS. If there was a dock at the sale barn for non-vaccinated calves most of us would vaccinate them; but most of the rest would just sign the paper saying they were vaccinated and move on. I hauled a lot of loads for people back when we had to sign that stupid paper that no animals ate any feedstuffs with meat and bone meal in it. I had no earthly idea what these people were feeding; but ended up having to sign the stupid paper anyway for the yard to accept the loads (after a few I did actually ASK the producer when I loaded out the calves). It would be the same way if we had to sign a paper saying that these calves were vaccinated or preconditioned. You sign the paper, unload the calves, and move on.
cattleluvr18
Well-known member
at our salebarn the dude says if they have been vacinated and if they have been weaned. so you know. sinse that you know you are doing it out your own risk. i do think that it is better if you wean before you sell, but it just all depends on which point of view you are on. just bought a few more lightweights today and one of them was just weaned. she knows how to eat outta the bunks but she bellers like crazy. but she'll get over it. as long as shes eating.
smnherf
Well-known member
Around here, there is a $5 to $7 discount for a lot of the calves that have had no shots. There is no doubt that if the buyer is more comfortable with the health of the calves, they are worth more.
There are many feedlots that I know of that will not buy unvaccinated calves at any price.
After the storms of the cattle feeding area in Jan and Feb of this year, there will be more pressure put on the calves that haven't been vaccinated or preconditioned. I assure you that these feedlots know where the cattle came from that had high death losses and high pull rates and they won't be back unless they can build that death loss into the price they pay for calves.
I believe that when this cattle cylce gets to a point where the feeders have more cattle to fight over the discounts will get larger.
Brian
There are many feedlots that I know of that will not buy unvaccinated calves at any price.
After the storms of the cattle feeding area in Jan and Feb of this year, there will be more pressure put on the calves that haven't been vaccinated or preconditioned. I assure you that these feedlots know where the cattle came from that had high death losses and high pull rates and they won't be back unless they can build that death loss into the price they pay for calves.
I believe that when this cattle cylce gets to a point where the feeders have more cattle to fight over the discounts will get larger.
Brian
bigbull338
Well-known member
the calf buyers buy the calves that will fitt their buyers program.an the feedlots know the calves could be weaned or right off the cow.as well having their own working protocall for new arriveals.in a prefect world everything would go right at the ranch an feedlot.but we dont live in a prefexct world.if i was running a feedlot.id assume 2 things.the calves arnt weaned.an nor have they had their shots an been weaned.an be prepared for every possable thing.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
theres the problem. that discount aint enough to motivate a rancher to precondition.the few dollars they lose wont be near what they would have in preconditioning. if they get the discount up there to the point it makes a difference .smnherf":y2j89idm said:
ALACOWMAN":1uegku89 said:
We precondition and vaccinate along with the source/age/process verified RF tags. For the few bucks extra it costs we feel it's worth it based on the added dollars the calves bring. The calves that dn;t fit on the trailer when we bring them to the backgrounder we sell in specified prevac sales.
Sometimes we get more profit from the backgrounded calves selling in potloads sometimes there more profit at the prevac sale.
dun
