Where Do They Go?

[Hasbeen]

One common theme I've noticed while reading all the posts is culling. A cow has a bad attitude, ship her. Poor mother? She's gone. Habitually finds a way out of the pasture, she grows wheels. Get's sick with something difficult to treat, gone. I agree wholeheartedly that problems need to be gotten rid off, but here is what I'm wondering. In my limited experiences at the sales barn, I've never heard the auctioneer disclose anything but the very obvious defects. Do these cows normally end up at the slaughter house or do they end up in some newbie's herd until the problem is discovered and then the whole process starts over again? If I cull a good looking cow because she doesn't produce enough milk or is aggressive toward me or some other not easy to spot flaw, should I disclose why I'm culling her? I mean, she would be fine for slaughter but not something you want on the farm. What is the ethical thing to do and how do you handle this?

 

[warpaint]

Take the case of GMN, posted on another board. They had a young bull, that was beginning to show signs of very aggressive nature.
They took him to a sale barn, and to the best of my knowledge disclosed this fact to the auctioneer.
You know in your heart what is best. Make a few cents more a pound or take a chance that no one will ever buy anything with your farm name on it again. JMO.

 

[andybob]

I have no doubt many problem cattle do end up in another herd.
I have always had a policy of sending anything not suitable for breeding directly to slaughter,I have always felt my reputation, and that of my favourate breed are worth more than a few extra dollars at the sale barn. I believe you will find most cattlemen/women on this board in agreement.

 

[bward]

Here in Alberta, when an older cow comes through the market she is assumed to be a cull and is generally sold for slaughter. This is unless it is a production sale, a dispersal sale or an advertised bred cow sale. Generally though, any older cow with calf or bred or alone, on a regular sale day is assumed to be a problem in one way or another and is usually priced accordingly.

I agree with Andybob.... all of our culls go to slaughter. If they are not good enough for me.....

 

[eric]

Having never bought a cow at a salebarn, how does one find out who the previous owner of a cow was? I know when I get my receipt after selling at the salebarn, the buyers name is coded, such as 35X, 14z and such. I always assumed it was just order buyers purchasing the cows/calves. But if you ask the salebarn who owned the cow you just bought, are they under any obligation to disclose the sellers name?

 

[Caustic Burno]

If you attend your local auction regularly you know who is selling, you ask Bill why he is selling the older short and solid.
He will tell you the truth she is a fighter to I am retaining heifers this year she had to go to make room. Then you have this year in Texas people selling because of no hay.

 

[joe]

the Mrs usually writes a "book" on each animal that goes to sale. last year I took in one that prolapsed twice, and the paper had her tag# and her problem listed, the auctioneer brought her into the ring and said "nice heifer and a calf, who knows, she may have been exposed, and you'll get a 3 for 1" that's not what we had listed for her, so they lied while I tried to do the right thing. the Mrs. said I should've stood up and yelled "feed her, don't breed her".

 

[shorty]

Cull cows at the auctions here in our area almost always go for slaughter . if they are good cows they will be sold as such and are usually sold with the feeder cattle , not with the culls.

 

[susie]

the Mrs usually writes a "book" on each animal that goes to sale. last year I took in one that prolapsed twice, and the paper had her tag# and her problem listed, the auctioneer brought her into the ring and said "nice heifer and a calf, who knows, she may have been exposed, and you'll get a 3 for 1" that's not what we had listed for her, so they lied while I tried to do the right thing. the Mrs. said I should've stood up and yelled "feed her, don't breed her".

I think that's because the sales barn gets a percentage commision on the sale. Money money money.
JMO,
Susie

 

[Hasbeen]

Cull cows at the auctions here in our area almost always go for slaughter . if they are good cows they will be sold as such and are usually sold with the feeder cattle , not with the culls.

Shorty, are you saying you can designate them for slaughter? That would be handy. I would bet auction cows would bring a lot more if the buyer could be reasonably assured of what he was getting.
On the day I bought my heifers, I became interested in a nice looking black cow/new calf combo. I watched her for a while after she was first unloaded and put her on my list to bid. However, she was separated from her calf for the vet exam, moved from pen to pen by a couple of teenagers who seemed to be really enjoying the electric prod they had with them and by the time she reached the ring she was wild eyed and trying to climb the railing. Like almost everyone else, I was afraid to take a chance on her and she and the calf went for less than $600. I've often wondered if I didn't miss out on a really good deal on her and I bet the way she was treated cost the seller a good bit of money.

 

[Bullbuyer]

Most of the sale barns in our area allow you to sell 'by the head' (good cows that are bred and should return home) or 'by the pound' (slaughter cows). Doesn't keep some bad ones from slipping through but if you're selling them you have some peace of mind that no one else will have to deal with the Olympic Gold Medalist in fence jumping !!!

 

[Bret]

I sent a cow to the auction with my vet. He took one too.All that I provided was my phone No. and address.

I sent it verbally as a cull cow but I didn't explain any details.
This was an Angus retained heifer weghing 1007 lbs. She looked OK. We tried to breed her 3 times.

I thought someone might have success with her but I kept hearing Dun and Cuastic in my sleep saying things like "seeeellll herrrrrrrr....give her wheeeeelllsssss......be a man." (humor intended).

I don't know who purchased her or why but someone may have gotten a deal at $.70. I do not want to sell someone something that I do not want in my herd. Cull is cull.

 

[Rustler9]

I don't go to the sale barn alot but I know folks who are regulars there so I'm sure they know who's selling what and for what reasons but I think the general person who just goes from time to time to buy something probably doesn't know what he's getting in to. Same for the person who sells something there just from time to time, but isn't a regular. I've bought a few cows there before and never knew who the previous owner was or why they sold them. Normally, the buyer wouldn't know anything about the animal that he or she may be buying there.

Hasbeen, it sounds like you probably missed out on a good buy on the cow and calf that you mentioned. If I had seen her there before the sale and seen how she had been handled I wouldn't have hesitated to buy her if I liked her. I have done the same thing a couple of times at a registered sale-actually came away with some good purchases on some cattle that threw a fit in the sale ring. Thye had been hauled a long distance and had really never been handled alot. It's amazing what a little sweet feed can do to help tame a wary cow.

 

[rkm]

They call them sale barns not buy barns. If you buy at sale barn you are asking for it.

 

[NCSU Maverick]

Around here it seems to be a different group of buyers buying cows than feeder calves. They seem to spend a lot of time down in the pens looking over the cows, so I figure they can pretty much tell what theyre buying and what she is good for.

 

[sidney411]

Generally at our sale barn you know the good one's as they are sold by the head. The culls are generally sold by the lb. The auctioneer is pretty good at knowing the order buyers from the regular folk. If someone new bids on a cow that is a cull for an ovbious reason he will say something like "you know that cows got a bad bag" or something to that extent.

 

[dun]

Around here the kill cows and bulls are sold last. There are people that regularly buy kill cows and haul them home and try to make something of them. At the price they buy them for if 1 out of every couple turns out to be breedable they make a profit.
To each there own

dun

 

[cfpinz]

Hasbeen - I had just the opposite thing happen to me a few years back. Went to a local big name farm's bull sale looking for a bull. I had heard in the past that some of their bulls had temperment issues so I was very cautious about the bull I picked out. Got in the pen with him, walked around him/his buddies, watched him get seperated, etc. In the ring with the auctioneer hollering and such he was a perfect gentleman. Wrote the check, helped load him myself, he was calm and gentle. Drove an hour or so home, unloaded him in my barn and he tried to tear the barn down. We left him alone for a couple hours, went back to check on him, he was still running around the barn with snot slinging. When he saw me walk in, he slammed into the gate in front of me as hard as he could. Made up my mind right quick. His butt went straight back on the trailer and back to the seller's we went. Told them what happened, they handed me my check back no questions asked, and told me to turn the bull out in a big field. I wanted to turn him loose in their barn so they could see how he acted but they wanted no part of that. Since then I've talked to several others with the same type of experience. Needless to say, I ain't been back to one of their sales.

The ironic part of this story is last week one of my wife's friends stopped by to shoe her horse and stayed for supper afterwards. He used to do right smart bull riding when he was younger, and told me about this be nice-on-wheels bull he rode one time with a brand on it from the farm I bought that wild bull from. Said he showed the farm owners a picture of him riding their old bull and they were very upset about the picture. How's that for irony? :shock: By the way, the bull was black angus.

cfpinz

 

[Hasbeen]

Hasbeen, it sounds like you probably missed out on a good buy on the cow and calf that you mentioned. If I had seen her there before the sale and seen how she had been handled I wouldn't have hesitated to buy her if I liked her. I have done the same thing a couple of times at a registered sale-actually came away with some good purchases on some cattle that threw a fit in the sale ring. Thye had been hauled a long distance and had really never been handled alot. It's amazing what a little sweet feed can do to help tame a wary cow.

I agree, I think I missed out on a good chance. She went through before the heifers I wanted and if I had know how much I'd have left over, I would have taken a chance.

 

[Hasbeen]

cfpinz, sounds like you did everything right, it just turned out wrong. Saw a really nice Angus bull at the sale last time I went. The guy with me liked it better than his bull and agreed to go half with me. It went for about $1200 and my friend backed off. Too much for a bull he knew nothing about he said. I couldn't disagree.