Would you buy those cows

[gendronf]

A guy is selling cows coming from Alberta, (900 cows). Those cows have been test pregnant. (1 group 2 month and another group 5 month). Black and red Angus mixed with hereford and Simm. They are 3 to 5 years old.
Those cows where empty when they arrived in Quebec province. The buyer bought those cows from different ranchers in Alberta. I suppose those rancher culled them because they were empty after the 45 days period with the bulls. I ask my vet and he told me that for him there is no problems to buy those cows. In our region we got too much hay and I got to increase my herd. I am looking to buy 50 cows this month. Would you buy those cows?
Thanks
Marcel

 

[stocky]

Marcel, I dont know about the Canadian market as for resale of those cows. I can only answer for here, where I live. First, you have to assume that the cows are cull cows, for some reason. It could be simply financial hardship or drought, but more than likely, the cows are not good enough for whoever owned them. There could be problems ranging from not breeding back to not raising a good calf to bad disposition. So, first you have to take into account what you are paying for the cows. If you are getting a huge discount, you can buy the cows and then resell them as springers and make good money. If you are paying near the price of proven, known to be good cows, you better pass them by and buy the proven cows. If you are buying the cows to keep and produce calves, you better buy them cheap because you will be culling heavy on the group. It sounds like the guy is a cattle jockey who bought and put together a bunch of cows and some will be good and some wont, so you have to be able to buy them cheap, or leave them alone. I know the cattle market in Canada has taken it's lumps, so I may be wrong as to why the cows are available, but those would be my thoughts if the cows were here.

 

[cfpinz]

I've bought groups of culled cows in the past when I was in a pinch and needed numbers. In my experience, for every ten you buy, five might be worth keeping. Made money on most of the ones I bought, but it's a good way to get burned. Think about all the different places these cattle have been and what they have been exposed to. Is it worth exposing your cattle to them, possibly contaminating a pasture with these cattle. Personally, I'll never do it again.

cfpinz

 

[gendronf]

Thanks Stocky and Cfpinz for the time you took to answer me. I am gonna take my final decision soon and your opinion had already change the way I am looking this situation.
Marcel

 

[Chris H]

If they were not bred after spending 45 days with the bull, why would you buy them for breeding stock?

 

[la4angus]

I wouldn't think of even touching them for breeding stock. After not settling after 45 days with the bull, I would have to think they won't breed.

 

[AngusLimoX]

OK, I have bought western cows, but, like 5 head.

They were very large framed, all calved on time, mostly red angus and simm crosses.

Most stayed here for 5 years but there was a fence buster and a she-devil among the early ones to leave.

I got them cheap, they gave me great calves, and some of their offspring are still here.

I would buy them again, if I didn't know we would have a drought here, and quite frankly these were the last cows I would call easy keeping. Depends on how you are gonna market them and the purchase price.

Just once again, I bet they will be BIG.

 

[john250]

I ask my vet and he told me that for him there is no problems to buy those cows.

Did your vet do the preg checks?
Have you seen the cows? How do they look?
What bulls were used?
Like everyone else, I'm a little shy of this deal. But I'd investigate if I needed cows and the price was attractive.

 

[Susie David]

IMO the biggest factor is the condition of the animals...second the price, if I could get them at a smokin deal and you have a surplus of hay to use up, a guy could always put on a few pounds and turn a buck. WHo knows here could be some real good animals in the lot that got shipped for hardship circumstances, lost pasture who knows.
Still a crap shoot...how well do you know the buyer?
Just my two bits worth

 

[Herefordcross]

I would want to check the seller out completely to make sure thsi person is legitimate.

Like someone else said about preg check. I would want my vet to do it and let the seller pay for it and if you buy the cows then you would cover the vet bill.