Mike can you tell me where I can get a "Dusting Sack" like you use. I have a small farm between Lockhart and Luling. Would love to meet up with you at Auction sometime.
You are exactly right about the Brahman. I have one and she will not go into the feeding pen if I am anywhere near it. I got her in with the rest one time and closed the gate so that I can treat them for flies. She found a low spot in the fence and climbed right over it. Luckily she didn't hurt herself. After that, she is just going to have to live with the flies, because I am not treating her.I wanted to sell her, but my wife wanted to keep her. Guess who got what she wanted?
I’m working on starting my own homestead with a few cattle. What your recommendation for my first few cows I should get that can bring profits? Should I buy a few cattle that are pregnant? Also should I buy a bull or raise a bull?
Hey Tony - thanks for the comment! In answer to your question, it really depends on what you are looking to do and where you live. My advice would be to first figure out if you want to raise cows for milk, beef, or both. Depending upon what you decide, I would suggest researching the right breed for your area. For example, if you live in a cold region, you would want cows that are well suited for the cold, etc. Having said that, I definitely think buying cows with a calf at their side is the best way to start. That way, you know that the cows can give birth without issue. This reduces the chance of you having a cow die later on during calving. Finally, I would definitely buy a bull instead of raise your own. Most people who raise bulls keep track of a bull’s expected progeny differences or “EPD’s.” As one very informative article from PennState points out: “These are predictions of the genetic transmitting ability of a parent to its offspring and are used to make selection decisions for traits desired in the herd. For a given trait, EPD values are calculated based on data submitted by producers to breed associations from an animal's actual performance, performance of progeny, performance of other relatives, and genomic data (DNA analysis, if available).” You can find the article here: extension.psu.edu/understanding-epds-and-genomic-testing-in-beef-cattle. So, depending upon your goals, you would try to find a bull with EPD’s that match your objectives. For me raising beef cattle where I would be weaning my calves for sale at auction each year, I looked for a bull with lower birth weight and good calving ease EPD’s, but high weaning weight EPD’s as well. By selecting for these traits, my hope was to attempt to reduce the number of assisted births with my cows later on, while increasing the sale value of future calves sold at auction (due to their higher weaning weights). So far, it seems to have worked out fairly well for me. I hope this helps, and best of luck starting your herd!
Awe she is a beautiful girl!!! And much more bold than the rest. She ran right up to the pin. She should gets pets and scratches lol. Looks like your bull was pissy he wasn't getting fed I heard him yell at ya lol 😂 I have a cattle rancher and a pig farmer in my close circle of friends so I get 2 whole hogs butchered and 2 steer a year at a very good price. Herefords are fucking yummy pardon my French but man they are good!!!! Beef is ungraded but it's just sub prime lots of grass fed marbling. I like the channel
If you buy cows with calves at their side, you should keep them separated from your bull until you wean the calves to either sell them at auction or grow them out. If the latter, you would need to have a good cross-fenced area to keep them separated from the bulls until they are 2 years old. Since I don’t breed my heifer calves (and instead sell them every year), it’s not an issue for me. But it would be a consideration for anyone raising cows, whether you buy them with calves at their side or breed them, because you will end up with the same situation either way.
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Very informative. And amazing looking animals. I admire your while breeding plan. Keep up the awesome work
Very informative! Thank you
Mike can you tell me where I can get a "Dusting Sack" like you use. I have a small farm between Lockhart and Luling. Would love to meet up with you at Auction sometime.
I learned a lot of good info 👌
Thanks, Bianca!
You are exactly right about the Brahman. I have one and she will not go into the feeding pen if I am anywhere near it. I got her in with the rest one time and closed the gate so that I can treat them for flies. She found a low spot in the fence and climbed right over it. Luckily she didn't hurt herself. After that, she is just going to have to live with the flies, because I am not treating her.I wanted to sell her, but my wife wanted to keep her. Guess who got what she wanted?
🤣
I’m working on starting my own homestead with a few cattle. What your recommendation for my first few cows I should get that can bring profits? Should I buy a few cattle that are pregnant? Also should I buy a bull or raise a bull?
Hey Tony - thanks for the comment!
In answer to your question, it really depends on what you are looking to do and where you live. My advice would be to first figure out if you want to raise cows for milk, beef, or both. Depending upon what you decide, I would suggest researching the right breed for your area. For example, if you live in a cold region, you would want cows that are well suited for the cold, etc.
Having said that, I definitely think buying cows with a calf at their side is the best way to start. That way, you know that the cows can give birth without issue. This reduces the chance of you having a cow die later on during calving.
Finally, I would definitely buy a bull instead of raise your own. Most people who raise bulls keep track of a bull’s expected progeny differences or “EPD’s.” As one very informative article from PennState points out: “These are predictions of the genetic transmitting ability of a parent to its offspring and are used to make selection decisions for traits desired in the herd. For a given trait, EPD values are calculated based on data submitted by producers to breed associations from an animal's actual performance, performance of progeny, performance of other relatives, and genomic data (DNA analysis, if available).” You can find the article here: extension.psu.edu/understanding-epds-and-genomic-testing-in-beef-cattle. So, depending upon your goals, you would try to find a bull with EPD’s that match your objectives. For me raising beef cattle where I would be weaning my calves for sale at auction each year, I looked for a bull with lower birth weight and good calving ease EPD’s, but high weaning weight EPD’s as well. By selecting for these traits, my hope was to attempt to reduce the number of assisted births with my cows later on, while increasing the sale value of future calves sold at auction (due to their higher weaning weights). So far, it seems to have worked out fairly well for me.
I hope this helps, and best of luck starting your herd!
Awe she is a beautiful girl!!! And much more bold than the rest. She ran right up to the pin. She should gets pets and scratches lol. Looks like your bull was pissy he wasn't getting fed I heard him yell at ya lol 😂
I have a cattle rancher and a pig farmer in my close circle of friends so I get 2 whole hogs butchered and 2 steer a year at a very good price. Herefords are fucking yummy pardon my French but man they are good!!!! Beef is ungraded but it's just sub prime lots of grass fed marbling. I like the channel
So if you buy a cow with a calf how do you keep the bull from trying to impregnate the calf for the first two years
If you buy cows with calves at their side, you should keep them separated from your bull until you wean the calves to either sell them at auction or grow them out. If the latter, you would need to have a good cross-fenced area to keep them separated from the bulls until they are 2 years old. Since I don’t breed my heifer calves (and instead sell them every year), it’s not an issue for me. But it would be a consideration for anyone raising cows, whether you buy them with calves at their side or breed them, because you will end up with the same situation either way.
Pavlov's Bovines!
Angus will milk enough to give calves milk scours