Is it worth getting a few calves to raise?

[scott123456789]

The place I hunt is owned by my in laws. They have for years leased grazing rights but when they did a fence project they took the cows off and now we have been resting the property two years. Good fences and plenty of water but how long will the market continue to go down? We have 300 acres of native grass so I should have plenty to fatten up cows a while. Trying to figure out when is the time to buy in and where to purchase from? Craigslist, facebook or auctions? Wait till the end of winter when everyone else is totally out of grass or at some point during the winter when folks get tired of the hay bills around christmas. Not wanting to get into a situation where I have to grain/round bale feed them but would love to cash out on our dormant grass.

[hallp82]

The place I hunt is owned by my in laws. They have for years leased grazing rights but when they did a fence project they took the cows off and now we have been resting the property two years. Good fences and plenty of water but how long will the market continue to go down? We have 300 acres of native grass so I should have plenty to fatten up cows a while. Trying to figure out when is the time to buy in and where to purchase from? Craigslist, facebook or auctions? Wait till the end of winter when everyone else is totally out of grass or at some point during the winter when folks get tired of the hay bills around christmas. Not wanting to get into a situation where I have to grain/round bale feed them but would love to cash out on our dormant grass.

Dormant grass is straw...zero nutritional value. Hay what you have to give them something to eat.


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[hallp82]

What should I expect to pay for some angus calves? Been looking on craigslist to get an idea and prices are all over the place

Regular commercial quality unregistered 400lb calves are $300-$600 depending on quality. Registered commercial quality add $200-$300.

Registered show quality $3500-????? (Infinity? Lol)


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[Rack Ranch]

Heres a good one

Raising this one to show at Houston Livestock show this year. If he does well he could bring 8-10 grand. I only have 5 cows and AI every one of them to sale as show calves.

[hallp82]

Raising this one to show at Houston Livestock show this year. If he does well he could bring 8-10 grand. I only have 5 cows and AI every one of them to sale as show calves.

Good looking steer right there


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[Ruark]

No money on a place that small. But check out miniature cattle. Seriously, they're not really miniature, cows will get up to 600-700 pounds, bulls to 800-1000. They're very tough and eat VERY little. We have 25 acres and are currently running 9 head of black baldy miniature cows. Two of them are about 550 lbs, the rest are younger and about 350. They don't eat much and don't tear up your pastures when it gets muddy. And of course you get that ag exemption. You can sell them pretty easy on Craigslist. You might also look at Zebus - they look like 400 lb. Brahmans. An African breed, tough and hardy.

[DirtyDave]

No money on a place that small. But check out miniature cattle. Seriously, they're not really miniature, cows will get up to 600-700 pounds, bulls to 800-1000. They're very tough and eat VERY little. We have 25 acres and are currently running 9 head of black baldy miniature cows. Two of them are about 550 lbs, the rest are younger and about 350. They don't eat much and don't tear up your pastures when it gets muddy. And of course you get that ag exemption. You can sell them pretty easy on Craigslist. You might also look at Zebus - they look like 400 lb. Brahmans. An African breed, tough and hardy.

I see a lot of zebus on craigslist

[DirtyDave]

Talked it over with the landlord last night. He said for any other tenant he would say no to having my own cattle. But since I'm pretty much an unpaid ranch hand on this place and treat the property and animals as my own, he will allow it. Said he was very grateful to have me there especially because he is gone M-F at his teaching job.

Told him i still want to do more research before I buy cattle, but 2-4 calves is doable.
We may wean the 4 calves off the dairy cow in another month and bring in 4 more to nurse off her.

I'm going to build a creep feeder too. Right now I have to run off the momma cow before i feed calf starter or she'll eat it all up lol

[DirtyDave]

Here is the layout of the land. The whole thing is 25 acres, dont know the acreage of how its broken up

Blue is the water supply. Underground water line from the barn to a 300 gal rubbermade tank. Tank is set so it can be accessed from either side of the fence. Need to add an automatic float to it, right now we have to manually turn on the water.

Pasture 1 is where we have the Diary cow and 4 calves. (and 4 pain in the butt goats)

Pasture 2 has the 4, 1 yr old bulls and the 2 angus heifers

Pasture 3 has not been used for anything and is very overgrown with weeds. I dont think the landlord has ever set foot back there lol