Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Raising beef?

So I'm thinking about acquiring a couple cows or calves this spring. My thought is to rotate cows through so as to butcher one every fall.

There is a couple acres of bottom land that has a small creek. It's had a half dozen goats in it that can't even begin to keep up with the grass. I also have access to large quantities of spent barley. I figure I can split the pasture into two paddocks and rotate them through and seed if needed. We get about 40" of rain a year and very mild winters.

Anybody with experience? What kinda cows? Noxious weeds I need to look out for?
How big of a hat do I need?

LOL, get a 250/300 weight brahman steer or heifer, they are the leanest for eating and not picky about what they eat either, hell, they may feed right alongside your goats on the cleanup detail.

How many acres total do you have access to?

A cow eats more than you think, and when you run out of grass, you are out of the cow business. Plan accordingly. Don't get overly ambitious.

Brahma! Those them big sumbitches with the hump? Good eating and hearty?

How old of one should I get? Assuming I can find one out here.

That'd rate a 10 gallon hat! Maybe spurs!

RB- it's just about two acres.

As for feed, I can get thousands of pounds of spent barley a week for free if they are wiping out the pasture.

Get a 250/300 weight calf, you should be able to have it to 8/900 lbs in a year, perfect eating size, and hell yes, very lean cattle for eating, lmfao on the hat, a cap will do, big hats just get blown off yer head and you'll bust your ass in the vines chasing the hat in spurs.

I feed barley sprouts and wheat mids, keep out some mineral and hay/alfalfa, hit em with a good pour on wormer, a couple bolaces shot down their throat and your GTG.

Keep a syringe and a bottle of micotil handy in case they get some sort of respiratory illness/virus, flu/dust pneumonia etc.

10-4 on the hat and spurs. I'll keep a lower profile.

What's a good way to go about acquiring a calf or two? Auction? My non-farming dumbazz has been looking on Craigslist. Not much there.

Thanks G!

It sounds like a good idea, especially since you have access to free feed.

Just be aware that with 2 acres, all the green stuff will be gone shortly, and you will be left with a 2 acre "pen", that requires you feed them every bite that they take, and gets muddy and schidtty when it rains.

Putting 2 of them on 2 acres is overgrazing it. Even one is pushing it.

I hear if you can't find a heifer on craigslist you just ain't looking. I also hear you can't feed them 'uns grass and get away with it for long. I also hear that if you're going to mess with those heifers you might oughta have some penicillin. handy too

Rockinbbar has it right. The two acres of grass will be gone quickly. I tried raising a bunch of angus cows and my grass ran short so had to buy hay. I had to sell them, as I couldn't keep up with their appetites. I did get some very nice calves though.

Once that grass is gone, and the ground is bare, it ain't coming back anytime soon...

All kinds of noxious weeds will sprout though.

I thought those were cow or pigs. Just hope you don't end up with a steer(queer).

RB- I was thinking two might be a bit much. Maybe start with one and see how it goes is a better plan. I have no idea of the nutrional content of spent grain if it comes down to feeding them on it 100%. I think I'll try and give WSU a call.


Miles- Laffin'! Lots of that "breed" available.

Make sure you get a 'hard mouth' calf...

If you dont, you will the next time.

In our neck of the woods, you can run a cow and calf per acre on improved pasture.

Dont forget a bull, if your going to raise your own calves from your cows, and he's gotta eat, too.

Dont get a brahma, get a black angus, grass feed it until about 2 weeks before your ready to butcher it. Then put it up and grain feed + good hay for 2 weeks. Pasture fed it will be ok--- grain fed for 2 weeks will bring out the marbling--- grain fed longer will make for lots of fat.

Good luck!

your not out anything trying one or two....whats your absolute worst case? your just butchering earlier than ideal and have less than preferred carcass weight but since its for your freezer who cares.....

I agree with the others that 2 acres of grass won't last long, Especially this time of year.

You might have better luck in the spring when the grass is growing fast and it might be able to keep up with the grazing.

As far as goats and grass go, Grass is the last thing that every goat I've had on the place will eat. They've really preferred brushy stuff, Which is great since that's the only reason I tolerate the fence ridin' bastids anyway.

I'm goat free right now and don't expect to ever suffer another one to set hoof here no matter what the wife and grand kids say.

Rattler- that's about what I figure. I'd just not want to turn the little pasture into a mud and chit pit.

Ill go check these guys out. Ain't to far.
http://www.clmauctions.com/livestock_auctions.shtml

The auction pic showed a lot of old culled dairy cows. You dont want one of those!

You dont know what the word 'tough' means, until you bite into one of those old things.