Cattle are sold how?

[Michael]

I have a question for some of the cattlemen on the forum. I have been watching the local stockyard's website and following the sale prices. For example the site will have columns for: calves, weight, low end dollars, high end dollars and average dollars, say low end is 38.00 high end is 120.00 and the average is 79.00. Is this per head or per 100 lbs of weight? [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] Thanks.

[Bird]

Michael, it can get confusing at an auction sometimes (at least to me) because animal sold for breeding purposes, such as bred cows and some bulls, have people bidding a dollar amount per animal. However those sold for slaughter are usually bid per 100 weight, which is what I think you are referring to.

[Michael]

Thanks Bird, I have been thinking about putting a few head (3-4)on my land and I'm trying to do a little research beforehand.

[Pat]

Michael, What is your intentions? Just curious if you want something to tromp and eat grass down or if you want to raise your own beef or what.

I have been fixing up some of my handling facilities inside and adjacent to my "hay" barn in preparation for a trip to the SOLA (Southern Oklahgoma Livestock Auction) to get a batch of weeners (not wieners.) I have to keep reminding myself of a couple things:

1. The best way to end up with $20K in the cattle account at the end of the year is to start with at least $40K-$60K and
2. buy low sell high (I seem to have a lot of trouble with the second one.

I don't particularly like the commercial breeds that I know are best for me but I have to buy what sells. If I were doing it for something to look at out in the pasture I'd go for "Low Line Angus" and or Dexter but they are a narrow niche animal when trying to be commercial.

Pat

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[Michael]

My three year old daughter loves to watch cows, so just a few to cut back on my bush hogging and let her have her "own" cow. The fact that the Mother-in-law hates that Maddie loves the cows doesn't discourage me either [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] . If I decide to get a couple, they will probably die of old age on the property, not in it for money or meat.

[Pat]

Michael, I got it. I strongly recommend Dexter. Northern Ireland in origin and quite hardy. They are way smaller than commercial beef cattle, have good dispositions usually and are hardy. They will be kinder to the fences and such and tame down like big dogs.

These are not misshapen dwarfs with all sorts of medical problems. They are just smaller cattle.

Low LIne Angus are another good search target for your Google.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Michael]

Will do, thanks.

[GaryM]

There was a posting on here a while back about some smaller cattle that were black front and back with white in the middle. They looked like Oreo Cookies with legs!

Belted Gallaway? See the second one down on this page: Belted Galloway

[GaryM]

Here's a thread about miniature cattle: Miniature Cattle

[Pat]

You may hear erroneous commentary about how miniature breeds of cattle are not healthy and robust due to the way some were developed. This is certainly true with miniature horses which to me seem grotesquely malformed. Ditto some miniature dogs (not neccessarily grotesque but certainly not robust.)

This IS NOT the case with some breeds of cattle like the Dexter and Low Line Angus. They were not bred from inferior stock, just smaller stock. They are as or more healthy and robust as any breed. Surely no one believes smaller individuals (not talking dwarfs or midgets here) are less healthy than their larger relatives. Take a look around a retirement home, assisted care facility, or similar. Do you see a lot of really large folks? Well, large does not equate to health.

A couple days ago I bought some (9) small cattle, average weight is about 430 lbs. I fully expect they will get significantly larger as they are black angus (not low line) They look to be about 5-7 months old and were recently separated from thier mommas. They are all heifers and will be used in a breeding experiment I want to do. If I had the time and facilities I'd be getting another 10-12 to put with a small (but not low line) angus bull with a history of low birthweight calves with good weight gain.

I wish there were a reliable commercial market for low line angus and or Dexter in this area but for the most part that is not the case. They are a niche market and often are raised by folks in the same vein as Emu, alpacca, and llama, practically a pyramid scheme where your principal market is to folks who want to sell to others hoping to cash in on the upswing of popularity. Eventually (and it doesn't take that long) everyone who wants any has them and there is virtually no market for them.

The way to be successful in a pyramid operation is to get in early in the boom and to get out before the inevitable bust.

There is still one unexploited camelid left in South America, the Viacunya. Get in on the ground floor, import viacunyas.

Raise viacunyas for fun and profit!!!

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]