starting out

[WBar Farms]

I have a few options on how to start raising some calves but wasn't sure wht age of cattle to go for.  Do you guys thinking finding nice heifers on sales are a better deal then trying ti find cows cause good cows seem to be alot more.  Wonding what eveyone else did

 

[ferkj]

Good cows for 2 reasons.  1. You already know they can breed and have a calf and raise it for you.  All those risks are there if you go with heifers.  2.  The offspring of the cows can show you what worked with them or often times didn't work so breeding choices may be easier to decide.  As far a the cost difference, if you watch alot of production sales the prices of good 5-7 yr old cows is often the same or many times cheaper than show heifer prices.  Many times they are also bred so you're basically getting a 2 for 1 deal.  Something to keep in mind when comparing price.  Good luck.

 

[easttex]

I'll second the buying of cows. When I got started back I bought a few heifers and a few cows. The cows could be breed to whatever bull I thought would work vs a heifer I had to wait a few years to breed to some of the "hot" bulls bc of bw's. I know there are some good heifer safe bulls, but your options are endless with a good cow. Just my opinion.

 

[nate53]

There are pros and cons to any age you start with.  Yes cows are proven and you can buy them anyway you want (pairs, open, bred with calf), but that doesn't mean they are going to be problem free.  Cows or anything over a virgin heifer have a lot more chance to be infected with several diseases (even if they are in perfect health now, or may just be carriers, or develop symptoms later on), also some animals just don't adjust to a different enviroment.  The younger animals will have a much better chance at adjusting and are a lot less likely to be carrying any diseases, but like the others said they may not breed or turn into what you want and it will be longer before you get a return on your investment.  I've tried it both ways and all the cows I bought are gone but one, all the heifer calves I bought are still here except one ( the breeder gave me the difference in salvage and what I paid on her, which wasn't the case on the cows).  The cows were culled for not holding up and being carriers for anaplasmosis, blue tounge, bovine leukosis, (the only way I found about the carrier status was a blood test, no visual syptoms).  Trich is something also to be very leary of when using non virgin bulls or buying cows (pregnant or not).  There are several diseases that have no vaccination and once you have it you have it as long as the animal stays and they will be a source of infection for the others.
The big thing would be know the program you are purchasing from (talk to them about what you are concerned about before purchasing) and what they test for and what they vaccinate for. 

Good Luck

 

[Glorifying Pastures]

When we restarted in raising cattle, we bought some open cows, bred cows and a few heifers. Recently we only have the heifers left, which dropped their first calf last spring. The cows were older ones 5- 9 yrs, still had good life and were healthy. The problem I had they would not breed back, we A.I. all of our herd. No bull on premise. The cows that were purchased were not registered (we bought them to give us market animals) but the heifers were. It all depends on your goals you want to achieve in your herd, we where looking for certain gentics and with the gentics we wanted, the cows where proven and the cost was up there. So we decided to go with the heifers and get a little better price and get them at a younger age so our kids could get to able to handle them, and not to afraid of the larger animals. Again, my opion is what do you want to achieve in your herd.  Good luck and God Bless.