# New To Cows - QUESTIONS!!



## skeleroo (Jun 13, 2018)

This past year my husband and I bought ten-ish acres and a really old farmhouse and we have slowly been settling in. Now that the land is fenced in properly and we've got working gates (!!!!) I'm ready to take the dive into the wonderful world of cattle.

We want cows for meat. I'd like to breed them through AI, raise babies, and then... well... eat them.

I've been doing a bit of research and I think I'd really like to raise brangus. Does anyone have opinions on these cattle? There is someone local-ish who has brangus heifer calves for sale for $350. I honestly don't know how much these calves sell for but I feel like that might be a good price? Would I be over paying? Is it a great deal? I have no idea. According to the seller the calves are weaned, wormed, and vaccinated. I also have a very good large animal vet who comes to our place (he takes care of the sheep) so I'd have him check the calves out if/when we got them.

Assuming I get the calves do I just let them go do their thing? Do I need to bring them in at night? Do you need to feed them or will grazing suffice? I've got fresh water available and a small pond for them. A fair amount of shade trees. Lots and lots of grass. We live in central Florida, if that helps.

Anything else I need to know? I'd really love advice from people who are in the thick of it!

Thank you!


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## greybeard (Jun 13, 2018)

Brangus is a great breed and good choice for central Florida. 
If they truly ARE weaned, (and vaccinated) and are of weaning AGE & WEIGHT, and otherwise in good health, then $350 ea is a pretty fair price imo, but that's  based on what I have seen 6 mo old, light weight Brangus heifers sold for here and the opinion is worth exactly what ya paid for it. 

However.. You said you wanted them for 'meat'.
I think you might look for a steer or 2..or get one heifer and one steer, IF you have no intentions of breeding the heifers and are just going to have them slaughtered anyway.

Now that I think about it a bit...$350 for true Brangus heifers of weaning age and weight sounds suspicious. 

Brangus 4 day old bottle calves are bringing that much here. 
Go look at them or find out how old they are and how much they weigh.


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## skeleroo (Jun 13, 2018)

They are claiming they have several different breeds of calves available from between $350 to $450. It's a several hour drive and I'm not able to do go there, but they do have photos!

View attachment 49334 
View attachment 49333 

I was thinking of getting a few heifers and a steer.


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## farmerjan (Jun 13, 2018)

Welcome to BYH.  I am in Va but have been in Fl several times and seen some of the cattle there.  Brangus are good for heat tolerance, with the brahma influence, and the angus will add pounds and meat.  
Lots of things.  Since you have a large animal vet, ask his opinion. That said, how big/old are these heifers?  $350 is a fair price in relation to what we have up here comparatively, being weaned, wormed, vaccinated.  I would assume they are in the 5-7 month old range which is about the normal weaning range.  Everyone does it a little differently but that is a good average.  They ought to weigh 3-500 lbs.  It would be wise to supplement them with a little grain so that the growth is good.  Since you have sheep, you must feed the lambs some after they are weaned so that they will continue to grow and not get stunted.  In the wild, those calves would still be on their momma's, and get that little extra from the milk while grazing etc, until they are closer to a year old.  We wean in the 5-8 month old range, when it works into our schedule, the weather, etc.  We supplement our heifers until they are about 14-16 months and go to pasture for the summer.  You will have different "seasons" than we do as far as growing/available grass, etc.. Plus, feeding a little grain daily will get them tamer, used to you and coming when you call, so that you are not "chasing them" to get them caught up when you need them.  
You will have to have some sort of a working catch pen.  They could need doctoring and they will need a head catch/chute of some kind where they can be contained.  For your safety and theirs.  A sick or hurt animal cannot be reasoned with.  Plus you are talking AI, a containment/chute is a requirement. 

Have you thought about getting a couple of bred cows?  Starting with an experienced cow that knows what she is doing to have a calf is alot better than starting with a heifer.  There are alot of unseen possible difficulties with a heifer having her first calf than a cow that has "been there/done that".  Not saying you will have problems...but a heifer is more likely to have a problem and a first time person may not know what to do/ or how soon to intervene/help.  One of you should at least know what's going on the first time around....

Talk to an extension agent at your county ag dept.  Maybe find a cow sale or two to go watch, just get some general feeling of what is what.  
Is this place that is "local-ish" a farm that breeds cattle?  Maybe talk honestly to them.  See if they maybe have an older couple of cows ( at least 2 for the herd instinct and company)  that might be available bred that you could start with.  Again, talk to you vet if you like and trust their opinion.


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## farmerjan (Jun 13, 2018)

After reading Greybeards post, I am thinking that maybe they are a little cheap but I don't know the markets there.  Also, he has a point.  Why not start with a couple of steers.  Get the feel for having some cattle without worrying about raising some calves right off.  Get you feet wet with some of the things that go into raising/having cattle.  Get used to working around them, then get a heifer or 2 and a steer or two so you get some beef while the heifers are growing.


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## skeleroo (Jun 13, 2018)

Thank you for your replies, they are very informative!

My husband and I were originally talking about getting a few steers. I had settled on one steer and two heifers (so that we could raise them together and eat the one when it was about time to breed the others).

We do have a cattle chute and a few decent corrals. The land we own had been used as a small hobby farm for cows but it went into foreclosure and they had let everything go into disrepair. But the bones of the place were still good and we've done a lot of fixing up.

I had thought about getting bred cows. My thoughts were that calves would be a bit more manageable and I'd have time to learn from my mistakes before it was "baby time." But maybe I'm thinking about things backwards?

I'm not sure if the pictures uploaded correctly. I can't look at them so I'm assuming no one else can, either. Maybe if I post links?


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## greybeard (Jun 13, 2018)

The first pics result in an error but the 2nd set worked. They do look to be of weaning age tho a bit thin and I have doubts as to whether they have been dewormed...depending which 2 calves they are.
A link to the ad itself might be helpful.
If you put a set of brackets around your hot links, with the appropriate code inside the brackets, the picture will show up. The code for images is 'img'










It may be tho, that the images are too large for BYH software to accept. There is a max size of 1500 pixels..it shows up in my reply box but not in the reply once posted.

Looks like he has a hodge podge herd there.. I would probably give the asking price for the 2 Angus/Brangus looking  calves without qualms, tho I would have to see them in person before making the decision. I would want for sure, to see them walking around to make sure they had a good set of legs and hooves under them.

Some of the bunch look wormy to me for Central Fla calves this time of year..


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## skeleroo (Jun 13, 2018)

Brilliant. Thank you. Here is a link to the ad.

https://lakeland.craigslist.org/grd/d/heifer-and-steer-calves/6595915510.html


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## greybeard (Jun 13, 2018)

Pretty high priced for 4 month old calves, IMO, even if they are registered Angus. $2000 each.

https://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/grd/d/registered-black-angus-calves/6595828273.html

/\ Please ignore..thought I was somewhere else.


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## skeleroo (Jun 13, 2018)

What am I looking for when I look at calves?


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## greybeard (Jun 13, 2018)

Tho it's more important with bulls, correct pastern is one of the things I look for.  
Hoof placement when they walk..the rear hooves should mostly set down right where the front hooves were, tho with young animals it might not be so evident as they are still developing. 
Certainly look underneath at the developing udder..number and size of teats tho again, it's hard to appraise with younger animals. 

DO inquire if any of the heifers were a twin, with the other twin being a bull calf. Most of the time, twin to a bull calf is a freemartin..cannot be bred/reproduce, but is almost always fine for eating. 

This is for bull appraisal and is an Aussie site, but much of it holds true for female structural soundness as well.
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/animals-.../breeding/bull-selection/structural-soundness

Angus influenced breeds:
http://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/the-society/breed-assessment-booklet/#cows


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## Donna R. Raybon (Jun 13, 2018)

Brangus from good lines that are calm and docile are a great breed.  Personality is passed on, so make sure the parents and other herd members are calm.  

Before you take the plunge..... go visit someone who has the handling facilities necessary to confine a cow for exam.  You need at minimum a head chute and alley.  In fact, find a breeder and buy from him/her so that you also get 'mentoring' as a bonus.  

Yeah, you can wing it with a lasso.  I did for a long, long time. 
There are ways to tie and then lay a grown, fully alert cow down on her side to do whatever you need.  But, it is a YOUNG person's sport!!!   One of best days of my life was when Tennessee Farmers Coop delivered and set up hub corral with push gate, alley, and squeeze chute!!!!!!  Single handed I could work, vet, castrate, deworm, treat for pink eye (oh what fun times in the warm weather we have had!!!  NOT!!), vaccinate, pour for fly control, AI, etc.....   And, when I had a cow refusing to take a calf or with mastitis???   Into the chute she went and I was safe on outside with calf!!


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## farmerjan (Jun 14, 2018)

I pulled the ad that showed the calves.  These are ONLY MY THOUGHTS;  these calves look like they were either bought and then kept for awhile and then are being offered for sale.  OR  they have a real hodgepodge of cattle and pulled all the calves and have weaned them and are trying to sell;  OR they got bottle calves or something similiar and raised them up to sell.  

You are new to cattle.  Do yourself a favor and talk to your vet on where to buy a couple of weaned, HEALTHY calves. Or better yet a couple of steers and get some experience with them.  As a newbie, I would not go buy some calves from a mixed group like this.  I am of the inclination that these have been bought different places, then put together and fed for a short 30-60 day period and now are being offered for sale.  I think that there are a couple that look a bit wormy, the one with the rough haircoat that has not shed is one and then a couple looked thin.  I know that brangus and brahma influenced cattle are not built the same as our angus and hereford and charolais  but they still look like they are not getting an overabundance of feed.  If you have one get sick, there will be little recourse from a seller with a mixed group like this.
I would not go buy any livestock off craigslist  starting out.  People can be very honest, and they can be very dishonest, and they can be very limited in their knowledge.  Many are not really well versed in livestock, and are thinking they will make money.  I have seen several ads where the people have said they have so and so for sale;  and when you look at the picture...you wonder where they got their information from.  They have no clue as to what they really have, and then by selling it to someone, that person says they have such and such because they were told that their original stock were this or that.... and it keeps snowballing.  
Find someone who can mentor you a bit with your first cattle venture... it will save you money, and heartbreak and loss if something does go wrong and there is someone to go to for help, and advice.


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## Donna R. Raybon (Jun 14, 2018)

Farmer Jan is so very on the money!!!!!!!!  My cattle were SOLD at stockyards, but I never, ever, bought anything at a stockyard.  All were bought from established, breeders who were there as a resource to answer questions.


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## farmerjan (Jun 14, 2018)

We run commercial cattle with some registered ones in the mix.  I have been doing this for 50 years.  If I had 1/2 the money I spent and "buried" on less that healthy calves the first 10 years, I would be able to retire....well not quite.... but I spent so much trying to "save sick cattle" and all that.   
We buy and sell at the stockyards.  But We've been doing it a long time.  I've watched the market trends, have made some very risky buys, and made some money and lost some too.  You want to start out with healthy, cattle, don't have to have fancy pedigrees... just healthy.  Until you get a feel for what is healthy, what illnesses can be easily cured, what a thrifty animal is, what thin cattle will gain and be profitable, and what ones will always be "sorry" cattle;  you need to learn the ropes.  
These calves could be fine.  But you don't have the knowledge or experience to look at them and know that.  I could look at them and still not be 100% right, but from years of experience, I would have a better chance of knowing if they would "go forward" or if they would go backwards and have some problems.  Also, you need someone to help you see the little things.  I would be somewhat out of my element in Fl.... your grasses are different, the temps, so much different from me here in Va.  

I am not trying to discourage you.  I am trying to save you from spending some money, and getting "hurt".  You don't want to get 3 home, with $1,000 invested, have them get sick, and spend $500 on vet bills and bury 2.  Now you have a very expensive $1500 calf.   Realize too, that a $350  calf will weigh in the 300-400 lb range.  You are talking at least a year before you can consider butchering.  Just weaned calves are one of the greatest risk groups, and are the highest cost per lb. of all. Plus they will not be able to utilize the grass as well  because they are going to need feed supplementing...they need protein to grow.  You would be much better off  finding a couple of 600 lb steers,  that are weaned and eating and growing, that do not need much additional feed if the grass is decent, who's rumens are working well and they can utililize that grass the best when you turn them out.  A little feed to call them into a catch pen, keep them tame and quiet.... feed grain for the last 30-90 days if you want grain finished, and butcher in 6-8 months at 1,000 lbs.  You want an animal to gain 1.5 to 2.5 lbs a day for optimal growth and tenderest meat.  And with the best utilization of the pasture you have.  I have no idea of the best grasses there except I know that they are mostly warm season whereas we have more cool season grasses.  The best time for your animals to put weight on might be Oct to Feb,  I don't know.  You need to find someone to help you with that.


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## greybeard (Jun 14, 2018)

farmerjan said:


> I pulled the ad that showed the calves. These are ONLY MY THOUGHTS; these calves look like they were either bought and then kept for awhile and then are being offered for sale. OR they have a real hodgepodge of cattle and pulled all the calves and have weaned them and are trying to sell; OR they got bottle calves or something similiar and raised them up to sell.


I seriously doubt he is a breeder too, as there are just too many different breeds and phenotype there.  Even if he did have a hodge podge group of females, you would think the calves would show a lot more uniformity  (unless he had a LOT of different bulls) 
Yep...as I said in another thread, you can make $$ buying light weights or thin cattle and putting them on some good grass and a little grain supplement for awhile, then turn around and sell them when they look better...and are at a heavier weight. The sale barn stickers probably haven't been off that mixed bunch very long, and if the CS ad doesn't produce results, they'll just go to a different sale barn and at very least make his $$ back, tho the added weight should produce a profit.


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## greybeard (Jun 14, 2018)

Donna R. Raybon said:


> Farmer Jan is so very on the money!!!!!!!!  My cattle were SOLD at stockyards, but I never, ever, bought anything at a stockyard.  All were bought from established, breeders who were there as a resource to answer questions.



I've bought some at salebarns but been going to them a long time and have a pretty good eye for what runs thru the ring.  Mostly tho, private treaty or raise my own, with just private buys for replacements.
I would have to know the seller to ever buy a bull form a sale barn.

You can sometimes get some very good cattle at herd dispersal sales.....watch the newspaper obits of the older ranchers. Their kids generally will sell the whole herd at the nearest barn...a lifetime of work gone in a couple of hours.


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## skeleroo (Jul 6, 2018)

Well I did it. Last Wednesday I got cows. Not the cows I was going to get, either. 




 


 

I had the vet come out and he gave them a clean bill of health. The baby is still on a bottle and is super friendly when she's hungry. The big girl wants nothing to do with me and isn't really interested in food at all. And she kicks. That's been fun.

Here's to a new adventure!


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## greybeard (Jul 6, 2018)

Get the red one interested in range cubes or creep type/size pellets as soon as you can. She'll settle down as soon as she figures out you are the giver of food.
Looks like you have plenty of grass for them!
Red (which I like) could use a little more ear and leather.


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## skeleroo (Jul 6, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Get the red one interested in range cubes or creep type/size pellets as soon as you can. She'll settle down as soon as she figures out you are the giver of food.
> Looks like you have plenty of grass for them!
> Red (which I like) could use a little more ear and leather.



The red one is the baby, the black one is the older... kickier... girl. The red one is a doll baby and just a beautiful girl. I've tried giving the big girl food but and cubes but she doesn't seem to want it. She doesn't even really go for the grain when I feed her. 



What does it mean a little more ear and leather?


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## skeleroo (Jul 6, 2018)




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## greybeard (Jul 6, 2018)

I was just kidding with that ear and leather comment. They have plenty it appears. Ear and leather are hallmarks of any cattle with Brahman/bos indicus influence in their breeding. Leather refers to the extra and loose skin in the front..the brisket and chest area.

Probably not too popular in the cutesy/blocky/FluffyCow craze world but yours will do well in your latitude and clime. You'll have to Google Fluffy cow yourself. They are the newest version of the micro pig, which came about right after the Emu thing died down.

They can run like a deer can't they? 
Hint..cut down or pull up the tall green stuff in the background before it gets that high in the future..dog fennel it looks like, and pull up any wooley croton (goat weed) you see before it sets seed. Both will come back gang busters next year, especially if it's a really dry year. 2,4d or Remedy will kill both in their early growth stages if you don't object to herbicide. Goatweed, I usually wait till it's about 6-8" tall at the most.


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## skeleroo (Jul 6, 2018)

Ah. Sorry. Right. Her ears are my favorite thing about her! She's a funny girl.

I am IN LOVE with fluffy cows. I imagine they don't do too well here in Florida...


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## Donna R. Raybon (Jul 7, 2018)

Yes, they both look healthy, coat is shining, eyes bright.  The red one needs a bit more weight on her, but she looks good!  
Do you have some place to pen them up overnight?  Since both are young, they are at risk to predators at night.  Leave feed there for them and let them back out in day time to pick.  The bottle baby will eat grain, get some calf starter grower, and she will get the older one interested.  When she is finished taking her bottle, let her suck on your hand with some calf starter grower in it and she will figure out that is good to eat.  My calves raised by their momma would start nibbling grain at a few days old and be trying to push momma out of the feeder at two or three weeks old. When they have never had grain, they literally have to figure out it is good to eat.  Get a good loose mineral that is balanced for your geographic region, too.  

Make sure they have found where the water is, too.  By instinct cattle will walk a fence line to investigate a way out.  By putting your water, hay, feeder, minerals, etc.... along the fence line they are quicker to find it and use.  

Hope you enjoy your cows.  Watch out on the bottle baby that she respects your personal space.  What is 'cute' now is not so cute when she is +1000 pounds!

I used to halter break all my heifers when they were weaned.  Tied them up and carted hay, water, feed to them for about two weeks.  After about the third day, I would groom with a leaf rake and gradually work my way up to just a brush and curry comb.  Polled Hereford took about a week to gentle.  Angus, a bit longer.  They were not 'show ring broke' to lead, but as adults, if I got a rope on them, I could lead them in to the barn, no problem.  

Only breed I never had any luck with were Charlois.  They were as wild and aggressive the day we put them on the trailer for market as the day we unloaded them.  Had two of them, and they would attack you if you got in the field and then flee through fencing!!!  A neighbor who had a nice herd sold them to me and I know he was quiet and gentle with his cattle.


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## greybeard (Jul 7, 2018)

Donna R. Raybon said:


> Only breed I never had any luck with were Charlois. They were as wild and aggressive the day we put them on the trailer for market as the day we unloaded them. Had two of them, and they would attack you if you got in the field and then flee through fencing!!! A neighbor who had a nice herd sold them to me and I know he was quiet and gentle with his cattle.



I can walk among my mostly char herd at will with no problems and with the exception of one, even if they have calves at their side. They do all have some Simm mix in so that may account for their docility, tho some simms are also known for aggressiveness.


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## farmerjan (Jul 7, 2018)

Most all our Charolais and the char crosses are very easy to work with. Even the bought ones.  All cattle have their own dispositions and some just get a "wild hair" and nothing will work.  Just sold a real nice 10 mo heifer calf, off her mother who is a nice quiet angus x.  Weighed right at 600 and had her head up from the time she was born.  She would have been a keeper due to good growth, nice looking, but the disposition killed it.  Thought she might settle down after a few months of being around the quieter cattle, but NOPE...as soon as you got near her in the barn she was looking for a way  THROUGH YOU.  Not that this should be the reason, but she was out of a Limi bull.  Have 3 more out of that bull and they are a little iffy, but not like her.  The bull was as quiet as a church mouse.  Still, I find that Limousin cattle are among the wilder, more aggressive,  more exciteable and "want to get you"  cattle I have ever worked with.
There is a reg herd right up the road that my son worked for , for a couple of years when he was younger.  They were hard to deal with when the cows calved.  Very aggressive with new calves on the ground.  We just bought a bull at this years sale because we were/are VERY impressed with his build.  Pretty quiet to work around according to a friend that manages the place now.  We needed another "cow bull" with plus birth weights as we have several that are minus to use on heifers.  So he is out with 14 nice good sized cows and hope that he will put some nice calves on the ground.  The previous limi bull came from them several years ago.  He developed some health problems and they said they would do something for us if we decided to get another one.  We really weren't looking for a another bull this year, but always go to the sale to support them and to catch up with all the farmers we know, eat and visit.  This bull caught both my son's and my eye and we wound up with him.  They did discount the price some to compensate for the previous bulls' problem.  If there are any problems with him, or his calves being too hard to deal with it will be the very last one we use.  
Many make comments about angus being aggressive and hard to deal with but I just don't find it to be any more true than saying that every Hereford is a lap dog and easy to work with.  Although I will agree that most herefords are very calm and somewhat docile, had dealings with one that was just as ornery as any could be.  We have had some angus that were not big babies, and 2 that got more "watchful" as they got older and they were quickly sold.  Have not had any char bulls, but a neighbor had one that was fine until you got him in the catch pen and he would go through it, bust it up, just to get back out. The owner wanted to sell him as he was big and getting older, and finally got him in the pen, and directly on the trailer being too interested in the cow in heat in front of his nose to realize what he was doing.  Thank goodness for a one track mind.  Took them both to town, and reloaded the cow and brought her back home after they got the bull on the scale and in a pen.  They penned him in with cull cows to keep him from wanting out too much.  He weighed over 2800 lbs. Another friend had char all his life and he never kept a bull that he was afraid to work with.  His were working cattle, not reg., but they were used to being around a quiet moving person and the cattle reflected it in their quiet  moving dispositions.


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## farmerjan (Jul 7, 2018)

I know this will likely make some people mad, but I have found that shorthorns are the dumbest beef breed I have ever had.  And I really liked them for a long time.  They were either so quiet that you had to push them out of your way, or so stupid as to not figure out to go around to an open gate to come into a pen.  They also were not the hardy cattle that I remember from childhood.  The last several I had were hard to get bred, very poor mothers, and just didn't "have it".  Used to be they were what everyone wanted as far as crossed into black cattle to make the "blue roans" that were supposed to be such good milkers and raise nice calves etc. 
Sort of like what has happened to the guernsey breed of dairy cattle.  They had to "improve them" and make them more "dairy" from the coarser big old raw-boned cattle they were.  And they have bred to vigor out of them trying to make them compete with the other dairy breeds. I don't know if the breed will ever be able to "come back" to the health and vigor they had.  I am using guernsey semen on several of my dairy cows to get some calves that have some gumption to live and then breed up using guernsey again.  I really liked the old type ones but they weren't dairy enough for the show ring. And they were not milk wagons and for the longest time Quantity was what the dairy farmers wanted and the milk companies did not pay much for the quality and fat and protein.  Now it is swinging back but the jerseys have held their niche and the guernsey may never make the comeback.  Disposition wise the guernsey is my favorite, but the jersey is a close second.


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## greybeard (Jul 7, 2018)

farmerjan said:


> He weighed over 2800 lbs.


He was a sure nuff whopper at that weight!


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## Baymule (Jul 7, 2018)

Fluffy cows..... Gheesh.

I second getting rid of the tall greenery in the background of your picture. I have that on my place and I dig it up to get rid of it. Pulling it only breaks it off and gives you a false sense of having got rid of it. It is an underground clump that sends out runners. I dig them up and throw on the burn pile. 

Nice heifers. You have gotten some VERY good advice from VERY knowledgeable and respected cattle people here on BYH.


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## greybeard (Jul 8, 2018)

Baymule said:


> I second getting rid of the tall greenery in the background of your picture.


Too late to dig the dog fennel (Eupatorium capillifolium (Lam.) Small) out this time of year. Seed formation and runners have already begun and unless it is very soft soil it would be near impossible to get it all and disturbing the soil will only permit and encourage new seedlings to emerge. 
It is very easily controlled by spraying organic or man made herbicide on the stalk near the lower parts of the plant, from ground level to about 1' up the stalk. That particular plant is very conducive to basal spraying, as the stalk is soft and will absorb the herbicide readily. Goodbye plant...goodbye runners. If you wish, on those mature plants, cut the stalk off a few inches above ground, and immediately (within 10 minutes)  spray a mix of just about any herbicide, tho my choice is 50-50 Remedy Ultra/diesel or crop oil (vegetable oil) on each little stump. The plant, immediately after cutting, doesn't 'know' it has been cut down, and will continue to send up nutrients from the roots and try to take down other nutrients from the stalk into the root system. If you wait too long tho, the liquid going up the stump will form a barrier on top of the stump and it will not be able to absorb the herbicide down to the roots. This is true of any plant or tree species that cut stump treatment is going to be used on. Works best if the cut is nice and clean, not all torn up or jagged like when a mower runs over it.  About 1/4 oz for each stalk is all it would take for fennel..a squirt or two at the most, covering the little stump top. 

Cows usually do not eat dog fennel, but might in a drought stricken area, and ingesting fennel causes a form of milk sickness because the foilage contains a toxin called Tremetol. (sometimes spelled Tremitol)





Caption under this picture:
_Above: A stand of Dog Fennel that is about 8' (2.43 m) tall. It is one of our most truculent native perennial weeds. Because it contains low levels of the toxin tremitol (or tremetol). . . it is difficult to extract by hand (tremitol causes dehydration). Tremitol is the cause of Milk Sickness. . . Milk sickness, also known as tremetol vomiting, or in animals as trembles, is characterized by trembling, vomiting, and severe intestinal pain that affects individuals who ingest milk or other dairy products or meat from a cow that has fed on white snakeroot (another native weed formerly of the Eupatorium genus (Eupatorium rugosum). _

Next growing season, attack it when it is about 6" tall to prevent seed formation, but even mid or late season growth can easily be killed off without any backbreaking diggin. Dog fennel tends to grow in poor and/or disturbed soil, but once established even in open pasture of good soil makeup, will take over if allowed to stand. Fenel is definitely one of the easier plants to control and get rid of and if spraying the whole plant (foliar application) results and personal gratification are almost immediate. It will wilt down within a couple of hours.


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