# raising calves for another farmer.



## hitnspit (Oct 23, 2014)

So I was looking into raising calves for other farmers. I know of 2 that are looking for this service. Now my question is what would you charge per cow? Thanks


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## SheepGirl (Oct 24, 2014)

Figure out your costs (feed, vet, fencing, land, etc), and then add 25% or so for your profit.


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## greybeard (Nov 2, 2014)

Are your intentions (and those of your prospective clients) to raise them from bottle calves or weaned calves?

If weaned, what is the goal of your customers? Will you be backgrounding the calves to put on gain to go to feedlot or for use as or sale for replacements? 

You will need to make some sort of contractual agreement that includes the possibility of loss (if a calf dies while under your care and feeding). With today's higher live calf prices, you do not want to be stuck absorbing that kind of loss alone--one single loss can eat up all and any profits from successfully raising 1/2 dozen healthy units.


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## hitnspit (Nov 18, 2014)

I have really not moved forward with this yet just getting advice. I have been told $2.50 a day per calf is going rate. Seems a bit low to me with the price of grain and hay and milk replacer these days. Thanks


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## Ridgetop (Apr 18, 2015)

Gosh yes!  Like greybeard says check liability issue.  You don't want to be liable for the cost of the calf if it dies on you.  I have raised bottle calves - they are delicate!  One can scour, go down and die in 24 hours!  We used to have a dairy goat herd and had at least 12gallons of milk per day after our household consumption.  We raised calves on the milk and hay the goats left behind.  We had only the initial cost of the calves invested.  One year we got a calf with e.coli and they all died.  So did the next batch.  Now we were down $600 in 3 weeks.  We had to stop raising calves for several months while we disinfected the calf hutches, ground, and corrals.  Have you raised any calves before?  they are a lot of work and you have to be on top of them.  If you already are milking cows or better yet, dairy goats, and have a ready supply of milk it is one thing, but if you have to put them on replacer it is not worth it for $2.50 per day.  You will probably go through more than that in replacer alone.  Each calf takes at least a gallon of milk per day, 1/2 lb of grain and some hay until they are about 2 or 3 months old.  Then you need pasture or the hay bill will eat you up.  Unless you have the milk supply for free it probably won't pay you. 
Don't forget all the vaccinations and other stuff like dehorning and castrating too.  Does the calf owner expect you to do that stuff or is he going to do it.  Raising older calves on pasture is probably less work, but older calves are worth a lot and if you lose one will the owner expect you to reimburse him for it?  You might be better off to just rent your pasture to the owner of the calves and let him worry about them.  People will rent pasture for backgrounding and then you don't have to do the work or risk the loss.  Just figure on what the damage will be if the cattle knock down your fences.  You are going to want a repair or replacement clause in your contract for any damages caused by the cattle.
I haven't even touched on predator control either.  If you are in a predator heavy area do you have livestock guardian dogs to protect the calves? 
The time you spend on putting together the financial aspects of this business venture will pay you in the long run.  It sounds easy to raise a few calves for $2.50 per head per day but I am thinking the price is low if you are feeding replacer, hay & grain.


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