# Pet cow shopping...



## secuono (Sep 30, 2012)

I really hate all the baby cows on CL, all are so bone thin, it's disgusting. I know if it was me breeding and selling these babies, they would all look fit and healthy, not starving to death. 
But w/e.
I'm thinking of getting a baby girl cow w/no horns, miniature, to graze around the place. I see Zebu that are fairly local, but very pricey. The bull calves[skeletons] that are beef and milk cow left overs, are cheap. Anywhere from $50-300 for on bottles or just weaned. 
I need help figuring out what to look for in a cow, best age to get them and such. I do not want a bottle baby, I need it to be fully weaned. Do any of these people have guarantee that their animals won't get sick and die as soon as I get it home? I don't want to waste money on a cow that will die because the breeder failed to care for it properly and breed strength into their stock.


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## ksalvagno (Sep 30, 2012)

I doubt if anyone will make a guarantee about the health of the cow. I think if you want a healthy cow, you will need to spend the money. No matter what it is, you get what you pay for.


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## Karma (Sep 30, 2012)

ksalvagno said:
			
		

> I doubt if anyone will make a guarantee about the health of the cow. I think if you want a healthy cow, you will need to spend the money. No matter what it is, you get what you pay for.


X2. I don't sell any of my livestock or horses with a health guarantee, simply because I can not control what an animal is exposed to, how it is kept or fed once it is off my property. That is why I make that very clear that health records will be shown and vet checks are welcome but never will I take back or refund once an animal is off my property so if you want to ensure an animal is healthy, take your vet to check the animal over.


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## bonbean01 (Sep 30, 2012)

X3  Have to agree with that...only health certificates I've ever heard of was at bull sales...and those were very expensive bulls!  If you are looking for a low price calf you may just have to take your chances?

Good luck with your search and hope you find a healthy pet cow


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Sep 30, 2012)

I think your best bet is to be ready to worm, treat for Cocci, and whatever else a can get. The more prepared you are, the better chances you have. Choose the one that looks healthiest, and make sure to watch behavoir when you arrive to see if they look weak or strong. Also ask what age it ws weaned, if it was weaned too early (not sure what age they should be) then thats a bad sign of a bad owner. If it was weaned by the cow slowly then I'd be more willingly to buy from them since the baby would less likely have cocci (I guess, I've heard they get cocci from stress so if they were weaned manually then they would more likely have cocci, right?)


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## secuono (Sep 30, 2012)

So what do I look for, on their property and when looking at the cows, to tell me if the cow is healthy and cared for vs people who only pop out cows for $$ and could care less if they live after they sell??


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## WildRoseBeef (Sep 30, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> So what do I look for, on their property and when looking at the cows, to tell me if the cow is healthy and cared for vs people who only pop out cows for $$ and could care less if they live after they sell??


There's a lot of threads on this site that are around with folks like you asking this very question.  And I always give the same answer: look for the ones that are bright-eyed, alert, actively eating, moving around, showing curiosity, etc. 

Newborn calves or calves between 1 day to 2 weeks old are going to look a little thin.  You know their thin when all the ribs are showing and the pelvic bones are really sharp. 

Some cattle lingo you should know as well:

Calf - immature bovine or "baby cow" relying on milk from mom or bottle
Heifer calf - immature female calf
Bull calf - immature male calf
Cow - mature female bovine that has had at least two calves
Bull - mature male bovine used for breeding
Steer - male castrated bovine
Heifer - immature female bovine after being weaned but never has given birth to calf

You can see why we (or at least I) don't use "cow" so loosely like you did.  

In addition to what was mentioned above, you can't tell if a person has really vaccinated them or not; a calf can look like crap and the owner would say that it has been vaccinated when it could be an outright lie, unless some proof is shown that they did indeed vaccinate the calf.  Physically healthy would also include no abnormal growths, overgrown hooves, runny nose, tag (poop on the hide), listless behaviour, laboured breathing, the list goes on.  

The farm or corrals themselves should look relatively clean with not much junk lying around.  If the farm/corrals look quite junky with a lot of metal, twine and that laying around, get the heck out.  Expect to see cow pies around, not everyone (including me and my folks) shovel up after their cows all the time, some muddy areas, etc.  But the biggest thing that would make me turn away from any kind of farm is the presence of junk around the yard and even in the corrals.  I don't like to see nails, wire, twine, old fence that looks like it hasn't seen any repairs in years, or anything of that nature that will cause any sort of harm to livestock, from potential to footrot, hardware disease, or any kind of injury or worse.

Even you can get yards looking nice and neat and the animals will look like crap, like they haven't been taken care of for a while.  You can also get the opposite and the animals look fat and sassy and quite healthy.  Just use your discretion and gut instinct to decide where to buy and from whom.


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## greybeard (Oct 1, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> I really hate all the baby cows on CL, all are so bone thin, it's disgusting. I know if it was me breeding and selling these babies, they would all look fit and healthy, not starving to death.
> But w/e.
> I'm thinking of getting a baby girl cow w/no horns, miniature, to graze around the place. I see Zebu that are fairly local, but very pricey. The bull calves[skeletons] that are beef and milk cow left overs, are cheap. Anywhere from $50-300 for on bottles or just weaned.
> I need help figuring out what to look for in a cow, best age to get them and such. I do not want a bottle baby, I need it to be fully weaned. Do any of these people have guarantee that their animals won't get sick and die as soon as I get it home? I don't want to waste money on a cow that will die because the breeder failed to care for it properly and breed strength into their stock.


I honestly don't know how to address this.
Any other absolutes you'd care to request in this prospective pet? 
Model?
Year?
Options?


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## secuono (Oct 1, 2012)

And I know no way of responding to your rude post other than more rudeness.



This is an animal, I can be as picky as all heck! I don't want something that will die or is sick, what is so wrong with that??
I can't have horned animals and risk my other animals being gouged to death! I don't have the land, resources nor the will to have a huge standard bovine. Many other breeders[pet dogs, working dogs, cats, pet rabbits, meat rabbits, chickens, hatching eggs, fish from the store, etc.] have guarantees for health, to show good will and to prove they have worth to keep breeding them. 

I am in no way asking for too much, I am asking for quality and peace of mind, like anyone wants when buying anything.


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## greybeard (Oct 1, 2012)

Not rude--just realistic. You're asking for something that doesn't exist, except (as someone else has  said already) in the case of high $$ animals--usually bulls of and from foundation pedigree, and even those few and very specific guarantees are usually limited to ability to breed and produce viable semen.  What you infer you should get is that you, as a first time and novice cattle owner--is a guarantee from someone else that says THEY (the seller) , will stand behind the assumption that you can transport, offload, know enough, have the capabiltiy to, and the time to feed, care for, and raise a young fully weaned calf for the first few days and weeks.  
It ain't gonna happen--ever. The only person that can guarantee that is you. 
None of the pet species you listed above are bovine.  

As far as whether to get a huge, polled animal or not, you really didn't specify. You just alluded to a minaiture, but "I'm thinking of getting a baby girl cow w/no horns, miniature, to graze around the place." tells us absolutely nothing. All "baby girl "cows" are gonna come with no horns--that's just the way they hit the ground.  If a horned breed is unacceptable, you should have said you wanted a polled breed, tho virtually every species of horned animal can be dehorned or de-budded. 

The good news, is that cattle are amazingly well adapted to take care of themselves, and in the very high majority of cases, WE have to do something wrong in regards to their transport, toxic plant environment, nutrition, breeding, or supplement in order for something to go wrong. 
If you doubt this, go count the # of "emergency" goat, sheep, chicken, and rabbit posts as compared to the number that involve cattle.


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## bonbean01 (Oct 1, 2012)

Just a thought...do you have an experienced cattle person friend who could come with you to check out a calf who knows what to look for health wise?  I did this years ago when looking for a good riding horse and that helped me so much!  The first horse I bought on my own turned out to be wind broke, bad feet, and had "pig" eyes and that turned out to be a disaster!  The next time I brought a horse person with me and that helped so much and I got a wonderful horse with no problems.


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## BrownSheep (Oct 2, 2012)

For an animal just to graze and be a pet Ithink I would pick just about anything before getting a cow. Cows, even the smaller varieties are expensive on initial start up costs and on following costs such as hay. New born calves are thin which is probably what you are seeing with the Craigslist adds. Add in the fact some of those are dairy breeds and it will add to the thinness. Being thin doesn't nessacarily correlate to poor care.

Zebus and other "miniture breeds" are novelty animals. You will be paying much more for them than for your standard sized animal.  Expect to pay for what you get people are pitting money into their cattle they are going to expect to get money out of them as well. 
As the others have said you will never find a cow with health insurance. Cows in all practical circumstances aren't pets and the rules dog breeders and others play to dont apply to the farmers and ranchers that raise them. And of course in most circumstances they will be breeding for a better animal. 

For a weaned heifer calf I would expect to pay quite a bit. I could get bottle bull calves anywhere from $30- 150, weaned bull calves anywhere from 150-500 depending on age and weight, bottle heifer s from $200-400 and weaned heifers at about 600. This is just in my area though. Those weaned calves will take a lot more to tame. 

I would look for clean bottoms, clean and wett noses, active calves. Check why they are selling. If the mom died make certain it's not congenital. Look for fairly clean pens. If at possible bring someone who is familiar with cows with you. I would start with local farms. Dairy farms will have more bottle calves available than anywhere else

To be honest I think you'll have a hard time finding what you are looking for.  Bottle babies are really the only calves that turn out really friendly and after the work of bottle raising not to many people sell then. They aren't pets to most people and they won't be sold with the same garuntees. Please, remember ALL cows regardless of size or temperament can be dangerous.


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## Cricket (Oct 2, 2012)

X2.  I would also think if you're sure you want it to be just a pet, you'd be better off with a steer.  Some cows can be just a pain in the butt when they're in heat.


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## WildRoseBeef (Oct 2, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> I really hate all the baby cows on CL, all are so bone thin, it's disgusting. I know if it was me breeding and selling these babies, they would all look fit and healthy, not starving to death.
> But w/e.
> I'm thinking of getting a baby girl cow w/no horns, miniature, to graze around the place. I see Zebu that are fairly local, but very pricey. The bull calves[skeletons] that are beef and milk cow left overs, are cheap. Anywhere from $50-300 for on bottles or just weaned.
> I need help figuring out what to look for in a cow, best age to get them and such. I do not want a bottle baby, I need it to be fully weaned. Do any of these people have guarantee that their animals won't get sick and die as soon as I get it home? I don't want to waste money on a cow that will die because the breeder failed to care for it properly and breed strength into their stock.


I'm going to reiterate what someone or a few others said on here--as far as the calves are concerned, you're really never going to find any newborn calves that are as fat as you are wanting them to be or as fat as a mature cow will be.  Dairy calves are naturally thin, as are dairy heifers and steers and bull calves.  They're not really "skeletons", they would be extremely emaciated if you can see ALL the ribs and prominent (VERY) hip bones.  If you want to see a really thin cow check out this link: http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=236-bcs-of-cows and look at the third picture from the top.  If the calves on CL are really not that thin, then I don't see why you have to be that way about those ads.  I've seen beef calves (the newborn ones) that are not fat or rolly-polly like a newborn baby or puppy is. 

Don't get a heifer calf.  You're really going to wind up in trouble when she goes into heat by the time she's around 7 or 8 months old (yes they do go into heat at that age, not the "standard" of 15 months).  You're better off getting a bull calf that can be castrated (banded) as soon as possible.  Steers will make okay pets, but they're better off headed for the freezer when they get at that age where they're getting to be a pain in the you-know-what.

And newborn calves are indeed born without horns.  They grow them when they get older, the horns start being quite prominent at around 8 to 12 months of age.  If a calf has buds for horns, simply disbudding them or dehorning them will do the trick.  Or, getting a polled breed will solve the problem too.  Majority of polled breeds aren't dairy, btw.

Weaned calves are much more costly than a bottle baby.  A good beef calf at 6 months of age weigh around 600 lbs selling for around $1.20/lb will cost you around $720 for that calf.  Expect to pay between $500 to even $900 or $1000 for a weaner calf, depending on the going price.  Beef calves aren't regarded as pets, just livestock.  They do just fine without all the pampering and unnecessary attention that you may want to shower them with; just allowing them to have grass in front of them, adequate shelter, water available and some mineral is sufficient.   

And, as was already said twice already but is worth mentioning again, you won't get this health insurance/guarantee thing if you buy a calf, weaned or bottle-baby, so no.  That's only for registered stock like replacement heifers or herd bulls, the kind of stock you have to pay often well over $1000 for.  You buy something dirt cheap, and sight-unseen I guarantee that you will end up with a train-wreck waiting for a place to happen.  Do your research, look around, ask questions and have an experienced cattleperson with you, and you won't get jipped.


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## foot (Oct 7, 2012)

We have mini zebu and, personally I think they make great pets.  Though there is a lot of attention that needs to be tended to.  They keep the lawn cut and trimmed and don't requite alot else besides fresh water, good hay, and minerals, and fly protection.  They are friendly and not pushy.  They are easy to manage and not rough on fences or land.

We have beautiful calves that everyone wants but no one wants to pay for.   Calves leave here weaned, healthy, halter and lead broke.  Their momma's and the bull that sired them is here on site.  





http://s12.postimage.org/44mxbmkgd/100_1178.jpg


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