@Mini Horses ; all the calves get eartagged. Some at birth, most all when they get run through the chute to blackleg and band the bull calves before they get moved to either summer pastures or winter pastures. Some are obvious who they belong to, the rest I just spend a little time at the pastures, see who is nursing which cow then record it, so I can match cow and calf. Then we can see who is doing the better job of raising their calf.... more milk better growth etc.. I used to carry the tagging box with me and when I was checking cows, would tag a brand new calf if I found it and record it. But my ankle and knee makes it nearly impossible to catch and straddle a calf to get it tagged now. Occasionally I will be able to "sit on one" if I come up on it, but it is dicey for me to get back up......
that old age thing with joints that don't work!!!!!! So we just run them through the chute, tag and band the bull calves, blackleg them and then when we let them out, see who goes to what cow. Sometimes they don't go right to their own cow, and as long as we have 6 cows with udders, and 6 calves, and no one is hollering in the other group of "no udders" (meaning not yet fresh), we will move them to pasture. I think we have mis- matched 2 in about 25 years, and it was obvious the next day because a cow was screaming for her calf..... and we moved the cow to the pasture where the calf was and she would immediately claim it.
Once it was because we thought a cow had twins, she was letting both nurse in the pen after being worked, and the actual momma just had a little udder and we thought she hadn't calved yet. She didn't have much udder that whole lactation, and the calf was smart enough to go steal off his buddies momma !!!!! The cow bred right back, and had a better udder the next year, so she got to stay. The first calf grew good by getting extra from the other cow.... I've got a couple cows that will have 2 or 3, 300 lb calves nursing at the same time.... they are that accepting of other calves. Not the best for their own calf to get all the milk, but if there are several cows allowing that, then it sorta works out. I do watch for any that seem to not be getting enough, but have only had a couple of cows that we have actually sold for raising poor calves due to their not having much milk. It almost always has been from bought cows. That could be why they were sold previously. That's the chance you take with bought pregnant cows. They can be some else's cull cows. It is worth the risk, in our case, if we have plenty of feed, and/or pasture to buy them if the prices are not much above "kill prices".
We have bought and sold cows off and on for years like that. Have gotten some real good ones, and a few real duds. But the thing is, if you hit the right timing, you can make more off a bought cow like that than even from raising your own; because alot of the work/money is in the getting them up to the calving stage.
I am not saying that it is our preferred way to have the cattle. But again, with the fluctuating number of pastures we have from year to year, sometimes it makes more sense to add cows that we can sell in the fall, at the same return price or more than what we paid, and have the benefit of a calf as extra income. Like the cow we just lost, she was a bought cow; when run through the chute, she had no teeth, so was a "one and done". If she hadn't been so ornery, and then had the hip/leg problem, she would have made some money. The calf will bring more than her original bought price being a steer calf and a pretty nice one. We will only be out the cost of the grass she ate this summer so to speak. Sad that we had to lose her, but it is part of it. We have to try to "make a little" where we can and being able to buy some that will be strictly for the "calf income return" is part of how we do it. I would rather buy a cow/calf deal than to buy feeder calves that I worry about getting sick and then maybe compromising the whole group of feeders; then having to treat, and it costs to do that. Seems like I just get along better to do breds and cow/calf pairs, than to buy some feeders. It's one of those things that you do what you seem to do best. For me, it is cow/cf and breds. I know several guys who wouldn't touch a bred cow and just run feeders and they are very good at getting them home, keeping them healthy and growing, and catching any that aren't feeling good before it becomes a full fledged problem running through the whole group. That is more for guys who also have them in "feedlots" or that type of thing..... We have the one place to feed in the bunk in the barn, and they do get to go out to the pasture/field too. I cannot take the chance of them all coming in and shoving me around when I have a bucket or feed to spread out and them crowding me with these unstable joints. So you do what you are most comfortable with.
@Baymule we don't have to pay a fee at the landfill for dumping. So that is good. Don't have to pay for our trash collection either unless you have someone who actually picks up at the house. There are dumpsters at strategic spots all around the county. Everyone takes their stuff to them. County picks them up & dumps in the big trucks regularly, goes to the landfill. It is part of our taxes. The different companies that have their own dumpsters, like at the truck stops and gas stations and all, pay a private company for the trash service. Those trash service companies do pay to dump at the landfill, and I am sure that whatever they charge for the pickup service, also includes their costs to dump at the landfill.
I get a lot out of it and am glad others have some of the same issues.
