How to transport a Steer or Cow to the butcher

[loco ken]

Well, I'm really new here and new to raising cattle for meat so I'll keep it short and simple.

The wife and I have been talking about getting a couple of calves for meat and raising them on our property. My concern is what type of trailer do I need to get them to the butcher. Is a horse trailer good enough, or is there a trailer just for transporting cattle? Please forgive me for being so new to all this. I just want to know what I'm getting myself into before I make the leap and get a couple of them. I heard it's better to have two so as not to make them curious enough to try and escape. We don't need the milk cause we will have dairy goats someday soon. Anyway, thanks for the help!

 

[ksalvagno]

There are stock trailers that are more open and usually what people transport cattle in. Also you could use it for the goats when you get them. The other thing you could look into is if someone transports animals to the butcher for a fee. We have a guy around here that will pick up the animal at your house and even loads it into his trailer and then takes it to the butcher you have chosen to use. I think he charges something like $45.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep that was what i was going to say -- you can usually find someone who does "stock hauling"

also your butcher might have a recommendation.

another reason why this is a good idea... sometimes its hard to get cows INTO the trailer and someone with a lot of experience can do the trick in a second.

we tried to help our neighbors get their extremely well behaved cow into their trailer. 2 hrs of running around later...... well there was some hat throwing and a lot of "go and get the gun"

mercifully they just gave up and called a farmer they knew. he walked that cow into the trailer like it was nothing.

the neighbors nearly fell over.

good luck!

 

[loco ken]

Thank you for the replies! Your info was very informative and helpful! Again, thanks!

 

[patandchickens]

Can I ask this super-stupid question... since I too have been thinking about raising a beef animal or two at some point, but own neither trailer nor truck... if you DO use a commercial hauler, do they generally have a Serious Livestock Truck that requires you to have one of those ramp-type loading chutes, or do they generally have just a step-up stock trailer that would not require any special facilities?

Have been wondering about it,

Pat

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Pat, all of the haulers I've seen around here just have regular stock trailers that the animals just step up in to.

 

[herfrds]

We have an older 4 horse trailer and a triple wide horse trailer. We use both for hauling cattle. No problems with them.
The triple wide we just haul a pair or 1 bull or cow in it.