New to Cattle

[VStillman]

Hello! After years of waiting, we are finally moving out of our cul-de-sac and onto a place that has 3+ acres!

We raise meat rabbits and have a few chickens, but we will be slowly expanding. After doing some research on line, I found something that we think might work for us in regards to cattle and I just wanted to hear pros and cons or any other advice you all might have for me. We want to raise for both meat and dairy but are concerned about space.

I read an article that had a clever idea. It said to start with a milk cow and breed her to a meat steer, and then butcher the baby at 1 year. Then continue that process.

Does anyone have any thoughts on that? Any different ideas? Advice? We have never raised a cow before either, but we want to work toward raising all our own meat, dairy, etc.

Excited about the next step toward self sustainable living,
Vickie

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I'm having the same thoughts as you;

My thoughts are to buy a dairy cow, (or 1/2 dairy 1/2 meat) and breed her to a meat breed for butchering the babies.

I'll be looking forward to the responses from the cow people!

 

[Bossroo]

When one hopes to attempt to get a cow to be bred by a steer, one will have to wait for a mighty long period of time and still end up with NO calf. You see a steer is a castrated male bovine and totaly unable to get any cow pregnant. Try to breed the cow to a bull of your breed choice. Then there will be a good chance that the cow will produce a calf.

 

[Alice Acres]

Ah, you beat me to the steer punch line!
Yes, a steer is a neutered male...so no calves will be coming from him.

On a serious note - when I was a kid, we had a half dairy/half beef cow named Molly (holstein and angus) who was a great mom. We bred her and had a calf, plus she had enough milk (and a great temperament and mothering ability) and she raised a 2nd "foster calf" that we purchased right along with her own.
We did not ever milk her ourselves - she was worth her weight in milk though as a super mom cow!

We raised our calves for 2 years, so we didn't breed her back right away. But she did the 2 calves deal several times, and was a really sweet cow to boot!

 

[lovinglife]

3 acres is not a lot for cows, maybe think about the smaller breeds like Dexter, good for milk and meat and the small size works great for mini farms like your and mine. Some day that is what I want to get, just need to wait till I have the funds.

 

[Symphony]

First of all I am no expert in Cattle but having purchased some a little while ago, I'll throw in my 2 cents.

The average Cow will need more than 3 acres of pasture room, so I would consider a couple of Goats.

 

[Alice Acres]

Missed the part of 3+ acres....yep, not enough for cows. Unless you want it to be a dirt feedlot and supply all their feed and hay. :/

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Hello! After years of waiting, we are finally moving out of our cul-de-sac and onto a place that has 3+ acres!

We raise meat rabbits and have a few chickens, but we will be slowly expanding. After doing some research on line, I found something that we think might work for us in regards to cattle and I just wanted to hear pros and cons or any other advice you all might have for me. We want to raise for both meat and dairy but are concerned about space.

I read an article that had a clever idea. It said to start with a milk cow and breed her to a meat steer, and then butcher the baby at 1 year. Then continue that process.

Does anyone have any thoughts on that? Any different ideas? Advice? We have never raised a cow before either, but we want to work toward raising all our own meat, dairy, etc.

Excited about the next step toward self sustainable living,
Vickie

Raise goats. For even Northern California 3+ acres is not nearly enough to home a bovine, even if it's a miniature one. You will need at least 5 acres to raise and pasture even one bovine, more if you're wanting two, especially over a long-term period. Cattle eat a lot, particularly when they're at the age when they're no longer considered "cute" (i.e., 8 months onward); for instance, a 1000 lb cow on just maintenance requirements consumes 2.5% of her body weight, or 25 lbs of dry matter ration (ration where all the water is removed) per day. Grass with a moisture percentage of around 70% means that that 1000 lb cow will be consuming 8.33% of her body weight per day, or 83.33 lbs of grass per day. That's a lot of grass. I highly doubt that your 3+ acres has even that amount to sustain a 1000 lb cow for even a few months.

So if I were you, I would consider raising small livestock for meat and milk. I hear goat milk is just as good--some argue better--as/than cow milk, and goat meat as good as well.

However, if decide to purchase at least 5 acres or more (maybe in addition to the land you already have), then maybe you can consider raising some small cattle like Dexter or those minis that people have been talking about around here recently.

 

[meadow1view]

When one hopes to attempt to get a cow to be bred by a steer, one will have to wait for a mighty long period of time and still end up with NO calf. You see a steer is a castrated male bovine and totaly unable to get any cow pregnant. Try to breed the cow to a bull of your breed choice. Then there will be a good chance that the cow will produce a calf.

That is funny.


Does anyone have any thoughts on that? Any different ideas? Advice? We have never raised a cow before either, but we want to work toward raising all our own meat, dairy, etc.

Raising a cow or cow calf pair on 3 acres under a continuous grazing management system will create a good start to a dirt track. However, there are other pasture management systems that will allow you to accomplish this. If you rotate your cattle in small paddocks (sized to meet their nutritional needs), it will provide adequate recovery periods for the grass previously grazed. Under this management system you will also gain the following benefits: increased soil matter, increased microbial activity, denser foliage protecting the soil from excessive heat, increased dry matter production, more effective mineral cycling and rainwater capture.

I have been running 55 head of sheep and goats on 7 acres (primarily on one 4 acre pasture) since March in Missouri during a summer of D4 drought. We are still running them on grass and will probably begin feeding hay in about 3 weeks.


Enjoy.

 

[Bossroo]

Meadow, I applaud you for your ability to provide grass forage on your 7 acres for your 55 head of sheep and goats. This small paddock meathod to increase animal units per acre works great under the right soil type, rainfall, and sunshine conditions to produce feed needed to sustain the ratation of the subject animals. While here in the Far West where we have alkaline soil , hard pan at the surface or just below it, NO rainfall from mid May to mid Nov. ( they don't call Cal. the "Golden State" for it's gold) . My neighbor, just 1 mile down the road at the rolling hills ( elevtion of 500'-1500') of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, owns 5,000 acres and can only run 100 beef cows and their calves (total 200 head). He has to wean the calves and feed good quality alfalfa hay plus grains to these calves from May toNov. in a feed lot, then marketed when they reach 1,000 pounds. Cows are returned to pasture. This equates to 1 cow per 25+/- acres. I own 20 acres , 2 acres is in house and grounds, 18 acres is in 4 pastures. This 18 acres can support 2 mature mares and their foals for about 8 months the rest of 30 head has to be fed alfalfa hay + grain year round. As in real estate values ... Location, location, location makes all the difference !