Pet cow shopping...

[secuono]

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.

 

[ksalvagno]

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.

 

[Karma]

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.

 

[bonbean01]

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

 

[CochinBrahmaLover=)]

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?)

 

[secuono]

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??

 

[WildRoseBeef]

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.

 

[greybeard]

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?

 

[secuono]

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.

 

[greybeard]

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.