Pet cow shopping...

[bonbean01]

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.

 

[BrownSheep]

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.

 

[Cricket]

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.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

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.

 

[foot]

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.

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