Prospective Cows

[Baymule]

Just curious, what is their price and what is the price for "family" milk cows in your area? Here, family milk cows on Craigslist sell for $1,000 to $1800. If this matches prices in your area I can sure see why you would go with a dairy cull. What makes a cull for a commercial dairy might make you the perfect family cow for the perfect price.

 

[freechicken]

These cows are selling for $700- $800 and family cows here sell for $2000- $2500. For $1500-$1700 you can get a heifer or a nurse cow that's never been milked. Our primary concern, being first time cattle owners, was finding a cow that has a good disposition and is used to being milked.

 

[Baymule]

Wow, that sounds like a deal. I would be all over the dairy culls too for that price. I just typed dairy cull, I thing I need to use a nicer term to describe these bovine beauties.......hmmmm...... I got it! Dairy Retirees!! There's a lot of retirees on these sites and we sure ain't sitting around doing nothing!

So whick of these lovely DAIRY RETIREES are you going to choose? Given lots of love and good care, you should expect to have a good family milker for a long time.

 

[Goatgirl47]

IMHO I'd pick Hooray if I were you. Her udder is in better condition than the other three culls, and despite the fact that she's in poorer body condition than the other three, that can be easily remedied with some extra TLC in supplementation. Randi would be a close second, followed by Lovely, then Rhonda. Randi's udder is just slightly tighter than Hooray's, but Hooray's got the bigger teats which, as mentioned, make it nice for hand-milking.

2x. Hooray just needs a little fattening up.

 

[greybeard]

How's their teeth?
How far did you watch them walk?

 

[freechicken]

Thank you so much! The reason they are culling Hooray is because she doesn't like the grain they feed at the dairy. I imagine that is contributing to her condition as well. Two more questions:

1) What should I feed her and in what quantities should I give in to improve her condition?

2) what tests should I have them run before we buy her and what can wait until we get her home to our own veterinarian?

 

[freechicken]

How's their teeth?
How far did you watch them walk?

They are 600 miles away so I haven't seen them in person yet. I will put a deposit down and pay remainder upon completion of sale when we travel at the end of the month. Could I ask their veterinarian to assess those things for me when he runs tests on her? What would I be looking for?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Find out what kind of grain or grain mix they're giving her, and go from there. There's no way we can tell what to give her without knowing first what she doesn't like. It may be a matter of mixing salt or mineral mix (or molasses) with the grain mix to get her to eat it. Teeth are important to know as well.

Tests to run: Johne's Disease and possibly BVD are the two big ones to test for, especially the former.

 

[freechicken]

Just heard this from the seller:

"Since my last email to you Hooray has been to the vets to get DA
surgery (tacking it down). We believe her not liking our grain
finally caught up to her--not getting the balanced diet she needs.
(We are hoping she may try our grain again and not feel icky and stick
with it) We have been crazy busy and I thought as I was taking her
for her surgery yesterday that you'd probably pick her... And here it
is--your email. So, she is probably not your choice now. The vet
said we caught it very early--but, understandable if she's off your
list. Very sorry about this as you'd finally settled on her. (She is
doing very well already after just one day). Let me know what you'd like to do"

Thoughts?? I am so new to all of this that I don't know a serious problem from a minor one.

Is Randi's bout of mastitis and dry teat a serious concern? I don't mind her only having three milking teats but are there concerns with the 4th? Any special care required?

 

[greybeard]

DA is Displaced Abomasm.
http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinfo/211/displaced-abomasum-in-cattle/

For tests, I would want CFB for TB to be on the list.