Posted: 12/9/2008 12:23:52 PM EDT
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Where is the best place to look for a beef calf to raise. I checked craigslist, no dice/
What are they running these days? |
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Here's a few different options.
- Find out where the closest Livestock Auction is. I grew up in a small town in OK and there was a small Stockyard outside of town where they held an Auction regularly. You might do an internet search for your local area for this also. - If you know anyone who raises cattle or farms or if you know anyone who has a relative or someone they know that farms or raises cattle ask them. Do a little networking. Your signature says your in GA so I cannot imagine it would be too hard to find someone close by you that could hook you up. Unless you live in Atlanta. ETA: I did a quick search and here's a link to a Stockyard Auction in Turner County, GA. No clue how close that is to you but it might help. http://www.turnercountystockyard.com/ |
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I will go talk to the farmer down the road. When I posted this, he was not home. I knew that he could point me in the right direction. I just was wondering what I could find out here.
He has a few head, and I want to ask him what he would charge me to graze it. It would probably be just as cheap to buy one from him. The down side to that is fluctuating price and availability if SHTF. If I buy a calf and ear tag it and put it in his pasture, it is mine. |
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It's typically harder to find a beef calf than it is a dairy calf. A dairy farmer lets a calf suck till the colostrum is gone then it is either off to the sale barn or it is put on the bucket if the farmer wants to keep it. Most calves invariably go to the sale barn. A rancher on the other hand keeps all of his calves because that is where the money is. Now if he loses a cow he might be willing to part with the calf but there is no way he will take a calf from its momma till weaning time.
Now many dairy farmers will breed a first calf heifer to an angus bull because angus are known to throw small calves making the calving process easier on the mother. If you have any dairy farms nearby you could check with the owners to see if any of them do this. None of the calves are ever kept because they are crossbred. Just make sure that the calf has sucked for at least a full day before buying it. That colostrum gives the calf the anti-bodies it needs to survive until it can produce its own. |
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ok, so I read the title:
Calf, Where to get one? and I say to myself... "from a cow you dumbass"....  just kidding man
the best place is to look at a local livestock sale barn / auction and you can often find them on the bulletin boards at the local feed stores or tractor supplies etc any of the above places will also net you the much added benefit of interaction with "the locals" that actually know the answers to the millions of q's you'll have afterwards best of luck with it, I'd love to be able to raise one or two myself |
| What general area of GA are you in? If you are in the NW corner or even close I can point you towards several people (all in AL however.) If you are just looking to get a side of beef, I can point you towards some folks for that as well. If you are looking to buy one, try to find a local auction. I know that here the price is down currently. |
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Quoted:
Check with your local dairy, and get a holstein bull for cheap, at four years they rock the steak world....yummmyyyyyyy, buy em for less then a hundred at 2 months old +1 Dairy bull calves are almost worth nothing right now, so you should be able to get one for really cheap. |
"to RAISE", as opposed to slaughter at once. Try hard NOT to go to a livestock auction. Drive out in the country until you see a place w/ black and white spotted milk cows. Pull in the drive, avoid the threatening cow-dog, tell 1st person who'll talk to you that you'll pay cash (important) for a Holstein-Angus calf. If none are expected/available leave your phone no. Somebodies (local)brother in law may call you! If this works you may get a real bargain price, and a clean calf from a healthier place and a virgin mother. It worked for me several times. If they'r real young, you can bring them home IN the cab of a truck. Bring somebody with strong legs to sit over them to keep them from blowing the horn!
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Ive been lurking here for over a year and havent felt like I needed to weigh in on anything. I thought I might be able to add some insight and my opinion on this subject.
I own cattle so I have an idea how this works. The market is really low right now its a good time to be buying bad time to be selling. I wouldnt recomend anyone bull calf from a dairy if you dont know what your doing. I can buy them all day long for 10 bucks a piece and dont. From a business stand point if there were money to be made off them why dosent the dairy keep them. They are a lot of work, prone to getting sick and die really easy. It takes longer to finish a dairy "steer" which translate to more feed. If you do the numbers milk replacer, feed, vaccinations, vet cost, death loss can get exspensive for a "cheap" calf. My recommendation for someone looking for home grown beef is to approch a farmer and buy a finished steer and have him haul it for you to the locker. Go in with one to three other people to cut the cost or amount of meat you will recieve. There is no death risk, unexpected hidden cost, waiting for the animal to mature with this route. If you looking for a hobby I will agree with the dexter/ mini cattle suggestion. They take less land and are small so you wont have such a large amount of meat when butchered and are easier to handle. As a general rule you can only expect about a third of the live weight in boneless meat in your freezer. What ever you are buying get it weighed if you are buying it buy the pound no matter how much you or they think it weighs. As a survival stand point on raising cattle they need 2-3 percent of thier body weight in feed per day and take 12-18 months to fill out. There are better options out there for having food redily avalible and on hand.Chickens, rabbits, meat goats or what ever fit the bill better in that department. Im not trying to discourage anyone from getting cattle but hopefully enlighten or prevent someone from losing money or ending up spending more money on calf than you can buy a finished one for. YMMV but I probly not by much. Scott |
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I would have NEVER thought they were hard to find.the damn things are frequently jumping the fences around here.yes jumping the fence.I have had'em die in the creek out back, wander my yard, ect.
it is funny sometimes.once in a while neighbors donkey gets loose and ends up in the front. try catchin one of those! |