# Jersey bull calves from Dairy



## chronic66 (Feb 19, 2005)

I have come upon a source to obtain these for a modest fee. But, I am searching for ideas on how to make a bit of money with them. Any comments might be helpful.


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## kycrawler (Sep 18, 2011)

I raise some on cow milk when we cant get extra heifers . If you have to buy milk replacer and value your time at all you wont make anything on them . If you have extra cows milk and have 5 kids at home to do the work you can start some and do ok , wont get rich but its better tham letting the milk go to waste


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

We bought 4 last year for $10 each. $70 worth of calf replacer and a band and dehorning paste and 3 months later - DS sold his 2 for $250 each for his college fund. Of the other 2 - 1 will go to our freezer and the other is already sold by the quarters at $3.50 a pound- which will pay for ours.

We do this almost every year. We have lost a few. they are only $10 in Jan and Feb - after that they go up according to the market.


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## CJBegins (Nov 20, 2009)

I love raising jersey calves but I can't find a source that would sell for $10 a calf. I would be all over that.


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## Barn Yarns (Oct 7, 2012)

I used to do that way back when. I had a friend that would goto the auctions and bring me one or two when I was in need of a new one or 2. 

I think at the time it was my therapy after work!


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

CJBegins try Greenville IL. and Norwood Mo....they sell them all the time for that price...on a cold day in January of Feb. like Callieslamb says thats Jersey bull calfs Holstien are in the $50 range


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

http://www.davidclarkauction.com/images/11-26-12 Mkt Report.pdf


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Raise a few to sell for freezer beef, but don`t plan on making your fortune on them. I aloso would buy calves at 10 bucks each if I could find them. > Thanks Marc


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Unless you have a source of free food, you aren't going to make any thing with them. feed conversion is horrid.

$250 for a 3 month old Jersey steer? Not in my world. Not now, not never. Maybe $60-$75 for one. 3 month old Jersey is _small_.


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

My Jersey just calved with a heifer. I was sure glad to get her but we needed a bull calf to raise for beef. I went to the Jersey directory and looked up Jersey breeders in my state. Then I just called around until I found one with a bull calf. He was $20.

I never thought of raising extras and selling them as weaned steers. I guess I thought I was the only person in the world who prefers Jersey beef. Me and the other old timers around here, lol. Although, come to think of it, I've seen weaned Jersey steers on craigslist, so I guess there must be some kind of market for them.

hmm, I'd love to make a bit of extra money with my cows.... thanks for starting this thread.


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## chronic66 (Feb 19, 2005)

happydog, you are most welcome. That is what I love about this country and the people in it. People are always looking for a way to make a little extra money!!! In spite of some of the doubters, I think there is way to do something here.


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

I agree with you. I'd love to explore this further. We've had cows, pigs, and chickens for 3 years. I don't think there is any way to make money on the chickens unless you raise tons of cornish cross and process them for sale. Yuck. I processed 48 birds for our own use and that was about all I could stand. 

The pigs, well, I just don't LOVE them like I do the cows. But I haven't been able to figure out any way to make money with the cows since it's illegal to sell raw milk. 
My extension agent can help us open a micro dairy but I really don't want that kind of workload, schedule, and commitment. It looks like our best option is to convert the milk into pork or beef. And I much prefer to raise beef. So I'll be actively looking into this. 




Callieslamb said:


> We bought 4 last year for $10 each. $70 worth of calf replacer and a band and dehorning paste and 3 months later - DS sold his 2 for $250 each for his college fund. Of the other 2 - 1 will go to our freezer and the other is already sold by the quarters at $3.50 a pound- which will pay for ours.
> 
> We do this almost every year. We have lost a few. they are only $10 in Jan and Feb - after that they go up according to the market.


Thank you Callieslamb! This is very encouraging and inspirational. Do you have any problem finding buyers for Jersey beef or Jersey steers? Do you think you'd make more money if you raised beef calves instead of Jerseys?


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

Well now I feel kinda dumb because I just found this:

It's a sticky at the top of this page about Sale Barn/Bottle Calves.  I can't buy sale barn calves, personally. I've worked hard on building my little herd of top quality cows and I can't take a chance on bringing home something like Johnes or Staph Aureus. I'll stick with getting my calves from the dairy for now.

However, there is a LOT of good information in that thread. Well worth a read if you are interested.


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

Here's one post in there I particularly liked:



> I like the Jerseys because they have a better sense of survival and hardier, just learn how to eat and routines faster than holistiens & angus. They'll go for the sweet feed within 2 wks and nipple on hay & grass wks before the others. I had a group of 5 started last October & they handled the winter with much less trouble & penicelin than the holisteins. Have a group of 9 that are a wk old going now and they took to the hanging bottles by the 2nd day and I turn them out during the day to mingle with the herd and when I walk up to the barn in the evening & whistel to them they run right in and ready for evening feeding, the angus would just stand there in the field till I walked over with a bottle and lead them in. . For slaughter holisteins seem to have a lot of loss of hanging weight, heavy boned, but people like them because they look big but you don't get the amount of meat from them for the size. I get the jerseys for $30 each at 2 days old.


This gives me hope that Jersey calves might be a viable option. When I bought my first Jersey milk cow from a dairy, I bought a 2 day old calf at the same time. I raised him on the cow and weaned him directly onto grass and hay. I never gave him any grain at all. We butchered him at 21 months. He was the best beef we've ever had. I think there might be a good niche market for grass fed, pasture raised beef. Depending on where you're located maybe. 

We paid $35 for the calf. Steered him ourselves. Our only other expense was the hay he ate and I don't have a value for that because we were buying hay for the cows already, and hay is cheap here. 

Anyhow, we filled our freezer with meat that was raised organically, grass fed, and humanely slaughtered. He lived a happy, carefree life and died painlessly in his pasture. I can't help but think other people would like to buy that kind of meat.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

Around here there are two Jersey dairies that sold bull calves last Winter for $10.00 each. With the drought and increased feed prices from this past summer I don't know if they'll go that cheap this year or not. Usually when feed prices are up so are the prices on calves. But who knows for sure? I have a couple Jersey's for milk and raise bull calves for beef. We're sold on Jersey beef. It is the best tasting beef we've eaten. The last steer I butchered was Jersey/Brown Swiss and the meat is good, but not as good as pure Jersey. It's true you won't get as much meat from a Jersey and they take longer to fill out but the oldest I've ever kept one was 18 months and the meat was fine and tasty. They get milk until they're four months old, then all pasture or hay. I don't feed grain except once in awhile to keep them tame enough to come to me. The people who bought from us were pleased and said they want more.

I like to get them in March, keep them through one winter and butcher in the fall when the grass is done. That's puts them roughly at 18 months old for our growing season.

I've sold a few young ones (4-6 mos) over the last couple years and usually get near $1.00lb for milk fed, pasture grazed Jersey steers.


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## chronic66 (Feb 19, 2005)

We're supposed to have somewhat of an arctic front move through the area tomarrow and although it has been exceedingly mild-high 60's, low 25-30's, tomarrow night supposed to be 8 degrees. I've been getting my barn and shed ready for these little critters. Putting straw around on the floor, etc. Happydog, it sounds like you are on the right track. 
I was reading this other post and for a while I thought it said blackwidowfarm and I thought to myself, I ain't touching that one but then I read it again and actually that sounds rather encouraging. I've read so much about Jersey beef I can't waite to try it myself, but, I'm gonna need to waite.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

ELDONATOR said:


> for a while I thought it said blackwidowfarm and I thought to myself, I ain't touching that one but then I read it again and actually that sounds rather encouraging. I've read so much about Jersey beef I can't waite to try it myself, but, I'm gonna need to waite.


Ha ha, yeah. My FIL thought it was Black _Widow_ Farm too for awhile.

We have a black willow tree growing in the middle of our pond/swamp. We call it the Swamp Monster because it's huge and craggy. I originally thought of going by SwampMonsterFarm, but BlackWillowFarm seems so much nicer.

Try that Jersey beef someday. You'll be glad you did.


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## chronic66 (Feb 19, 2005)

You learn somethin' every day I guess. I just never put the words--swamp and michigan together. Well, shows you how much I know. For that matter, I never heard of black willow before, think I'll google it!!


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

On the jersey bull calf prices....................... My family raised about 40 last year and never gave over $15 a piece for them from a dairy sale. I seen a few weak ones go through for $3 each. They aren't always easy to raise but if you have grass (which is something our area is short on right now) and the patience to let them go on grass for two years before marketing them you can make some money. 

Calf $10, MR $65, green cheerio .05, annual vaccinations $15-20.................hard not to make a little off of them. Problem is: We don't have any grass right now and most of those 40 calves sold at the bottom of the market when my grass got short. If beefers are bringing $1.50 per pound, don't expect more than .75 on your jerseys. 

The money to be made on jersey bull calves IMO is to raise them on grass and sell them by the pound hanging weight from the slaughter house. Of the 15 I have in the pasture right now I have buyers for all of them. They will sell for $2.00 per pound hanging weight plus the buyer pays for his processing fees. Keep in mind all of this is done on grass alone. I don't pay any attention to their age. I look for them to get to the 800-1000 lb. weight and make an appointment with the butcher. 

The only ones that get any grain is the one going in my freezer. That's only due to him being an eating partner for one of my kids' show steers. The show steer is on a "rate of gain" competition so he'll hog down more feed if there's some competition at the trough. 

I try to look at jersey bull calves not as a money maker but as a "volatile savings account on the hoof". No one is going to get rich off of them but they'll sell for meat to those not appreciating what they're getting at the grocery store and wanting grass fed.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

When the Dutch Dairies started operating in Michigan, they'd milk a few thousand cows on a small plot of ground. They contracted their feed and places tto pump their manure. All they do is milk cows and they are good at it. 
They dump all calves at the local Auction Barns. They buy soon to freshen heifers. Lots of folks saw the possibilities. Buy cheap calves, sell bred heifers. 
Raising calves that are a few days old has a steep learning curve. Please refer to the Salebarn Calves sticky at the top of this section. So, a lot of folks either lost money or couldn't make money. Those with an excellent record of keeping calves alive and healthy made it a thriving business. I know of a couple Amish farmers that have made this their main business. Keeping input costs down and death down is the key.
But these folks have a ready market for the bred heifers and holstein steers are readily marketable.

If you can create a market, just about anything can be profitable. I know a guy that was getting milk goat kids, males, for free. He'd castrate them, raise them on scrub brush and butcher them himself. Then, he'd make the meat into jerky Tasted just like venison jerky.

But if a week old Jeresy bull is selling for the same price as a garbage bag of week old dinner rolls, I wouldn't jump in with both feet. There might be a reason.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Francismilker, very well said my friend. > Thanks Marc


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## cedarcreekranch (Nov 24, 2010)

francismilker said:


> On the jersey bull calf prices....................... My family raised about 40 last year and never gave over $15 a piece for them from a dairy sale. I seen a few weak ones go through for $3 each.


I wish I could find some for that price! I live in eastern OK and they're bringing over $100 everywhere I've looked. I've a couple of Jersey heifers due to freshen soon and would like to find a couple for each but not at over $150 each! Would you share where you get them?


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

cedarcreekranch, go to the Jersey breeder directory here, look for a breeder in your state, and call them directly. The ones I've talked to were very friendly and helpful. They have to dispose of their bull calves somewhere, and they were happy to take my number and call me when they had one born. I paid $20 in North Carolina and $35 in Tennessee. I feel a lot better about buying directly from a breeder than going through a sale barn.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

cedarcreekranch said:


> I wish I could find some for that price! I live in eastern OK and they're bringing over $100 everywhere I've looked. I've a couple of Jersey heifers due to freshen soon and would like to find a couple for each but not at over $150 each! Would you share where you get them?


 Red Flag! Unless you have lots of experience and are lucky, stay away from weak $3 calves.

Keeping a new born calf alive takes a good bit of experience. A $100 calf that is healthy enough to survive is a lot cheaper than a $3. one that starts out weak. For those new to raising calves, they tend to overlook the pitfalls. It is common to over feed just a bit, then wait a day too long to stop the diarrhea. Even when properly diagnosed and quickly treated, a weak calf may still die in your arms.

You get a healthy one and it may be as easy to raise as a puppy. Maybe not.

If I wanted to nip a person's interest in calves in the bud, I'd give them a couple $3 calves.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

haypoint said:


> *Red Flag! Unless you have lots of experience and are lucky, stay away from weak $3 calves.*
> 
> Keeping a new born calf alive takes a good bit of experience. A $100 calf that is healthy enough to survive is a lot cheaper than a $3. one that starts out weak. For those new to raising calves, they tend to overlook the pitfalls. It is common to over feed just a bit, then wait a day too long to stop the diarrhea. Even when properly diagnosed and quickly treated, a weak calf may still die in your arms.
> 
> ...


Amen to that haypoint! I've raised a lot of them and leave the weak ones at the salebarn for those interested in a hopeless cause. It doesn't matter what the price is or even if it's free, I don't waste any effort on a weak bull calf. I have taken a gamble or two on a weak heifer and lost the battle more than once. It's not worth the time, money, or heartache to keep a sick calf alive by turning it into a pin cushion full of different meds only to eventually put it down. 

If a calf still has a wet cord, it most likely didn't ever see mama's udder and get any colostrum imho. 

I can tout how many I've raised over the years and brag a bit, then someone would ask me how many I've lost and I'd have to hang my head and say "plenty". It happens when raising calves.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

happydog said:


> ...............
> Thank you Callieslamb! This is very encouraging and inspirational. Do you have any problem finding buyers for Jersey beef or Jersey steers? Do you think you'd make more money if you raised beef calves instead of Jerseys?


I don't know. I can't buy a beef steer as a bottle baby or even just weaned here. We are orchard-land. Not animal land. There are a few beef cattle around but not many. I should run the numbers to see if buying a feeder beef steer would be cheaper and faster in the long run. Our project is for our DS. He can learn a lot of responsibility from bottling calves.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

The emotional pain of losing an animal stays with you forever. When it is a cute baby, all the more so. But as you try to rationalize it, often the reality of it is that it could have been prevented if I knew what I was doing or I could have avoided the tragedy if I&#8217;d known the warning signs before I made the purchase.
An event that happened nearly 30 years ago floods my mind every time I hear about someone wanting to go out and buy a calf. The heartache is still there. I went to a dairy farm 40 miles away. I was looking for a Jersey calf. There was a real cute heifer about a week old, tied in a corner with some baler twine around her neck. She had some yellow manure stuck on her hind leg and a bit on her tail. I bought a bag of milk replacer and brought her home. I knew nothing about scours or dehydration. 
She was likely sick when I got her and I added to the problem by over feeding. I can&#8217;t recall that for sure, but seems likely. As she grew weak I called the Vet. I administered the injections, tablets and electrolytes, I moved her to our heated basement. After a few signs of recovery followed by collapse, I was determined to do everything I could. She was on my lap when she stopped breathing. I held my hand around her muzzle and gave her a form of CPR. She began breathing again. I was hopeful, but it lasted only a few more minutes before she slipped away, forever.
I&#8217;ve raised many calves, ewes and colts, etc. since then, with great success. But if I were offered a calf for the price of a bag of stale dinner rolls at the Day Old Bread Store, I&#8217;d take the stale dinner rolls.


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