# Raising Cow/calves vs buying bottle calves



## sugaringman85 (Feb 14, 2015)

Traditionally my farm has always bought bottle calves for our farm. We raise about 6-8 every year and have a nice growing grass fed beef retail market. Well as most of you know its getting to be very expensive to buy calves these days. We're looking at spending $300-$400 per calf this summer. We're debating if we should buy some bred heifers. We'd like to start a herd of beef shorthorns but they are hard to come by. Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful. My business partner says its not worth the time or hay to keep cows around, I think having a source of our own calves is worth the hay.


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## rosefield (Mar 20, 2015)

Buying bred heifers is about the most expensive way to start a herd. Another option that many have done is buy older cows that will calve or sometimes you can find a 3-in-1 package where the cow has a calf at her side and is already bred back.

Several producers usually sell off their older cows (many are 5 - 7 years old) and these cows will still have plenty of productive life yet.

Another advantage of an older cow is she has already had calves where a heifer hasn't. As for wanting Shorthorn cattle, as you said they are harder to come by, but you can start with almost any breed and then breed them to a Shorthorn bull.


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## farmmaid (Jan 13, 2003)

Buying a live calf on the ground is better than feeding a cow and then have a dead calf.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Now is really a terrible time to be buying in any cattle... but if you must I'd go w/ the older bred cow. I have Angus here that are on their 10th calf right now and going strong...


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

like they said at the auction I saw older aged at 7/8 cow calf pairs selling for 14 to 17 hundred bucks while young heifers were selling for up to $3.17 per pound if you want to become a breeder this is the way to get started .haying is a big. time consumeing job.as is feeding and calveing but if you have the equipment and time it will pay off as the price of beef is likely to stay up .if you are short on time and equipment buying calves and selling your grass on the hoof is the way to go in new hampsire i'm guessing there are long cold winters so you will need lots of hay


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## CIW (Oct 2, 2007)

Its a 5 year investment to return. I do not keep any of my own heifers. I buy long yearlings. When I sell her 4th calf I break even. The next 7 is where I get my return.
If you keep a cow more than past her 11th calf cycle her value will commonly decline quickly. Its best to breed her and sell confirmed in calf.
Now on the other end. To get started I would want to buy that bred cull cow in the short term. She may give me up to 3 more calves or more.
Along with those three calves she can start having health and birthing problems such as bad feet, uteral prolapses, twinning, poor feed conversion and many others. Her overhead goes up.
This isn't a good thing for someone who also works a day job. You have to decide whether you want or can pay your investment up front, delay your time getting in to save up or hedge your bet with additional time overseeing the goings on. The last one is the most expensive but may be necessary to get in. Your going to pay one way or another.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

With a price of $300-400, I'm guessing you were buying two week old Holstein steers. Right?
If you are buying at auction, I'd say just keep doing it. Cattle prices will come back down eventually and you don't want stuck with a bunch of cows to feed when the price of calves drops.
If you are buying from a local dairy, see if they are artificially inseminating. If so, see if they'd buy a few straws of a good beef bull and get 6-8 cows bred for you. Still cheaper than feeding a herd of beef cows.
You could always buy some butcher hogs, put them on pasture for a couple week and sell them as pastured pork. You should be able to buy 230 pound hogs for a hundred bucks. Then get back into beef when the price goes back down.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

If you do not have the pasture for a herd of cows it is a losing proposition. Not sure how much land you got, but it will take a lot more pasture to keep up a small herd of breeding cattle than the simply finish some calves, as you have been doing. If you are going to have to buy in much hay and grain that will kill the deal all in itself, regardless of the other very valid issues listed above.


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## sugaringman85 (Feb 14, 2015)

I think for now we're gonna keep buying calves. We may try to get a few bred cows. We are buying hereford/holstein crosses, which are extremely tough to find. Calves alone are going to be tough to find here in NH, regardless of the price. We are working with NRCS to improve our pastures, barnyard, and fencing. For those that asked, we pasture about 30 acres and make hay off about 40 acres. About 20 of those are rented with an uncertain future.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

Why not buy two nurse cows. That way you have a few to see if you like it and they can feed your bottle calves for you.


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