What cattle to buy

Doublechop

Hi all
What weight cattle should I buy now to keep for the winter and finish off grass next year?

blue5000

300-350 kg cont heifers, I'm an eternal optimist, if cattle get dear you could always put them in calf. Or if you get stuck for money you could sell some next spring. Don't tell anyone but I might be selling all mine:):)

Cavanjack

blue5000 wrote: »

300-350 kg cont heifers, I'm an eternal optimist, if cattle get dear you could always put them in calf. Or if you get stuck for money you could sell some next spring. Don't tell anyone but I might be selling all mine:):)

What sort of weight could be put on those heifers to kill off grass next autumn?

Miname

with a basic wintering and reasonable grazing id say around 580 liveweight next autumn. i know its a far cry from the 1kilo a day chat but its what i ended up with last year.

mf240

Dont limit yourself to any breed sex or weight.

Buy whatever you can pick up at value. You can sell in the mart next oct if there not factory fit.

Even if there a mixed bag of breeds and sizes it doesnt matter.

farm14

Continental heifers. Don't have to be real top of range buy something that is cheap enough & will still turn into good quality.

Cavanjack

What would continental heifer's usually kill out at? 50%? More importantly would they leave any money if killed next autumn?

Doublechop

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking about buying bullocks, that's what the man that left me the farm used to do. They will have to be out wintered as no sheds on the farm.

I said

Doublechop wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking about buying bullocks, that's what the man that left me the farm used to do. They will have to be out wintered as no sheds on the farm.

Get angus cattle if your outwintering

macflea

can you really trust angus cattle these days , on the card it says angus , but i am seeing a lot of angus calves , and saying hmmm, are they really angus ? are some unscrupulous farmers crossing jerseys and british freisans , and to get value for calves registering as angus? i dont know but thats what i am thinking.

exercise is the antidote

macflea wrote: »

can you really trust angus cattle these days , on the card it says angus , but i am seeing a lot of angus calves , and saying hmmm, are they really angus ? are some unscrupulous farmers crossing jerseys and british freisans , and to get value for calves registering as angus? i dont know but thats what i am thinking.

Not a good pic, but this one is a Angus on card and she has a big hint of red true her. I thought it was copper related at first!

Bellview

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

Not a good pic, but this one is a Angus on card and she has a big hint of red true her. I thought it was copper related at first!

Looks copper too, I have some ped that have not lost their winter coats yet. Check the poll.. If it's ok then she is prob angus. There are some red gene angus bulls being used by some breeders and these will throw red calves depending on cow.

Bellview

macflea wrote: »

can you really trust angus cattle these days , on the card it says angus , but i am seeing a lot of angus calves , and saying hmmm, are they really angus ? are some unscrupulous farmers crossing jerseys and british freisans , and to get value for calves registering as angus? i dont know but thats what i am thinking.

Looking at the poll should help. The angus is 50 per cent, if it's off a jersey dam and a poor angus bull... It could appear to be jersey like even though it's angus. Having sold a number of ped bulls I see farmers save 200 euro by buying a poor bull v buying a better one.

Belongamick

'They will have to be out wintered as no sheds on the farm'

Why put yourself through all that torture of feeding them outside in winter?
I would suggest, if it a farm you were left, buy what stock you need in spring, take advantage of summer grass and sell in second half of the year.
Buy bullocks, no hassle with neighbours bull etc., and go for decent quality continentals.

If you are not from a farming background, consider renting with proper lease agreement. Outwintering cattle is hard work and you are only battling to stop them loosing weight.

merryberry

Any of ye seasoned cattle men or women any thoughts buying cattle for summer grazing. I hear crazy prices for continentals. How about fresian bull weanlings??

CloughCasey1

merryberry wrote: »

Any of ye seasoned cattle men or women any thoughts buying cattle for summer grazing. I hear crazy prices for continentals. How about fresian bull weanlings??

If I were you id look at fresian bullocks at approx 16-18 mts at 400 kg you will get these at mart for 640-720 depending on animal. Fresians seem to get dearer over 460kg and older than 20mts in oct/nov as lads look at finishing them. If you buy 6-8mts olds now cheap you may have to sell them cheap at end of grazing year.

merryberry

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

If I were you id look at fresian bullocks at approx 16-18 mts at 400 kg you will get these at mart for 640-720 depending on animal. Fresians seem to get dearer over 460kg and older than 20mts in oct/nov as lads look at finishing them. If you buy 6-8mts olds now cheap you may have to sell them cheap at end of grazing year.

thanks casey. If u were to get 6-8 month old fresians would you b buying them as bulls or bullocks (at what age are they castrated is my question here)? Either way if u were to sell them in November at 13-15 months what daily weight gain could u expect at grass and grass only?