Calf to beef, worth it?

eoinmk2

Just want to gauge peoples opinion on calf to beef systems. thinking about buying a few calves to rear this year. is it worth it? or am I mad..
for people who are doing it,
what breed do you find best, angus, black white head, fresian, continental?
when to buy?
who much it will cost to rear?
any predictions as to what the price might be come spring?
anything else I'm not factoring in?

any and all opinions welcome

Cheers, Eoin

weatherbyfoxer

Im getting out of a suckler to weanling system here and considering to get into calf to beef. Have all the sums done up somewhere on a a4 pad but cant rember its whereabouts!

Plan is to buy 30 week old hereford x British friesian bull calfs at €200 each off a local dairy man and finish as bullocks at around 24-26 month off grass mixed grazed with a flock of ewes

eoinmk2

Yeah, doing some basic sums myself as well, it seems to make sense.

welton john

eoinmk2 wrote: »

Just want to gauge peoples opinion on calf to beef systems. thinking about buying a few calves to rear this year. is it worth it? or am I mad..
for people who are doing it,
what breed do you find best, angus, black white head, fresian, continental?
when to buy?
who much it will cost to rear?
any predictions as to what the price might be come spring?
anything else I'm not factoring in?

any and all opinions welcome

Cheers, Eoin

You could pick up a few friesan bull weanlings handy enough now. Squeeze them and your ready for grass in march minus the hassle rearing calves.
If your determined to get calves angus are a good starting point.try to buy as early as possible.Loads a threads here about calf rearing with plenty of detail.Give a look at them.

Mad4simmental

welton john wrote: »

You could pick up a few friesan bull weanlings handy enough now. Squeeze them and your ready for grass in march minus the hassle rearing calves.
If your determined to get calves angus are a good starting point.try to buy as early as possible.Loads a threads here about calf rearing with plenty of detail.Give a look at them.

+1 always think this is a much better way about it with far less hassle.

severeoversteer

all ill say to you men is that you can have one or two good years and then all the gain is wiped away when you get an epidemic of pneumonia

youngstock deaths grow exponentially once it gets in the herd

you'd be better of buying 12-18 month stores and keeping them ticking over cheap as possible and then finish them

larrymiller

90% of the challenge is being disease free and pneumonia free. Out of the last 200 calfs I reared I've lost two and that's from coxo.
You'd want to be eyeballing them. A lot of picking ones out first sign of a cough.

weatherbyfoxer

larrymiller wrote: »

90% of the challenge is being disease free and pneumonia free. Out of the last 200 calfs I reared I've lost two and that's from coxo.
You'd want to be eyeballing them. A lot of picking ones out first sign of a cough.

Main thing with sucks is to vaccinate as soon as they arrive and buy of a reliable scorce

_Brian

Good calf housing - airy not draughty, plenty of straw, good feeding regeim, calves of known origin. Have isolation pen with heat lamp ready all times. Being able to ID a sick calf is a skill - the better you are the smaller the losses. Have a thermometer and how to use it.

In my experience most sucks die from dehydration and malnutrition , often caused by pneumonia or scour.

davidk1394

I started buying calves when I was 15 I bought 5.. im 20 now and buy 40 a year I know its small scale compared to some ooperatins... I buy off a dairy farm when their a month old.. I tried every breed AA FRx and kiwi bull calves... I finish them at 17 months... I sent the very first Jersey bull that I finished a month ago and he came into a O = 2+ and left €950 I bought hin for €10 out of the mart.. myself personally I perfer AAx bulls as you can finish them quickly and if you tight on space you have a good turn over rate the 1 thing you have to watch every euro you put in and dont skimp on meal when finishing them... all my lads are on straw and I buy pea straw for bedding at half the normal price of straw... you need a simple low cost system and as long as you dont loose any or have money tied up in expensive continentals you should do alright

sh1tstirrer

davidk1394 wrote: »

I started buying calves when I was 15 I bought 5.. im 20 now and buy 40 a year I know its small scale compared to some ooperatins... I buy off a dairy farm when their a month old.. I tried every breed AA FRx and kiwi bull calves... I finish them at 17 months... I sent the very first Jersey bull that I finished a month ago and he came into a O = 2+ and left €950 I bought hin for €10 out of the mart.. myself personally I perfer AAx bulls as you can finish them quickly and if you tight on space you have a good turn over rate the 1 thing you have to watch every euro you put in and dont skimp on meal when finishing them... all my lads are on straw and I buy pea straw for bedding at half the normal price of straw... you need a simple low cost system and as long as you dont loose any o
r have money tied up in expensive continentals you should do alright

That jersey bull worked out well but buying jersey cross calves for pittance sounds great but they will still cost the same to feed as a better breed to get to slaughter.

Greengrass1

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

That jersey bull worked out well but buying jersey cross calves for pittance sounds great but they will still cost the same to feed as a better breed to get to slaughter.

If they kill out to same money do they not leave more. Most x breed go for 10/20e

mf240

Greengrass1 wrote: »

If they kill out to same money do they not leave more. Most x breed go for 10/20e

Wont kill the colour of holstiens. Id a 29 month holstien bullock kill 445kgs this year. A jersey would be scarely that liveweight.

Greengrass1

mf240 wrote: »

Wont kill the colour of holstiens. Id a 29 month holstien bullock kill 445kgs this year. A jersey would be scarely that liveweight.

I'd a jex bullock here that killed into 900e.
Man that buys calves off me took jex to see. Made 80e less than fr

sh1tstirrer

Greengrass1 wrote: »

I'd a jex bullock here that killed into 900e.
Man that buys calves off me took jex to see. Made 80e less than fr

The odd one would work out ok maybe more fr in them but I'd rather be spending my money feeding an animal that will be sure to fatten. A lot of jex are like trying to fatten greyhounds.

larrymiller

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

The odd one would work out ok maybe more fr in them but I'd rather be spending my money feeding an animal that will be sure to fatten. A lot of jex are like trying to fatten greyhounds.

Ya could chop sticks of there backs

Base price

eoinmk2 wrote: »

Just want to gauge peoples opinion on calf to beef systems. thinking about buying a few calves to rear this year. is it worth it? or am I mad..
for people who are doing it,
what breed do you find best, angus, black white head, fresian, continental?
when to buy?
who much it will cost to rear?
any predictions as to what the price might be come spring?
anything else I'm not factoring in?

any and all opinions welcome

Cheers, Eoin

Rear calves every year, majority would be Fr bulls. Reckon that this year should be ripe for buying reared calves ex farm in April after the quotas are gone. Lots of dairy farmers over quota will hold onto calves to drink whole milk and want rid of them quickly - I could be wrong and time will tell.
I did a costing on calves fed to weaning earlier this year. €63.33 per head including milk replacer, meal, straw, vaccinations, esb, meds and losses. Next year I hope to reduce that figure by getting them on OAD sooner. Weather plays an important role too in getting them out of the sheds asap.

larrymiller

What sort of vaccination do yee use for bought in calfs?

mf240

larrymiller wrote: »

Ya could chop sticks of there backs

Ya theyed split hailstones.

Miname

Base price wrote: »

Rear calves every year, majority would be Fr bulls. Reckon that this year should be ripe for buying reared calves ex farm in April after the quotas are gone. Lots of dairy farmers over quota will hold onto calves to drink whole milk and want rid of them quickly - I could be wrong and time will tell.
I did a costing on calves fed to weaning earlier this year. €63.33 per head including milk replacer, meal, straw, vaccinations, esb, meds and losses. Next year I hope to reduce that figure by getting them on OAD sooner. Weather plays an important role too in getting them out of the sheds asap.

im not nit picking here base price but how did you keep them that low. I tried rearing calves a few times and i could never keep them down that low.

moll3

calf to beef system here with me
it costs 150e to bring calf to 12 months all in
its takes 200e to get to factory at 20 months
calf bought for 230e avg wh/aa heifer
go to factory killing out at 270kg 1100e avg
but you got to buy sucks next spring out of that, so
profit from that is 500 ish over 20 months

Base price

larrymiller wrote: »

What sort of vaccination do yee use for bought in calfs?

We use Rispoval intranasal.

Miname wrote: »

im not nit picking here base price but how did you keep them that low. I tried rearing calves a few times and i could never keep them down that low.

I have not included a cost for labour (me) or purchase price. That cost is off milk and out to grass.
Milk replacer is costing 23.5c a litre not mixed which is the major cost. Volume with discounts on purchases have a major bearing in costs.

Miname

Base price wrote: »

We use Rispoval intranasal.


I have not included a cost for labour (me) or purchase price. That cost is off milk and out to grass.
Milk replacer is costing 23.5c a litre not mixed which is the major cost. Volume with discounts on purchases have a major bearing in costs.

Seems to be my issue alright. I've never had a lean run with no losses either which has a huge effect on my costs. I got the old man 4 wh sucks and a Holstein cow this year, he should be able to rear 6 off her well and I should get the most of my money back on the cow so I'll see how these compare. Finishing them out is my main issue too. It's another batch that usually end up being hassle

billie holiday

About 18 euro a week to rear a calf till weaning. After that about 6 or 7 euro a week till finishiny. That would be in around my figures anyway. There will be a few euro in it but it won't make you rich and may frustrate the he'll out of you be times.
The key to calf to beef is low mortality rates and you better like cattle and working with them as really you'd probably make as much if you leased out your land

davidk1394

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

That jersey bull worked out well but buying jersey cross calves for pittance sounds great but they will still cost the same to feed as a better breed to get to slaughter.

Well they're an aggressive animal... but they're wicked hardy.. I followed him down the line in the factory and the cold weight was 336kg at €3.30 a kg

davidk1394

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

That jersey bull worked out well but buying jersey cross calves for pittance sounds great but they will still cost the same to feed as a better breed to get to slaughter.

Well they're an aggressive animal... but they're wicked hardy.. I followed him down the line in the factory and the cold weight was 360kg at €3.30 a kg

welton john

moll3 wrote: »

calf to beef system here with me
it costs 150e to bring calf to 12 months all in
its takes 200e to get to factory at 20 months
calf bought for 230e avg wh/aa heifer
go to factory killing out at 270kg 1100e avg
but you got to buy sucks next spring out of that, so
profit from that is 500 ish over 20 months

150 to get calves to 12 months is pretty impressive.what do you feed?what sort of weights do you achieve at twelve months?

moll3

welton john wrote: »

150 to get calves to 12 months is pretty impressive.what do you feed?what sort of weights do you achieve at twelve months?

feed volac each get 3/4 of bag @44e bag and on solid food asap nuts/straw going into shed nov from 240kg/280kg

lakill Farm

big different in cost to weaning of a calf if the calf was bought at 2 weeks or 5 weeks old.

CloughCasey1

lakill Farm wrote: »

big different in cost to weaning of a calf if the calf was bought at 2 weeks or 5 weeks old.

And a whole lot easier to keep healthy

Kevhog1988

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

And a whole lot easier to keep healthy

Great thread

Panch18

theemigrant wrote: »

Great thread

Thanks for digging this out emigrant, couldn't find it yesterday

Kevhog1988

Panch18 wrote: »

Thanks for digging this out emigrant, couldn't find it yesterday

Saw you mention it n had a look