I have 6 head of cattle that I'm going to be selling to the auction except for one. That one I want to butcher for beef. My cattle are 99% grass fed. I give them a small amount of grain just to train them in case they ever get out. I don't even give them hay over the winter since winter here isn't bad.

I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to make sure the meat tastes good. I heard not to butcher them during a certain time of year since they can eat onion grass and this can ruin the taste of the meat. I was told that you should finish them on grain for several weeks but other people tell me there's really no difference in reality. Any suggestions?

Husband bought livestock sale on amazon but it was missing parts and wouldn’t work without those parts so I started a return for it. I’m looking on their website prime-scales.com and wondering if it’s a good company to buy from? Maybe we just had a bad seller on amazon and I found we can get the same scale pretty much $100 cheaper straight on the website. I’m hesitant to order though because I can’t really find much in regard to anyone else’s purchase with that company to know if it’s okay or not. Has anyone bought livestock scale or anything from prime-scales.com?

Howdy, we have 20 head in central Texas where we don’t get much rain for most of the year. Hay is almost prohibitively expensive here and the bails are pretty poor quality. The cattle have to walk a lot to eat on our property so they don’t get very fat. Has anyone had success with supplemental foods like oat? We pick up spent brewers grain when we can but it’s not a stable supply.

Newbie here. Hobby farm. Have 6 head. 2 steers 4 heifers. Angus and Angus cross. My cattle have never harmed me and are friendly for the most part.

Every few weeks I feed them some grain but other than that they're grass fed. They seem to be very comfortable with me and run to me when they see me. They either see me as their grain supply or as part of their herd or as both.

They've gotten really big, probably over 1000 lbs. I'm worried about them hurting me. I don't like them getting to close to me. They used to keep their distance but they're becoming more and more comfortable with me. Sometimes I have to look for them in the field to call for them since I have about 35 acres in pasture. Then they follow me back to where I feed them. They run to me and sometimes surround me. They're not aggressive with me but seem to be excited for the grain.

I've starting using a sorting stick and telling them to back off which is working but I'm afraid they may trample me or butt me when I'm walking with them to the grain. Is this an irrational fear or am I doing the right thing with the sorting stick. Should I bring my pistol with me just in case they eventually realize that that they're stronger than the sorting stick.

Hello everyone. Newbie here. What’s the best options for pour on fly control, wormer? Can you get a combo pour on to do it all?

We have a 2.5 year old heifer that I was going to raise for meat, but my granddaughter, who takes care of it wants to keep it as a pet. We had her bred last January but I cannot tell if she took. Is there an easy way for a part time farmer who only has one heifer to tell?

i moved to a country town a little over a year ago from a city, so i have little to no knowledge of how farms and cattle work, so please forgive me for any inaccuracy or stupidity.

my neighbour owns a little gaggle of cows and i’ve become quite fond of them (from a distance, as i do not personally know my neighbour) and i noticed last night that one of the cows was consistently mooing louder than usual (i can hear them from my house), and again, i know absolutely nothing about cows so does this mean something is up or is that completely normal?

i know this is a very silly question but i’m just really fond of those cows 🙁

I have a bottle fed calf who is about 1 1/2 months old. He’s the spotted one in the photo. He is Showing all signs of milk scouring and needs to be treated. He’s still doing pretty well (walking, drinking, eating hay and evening running under his power) noticed the symptoms for about 4 days now and seems like he is getting weaker each day so I wanted to get it treated ASAP before it gets really bad. Called the vet 2 days ago and she administered some antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds. Didn’t seem to work as his fever was still 104.2 and 105.1 the next day and today. I was recommended by a nearby rancher to start electrolyte treatment that you can buy over the counter at the livestock stores here.

The question I have is all the electrolyte treatments say to cut milk replacer completely out of their diet for 2 wholes days and then to only feed half the next 2 days after before feeding normally again. With him being less than 2 months old, I don’t think it would be a good idea to cut his nutritional source out completely for 2 whole days (especially when he’s sick) we have introduced hay and he will occasionally eat it but not enough to supplement not having milk. Everything I have read online says it’s not a good idea to cut the milk replacer out while doing an electrolyte treatment but all the treatments on the package do say to do that.

Does anyone have experience on what they did and what worked?

Is there a set vaccination, working schedule used for cattle like you have for dogs etc. Based on age or time of year?

Had a heiffer calve about a month ago. The calf could not get latched on. Her teats were oversized, so we tagged her for the freezer and pulled the calf. I've been bottle feeding him, and it's been a struggle. Past bottle calves have had no issue finding the nipple, but this one, I have to put it in his mouth to get started. If he let's go, he struggles to get back on. I also had a hard time getting him to eat grain, but I think he's figured that out.

Initially I thought he was just dumb, but after a month I wonder if he just can't see very well. He's a normal, healthy calf in every other regard, and can definitely discern different people and animals from a distance. It's just things right in front of his face that seem to be an issue.

thoughts????

I have four acres of pasture. I would like 2 cows. Is there an ideal breed, management style, etc. to be profitable. I’m in northeast Iowa if that makes a difference.

I know more about horses than cattle, but I’ve seen some pretty cattle that have cool colors and patterns that I would like to see more of, but I can’t find anything naming their specific coat colors/patterns. I know there’s the base black/brown/red, but I’m not sure if the dilute(?) colors like the yellows or seal point(?) actually have their own names (like horses do with being called buckskin, bay, etc.) or if they’re just referred to as “dilute”. Do they actually have names for that stuff, or is it left unnamed/uncared about because they’re usually just food animals so color doesn’t tend to matter?

Sorry if a post like this isn’t allowed here! I just see a lot of people on here with their own cows and wanted to ask people who have more experience than I do :D

Alright yall, I know absolutely NOTHING about cows. But, sometimes I like to entertain impossible ideas so I'm hoping someone could help me out.

I accidentally made friends with a young steer that is being raised for meat. He's not mine, but lives on my grandmother's property. I knew this would lead to heartbreak in the future, and I know most likely I'm going to have to say a forever goodbye to him soon... but it's not just one-sided. He runs to the fence when he sees me, and he licks me and demands cuddles all the time. We have 30-45 minute cuddle sessions every day.

But what if...? I know the chance of actually being able to drastically change my lifestyle to have a pet cow is like maybe 0.01%. I know its not going to happen. But is anyone willing to help me understand what that 0.01% would require? Here are my assumptions so far:

• the steer (if the owner is even willing to sell him to me)
• another steer as a companion for him
• a truck and trailer to be able to haul them wherever needed
• land for them to grassfeed
• $1-2000 per year for food for both cows
• 15-20 year commitment
• medical/vet bills

Anyone have a general idea on cost? Or what else I need to consider? Again I know this isn't gonna happen and I'm gonna just have to be sad later, but I'd rather look into it before just assuming I can't without any research whatsoever. Adding his cute face because I am obsessed.

I was recently told by a beef slaughter plant that I should expect between 40-50% for hanging weights. I’ve always been told that you will usually see closer to 60% for hanging weights. What do you all think? I have mostly angus 3-7 Y/O Cows.

I'm a homesteader. We have three head of cattle and will likely never have more than 4-5 at a time in the future. We do not currently own either a Squeeze Chute or a Head Gate and haven't as yet had a need for them.

However, I know the time will come when we'll need one. We do plan on milking at some point (far in the future), or if we need a vet check, etc.

However, as you know they're both very expensive, some of them prohibitively so, especially for such a small operation (we're only producing meat for ourselves and maybe extended family. Since we can only afford one now, which do you think we should go for? Any product recommendations?

We have Dexter cattle, so they're on the small size, very friendly, and mostly cooperative. Currently, we've got a bull we're raising to be our herd sire, a possibly pregnant cow, and her 9 month old daughter.

I'm completely open to learning, please share any and all thoughts—even if you just want to remind me that we should have already had this in place!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/avian-flu-outbreak-raises-a-disturbing-question-is-our-food-system-built-on-poop/ar-AA1nejx3