What Does a Rainsing a Beef Cow Entail
For many pocket-size farmers and homesteaders, cows are the white (or, mayhap, black and white) whale of livestock: ever top of mind, but seemingly forever out of reach.
Most cows are physically bigger than other livestock, then they require more space and infrastructure than other ruminant animals like sheep and goats. Fifty-fifty mini cows are a bigger financial investment when information technology comes to upfront cost and maintenance.
If you only cannot live any longer without homegrown beef and fresh milk, though, y'all may experience ready to dive in to raising cows. Before you determine to add together cows to your litany of livestock, hither are 12 things y'all need to know.
i. Cows can be raised for meat, milk and to produce offspring for sale. Know what y'all are going to use yours for before you purchase one.
A cow is a big investment in money, time and resources. Knowing how you plan to employ your cow on your farm or homestead is important to make sure you are utilizing that investment wisely.
"The number 1 thing that people will want to enquire themselves is why are nosotros raising this cow," said Colt Knight, state livestock specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. "It makes a huge difference in the type of state and infrastructure y'all demand."
Cows can be raised for meat and milk, either for personal use or for sale. Calves tin can too exist sold each year for additional cash flow.
"They need to determine what their goal is going to be," said Ashley Robbins, livestock and field crops agent for Chatham County at the North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
two. On a small-scale scale, raising cows for milk only can be plush.
Cows begin producing milk at nearly two years old when they typically have their first baby. Later the moo-cow gives its first milk, or colostrum, to the dogie, she will be ready to milk.
"They exercise have to have a babe in order to produce milk," Robbins said. "Every bit long as you milk them, they'll produce milk. You tin milk [a cow] for ii years before she's dried up without having some other baby."
Selling milk, however, tin be difficult because of the rules and regulations governing dairy production.
"A small-scale dairy is non profitable at all," Knight emphasized.
Some states — 13 in full, including Maine, California and Pennsylvania — allow the sale of raw milk in retail stores, while 17 others allow for raw milk-producing farms to sell the product on their bounds. 8 states allow the sale of raw milk only through "cowshare agreements," where cow owners farmers are paid to lath, feed and milk their cows.
However, information technology is all the same illegal to sell raw, unpasteurized milk straight from the moo-cow in 20 states, including Alabama, Colorado and Virginia.
"In North Carolina, you tin can't sell raw milk, so that'due south non feasible," Robbins said. "The milk would probably only be for your personal use."
If y'all plan to use your cow for personal milking and practice not plan to eventually slaughter it, just know that y'all will probable be spending more money than y'all relieve.
"A cow is going to give you way more milk than you tin consume," Robbins said. "You wouldn't have to buy whatsoever more milk, but that's only $iii a gallon, so if you're only buying two gallons of milk a month, yous're not saving money."
Robbins said you could get artistic to make money or save additional dollars on your grocery budget from your dairy moo-cow.
"If you were to raise that calf that she'south feeding and sell it, you'd be able to make coin on that," Robbins said. "You lot could too plough the milk into butter and cheese, and cut out having to purchase butter and milk and cheese."
3. If you are raising cows for beef, know where y'all volition process your meat.
Many farmers and homesteaders buy a cow to raise for fresh, homegrown beef. Butchering cows, however, is complicated and requires a specific skill prepare and tools, so it is important to know where you will process your beef.
If you are raising a cow for beef, Robbins said that grass-fed cows will be gear up to consume at around 28 to 30 months, while grain-fed cows tin can exist ready past 15 to 16 months.
"If you simply want to go on an brute for yourself in a freezer, buy stocker or a heifer [that's between] 600 and 700 pounds," Knight said. "It will put weight on through the summer, and come fall, you can take that beast to the meat processor and they'll cut it upward for you."
Knight explained that if you plan on keeping meat for your ain consumption, y'all can utilize a custom slaughter facility, but if you are hoping to sell some meat, the facility must be country or federally inspected depending on whether you plan to sell in-state or across the edge.
Even if you are not going to sell the meat, you need to know who is going to process your animal. It may be challenging to find a qualified processor depending on where you live.
"We have very few meat processors in the land of Maine, so facilities fill up quickly," Knight said. "Homesteaders volition purchase a calf in the springtime, it volition get big enough to slaughter in the fall and the slaughterhouses are all booked up through the season. It'south a proficient idea to call your local processor and schedule fourth dimension slot."
Not only can forgetting to schedule time with a processor be disappointing, information technology tin can be costly, as y'all are left to feed your animal through the wintertime until y'all can become a spot at the slaughterhouse. This is especially challenging in colder climates.
"That's the number one expense here in Maine," Knight said. "With beef cows, you have to shop a lot of hay through the wintertime."
To find a reputable slaughterhouse, search the U.s. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Rubber and Inspection Service online directory of federally inspected slaughterhouses.
4. If you plan to sell your beef, inquiry your markets and know where you volition sell.
Knight and Robbins agreed that it is possible to make money selling homegrown beef. Though there are laws about properly labeling and safely processing meat to exist sold, experts concord that they are easier to navigate than those for dairy. Plus, fresh meat is mostly more profitable than milk.
"You could raise those on a pocket-sized calibration and breakeven or make some money," Knight said. "You would provide yourself with meat, keep half and sell other half and profit off that."
Just like when you are growing and selling crops, you want to know where you will sell your product before you invest time, energy and money into it.
"If you're going to try to make coin, yous need to know who and where the market volition be," Robbins said. "If you can go into a market where people pay higher for a locally-grown, grass-fed beef, you can do pretty [well] but having a scattering of cows, [like] if you're shut to a bigger town where you tin can hit the farmers market. Only one cow volition give you seven or 8 hundred pounds of beef at $6 to $8 a pound"
5. The best cow breed for you will mostly depend on where you live.
Robbins said that, in part, climate will determine which cows volition thrive on your farm or homestead.
"Always something to consider what your environment is and if it'south suitable for certain breeds," Robbins said. "Different cow breeds perform well in different areas."
Robbins said if you are in a hot climate like Texas or Florida, you may want to avoid furry Highland cows, but sleek, estrus-tolerant Brahman cows will thrive. Even within breeds, yous can brand certain choices to ensure your cows are as comfortable in their new home every bit possible.
"Angus do well [in North Carolina], but red ameliorate than black because of the estrus," Robbins said.
The economic forces in your expanse — for example, the cost of feed — may also impact the brood that y'all cull.
"Feed costs a lot [in Maine]," Knight said. "What nosotros want here is a smaller frame animal so they don't swallow equally much."
In areas where feed is expensive, Knight recommended small Angus breed or British breeds similar Hereford, or Belted Galloway (though, he admitted, Belted Galloways may have more value equally show animals, because "they look similar Oreos").
Knight said to avoid continental breeds and larger frame breeds like Charolais, though they are well-suited farms in the Midwest, where easy geographical access to grain feed leads to lower prices. Some strains of a item brood also may exist slightly better for milk or meat, but generally you tin observe a moo-cow that matches your goals regardless of which brood you cull.
"The genetic variation within a unmarried breed is very big," Knight said. "Over time, we have isolated really expert genetics in all the unlike breeds, so you tin can get very good performing cattle in almost whatsoever kind of breed."
six. The cost of a cow will depend on the breed, but you definitely want to buy from a reputable seller.
The toll of the cow volition depend on the breed.
"If you lot're going after a commercial cow, it will cost around $1,000," Robbins said. "If you're going after a certain breed, information technology could be $i,500 to $3,000 depending on what y'all're trying to go later on."
No matter what breed yous cull, make sure you lot are getting your cow from a reputable source.
"The best place to buy a cow is from a quality breeder or a farmer that keeps good records," Knight said.
"I would say the best bet would be from a personal buyer," Robbins added.
Knight and Robbins agreed that it is all-time to avoid ownership blind or purchasing cows from an auction or sale barn, even though the prices may be lower.
"You can buy cattle at auctions or off Facebook, only by and large speaking, cattle that are at auction are generally there for a reason," Knight explained. "They may non be producing that well. At auction, they're exposed to a whole bunch of different animals may have a higher incidence of sickness."
Robbins said that the exception is if the auction is a registered sale, where they volition provide of import information virtually the animal, like vaccination history and past pregnancies.
"I would do my research and know where my cows are coming from," Robbins said. "I would not simply buy a cow blindly."
vii. It is important to know a large beast veterinary that tin can intendance for your moo-cow when information technology is sick.
When you are purchasing your cow, be sure to also inquire around for a veterinarian.
"Animal health is very important," Knight said. "You want to make sure they're growing properly. Only like dogs and cats need almanac vaccines, cows need vaccines. Depending on your area, they might demand a rabies shot."
Knight and Robbins both recommended asking the seller of the cow who their veterinarian is, but there are other ways you can detect one.
"Nowadays, a lot of it is online," Robbins said. "If you lot have a pocket-sized animal vet, perhaps they know a large fauna vet. Your cooperative extension should also have a list of veterinarians that you could work with."
eight. For cows, the quality of your state matters merely every bit much as the quantity.
Cows require a considerable amount of space when compared to other livestock.
"You want at least an acre per cow," Robbins said. "If they're going to accept a baby, you want 2 acres for a cow-calf pair. That'southward the minimum amount of land."
For cows, the quality of the land — specifically, the foraging textile on information technology — matters just as much as the corporeality of country.
"Take a soil sample of the pasture and become an assay," Robbins said. "That'll tell you what type of fertilizer or lime yous need to put out in club to abound good quality forage. That's key when raising cows if you want to be able to graze them."
If your forage quality is low, you may need to provide your cows with more land or two supplement their diet.
"If it's poor quality forage, you might need 5 or x acres for that same cow," Knight said. "If you don't accept the acreage or the fodder quality yous need to supplement their nutrition with some grain. I wish there was a one size fits all answer to that, but unfortunately, yous take to know what y'all have."
Maintaining the pasture is as well an essential part to raising cows.
"It's better to have multiple pastures, or at to the lowest degree break up pasture," Robbins said. "You don't want to continuously graze a certain area because that's too much force per unit area on the grass and information technology won't grow back."
9. Most cows need mineral supplements to stay healthy.
Quality forage will provide cows with the nutrients that they need.
"If you're solely doing grass-fed, information technology's a practiced idea to accept a high quality provender out there at all times and accept a legume in with your normal grass," Robbins said.
Robbins explained legumes like cow peas and cerise clover are good in the summer, and cold season legumes like hairy vetch will supplement pasture-fed cows in the winter.
Even if you programme to grass-feed your cows, employ a soil test brand sure your forage is providing them with all the minerals they need.
"If your ground is depression in selenium, sulfur or zinc, you may be able to rest the minerals for your expanse," Knight said. "The feed store would know that."
If y'all are feeding your cow hay, you may need to get a nutrient analysis of your hay.
"All hay is different," Robbins said. "In one case you become your results back, y'all can chart information technology with the minimum nutrient requirements."
Knight said that many cow owners forget to supplement their animals' minerals. The required supplement depends on what you feed them and where you are located.
"If you want to do grain, then y'all need some kind of loftier-protein corn," Knight explained. "Feed stores as well have bags of minerals depending on where you're located."
ten. Fencing and housing is essential for cows.
Cows also require some infrastructure — namely, fencing around the pasture to proceed them on your property.
"You need to accept good permanent fencing effectually pasture so you can keep in the cows," Robbins said.
"Cows are big animals and so they can knock over an ill-synthetic fence very easily," Knight added.
Though cows are fairly hardy, they too need shelter to occasionally escape the elements.
"The construction needs to take good ventilation," Knight said. "They don't have to have an insulated befouled, but they do demand a make clean, dry identify to lay in the winter time."
xi. Cows need fresh water
Fifty-fifty though they are grazing animals, cows need a steady supply of fresh water.
"Always make certain that they have access to fresh water," Robbins said. "A lot of people just they can have them drinkable out of the ponds or streams, just that'southward not adept for the environment and that's not fresh water, then it does affect them."
12. To learn fifty-fifty more things virtually raising cattle, it might exist helpful to take a class with your local cooperative extension.
Knight recommended that farmers and homesteaders looking to raise cattle should participate in some kind of beef quality assurance training. Knight runs a course through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and other extension branches may accept similar courses.
"It is a adept way for beginners to learn all the basics of cattle husbandry and record keeping Also, it has a low stress handling component associated with it," Knight explained. "That'south a great opportunity to go over what cattle demand and what to expect when raising cattle. "
Even a basic level of rudimentary didactics about cattle husbandry will help you lot to ameliorate ensure animals on your farm are homestead are as healthy and happy as they can be.
Source: https://hellohomestead.com/12-things-to-know-about-raising-cows/
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