We went to the auction today. The plan was for geese and ducklings, but we were late getting started and completely missed the small stuff. But did I come home empty handed? No, of course not. I took the boys with me. The younger three. #1 is still in school. But three is enough.
There was a horse there.
A lovely little chestnut mare.
A little thin. Not too old. Friendly.
She could very nearly be Tori's twin. Right down to the lopsided mane.
And, just like Tori, when I leaned my head through the gate, she dropped her head to mine and nuzzled up against me. You know that's a sign of pure evil. That's a horse's way of saying, 'Oh, you're a big softie. Take me home so I can drive you insane every time you even think about riding me, eat you out of house and home, and not even give you the time of day unless you bring me treats'. Or at least that's been my experience. Maybe I'm just a poor judge of character.
At any rate, when she came up for sale it was me versus the meat buyer. She should be here some time tonight. Let the Knightmare begin.
Then there was this odd looking little calf. My sale slip claims he's a holstein. I don't think he's a pure bred, but who knows.
He's more brown than black, with only a couple of white spots. His umbilical cord is quite dry, so I'm guessing a couple days old at least. We brought him home in the car and moved him in with the turkeys. Stopped on the way for a bag of milk replacer. He's living with the turkeys for now, to keep him quarantined from the other cows.
$45 worth of beef. $60 for milk replacer. With a little luck and some patience, it should be well worth the investment. I haven't decided between Evil Kneivel and Toothless. Toothless is from the movie 'How To Train Your Dragon', as is Knightmare, so fits the theme for this year. His personality so far though, is screaming out Evil Kneivel. We had to chase him down and corner him to feed him his first bottle.
I needed something to do while #1 & #2 were at camp... lol
You go out and look for trouble...lol. How much will the return in beef be worth after all the expense of raising the calf?
ReplyDeleteIt'll depend on how long I keep him. He was 100 pounds yesterday, live weight. If we slaughtered him for veal right away, it should have yeilded about 50 lbs of beef, $1.11/lb.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the bag of milk replacer he should be at least 150 lbs, 75 lbs beef, .71/lb
A second bag of milk replacer and some grass should bring him up to at least 250 lbs by fall, 125 lbs of beef, .75/lb.
Overwintering him should cost less than $200 for hay. Pasture next summer. He should be around 600 lbs next fall, 300 lbs of beef, .82/lb.
The trick is in keeping him healthy through this delicate phase until he's weaned.
Thanks. I have never found beef for as cheap as you figure it. How soon will he be weaned?
ReplyDelete