Eleanor (Profitability from Jersey cows)

[MurraysMutts]

August calf?

I'll take it!

Big Sexy gotta go to the other place next month. I'm hoping he gets 2 cycles to breed her. But if she breeds this week, I'm perfectly fine with that. Would rather have a Sept calf, but I sure won't complain. Logistics....

And I don't mind her calving at an off time. Better chance of picking up extra calves for her when not everyone else is looking!
I.e. cheaper, but good quality, calves..

 

[MurraysMutts]

Tsk! Tsk!
That's an Eleanor baby nursing on Bessie.
Don't take much to train a calf to nurse anything that will stand still.....

 

[farmerjan]

That's the only problem with nurse cows... if you keep the calves they will go on anything that will stand even months after they are weaned... but as babies, they will sneak on another cow if their "momma" is not making enough milk... I had several 1st calf beef heifers, raised together, bred and calved in the same time frame and several co-nursed calves.. see 2 or 3 on one of them and then later on a different one... the calves all grew good so I can't say anyone milked bad... but then it is harder to weed out one that is not pulling her weight...
Gotta keep the calves away from any lactating animal until they have their own and then they usually have given it up.

 

[MurraysMutts]

That's the only problem with nurse cows... if you keep the calves they will go on anything that will stand even months after they are weaned... but as babies, they will sneak on another cow if their "momma" is not making enough milk... I had several 1st calf beef heifers, raised together, bred and calved in the same time frame and several co-nursed calves.. see 2 or 3 on one of them and then later on a different one... the calves all grew good so I can't say anyone milked bad... but then it is harder to weed out one that is not pulling her weight...
Gotta keep the calves away from any lactating animal until they have their own and then they usually have given it up.

Yep!
Number 180 that Brandy raised, I suspect she got a hold of Bertha. Bertha appeared to be making a big bag. But the day I gathered and sold some cows her bag looked depleted. I was afraid she calved and I was selling her open. And worse yet, there was a calf over there in that jungle with no mother now!

Nope!
They called her 8 months bred. I'm almost positive 180 was nursing her. And Bertha was not a very willing cow. She would allow more than one to nurse if she had her own. But I could not get her to take a fresh calf.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Dear diary....

Appears someone is in heat maybe. Opal was trying like heck to mount Eleanor this evening as I was putting feed and hay out in the dark. Ol Big Sexy had a sniff and made that face so maybe it's a false alarm. All the better if she breeds now tho. And if she is cycling that will give her one more heat before I gotta move the bull next month, providing she cycles again in 21 days!

Dangitall! Thought I had a pic.
Didn't turn out. Maybe tmrw!

 

[MurraysMutts]

Gonna be hard to keep track of things with Bessie helping out so much. Guess I can combine feed bills on em. 5 calves on 2 cows. Then there's the bull too. He's eating as well. The benefits are 2 fold. He will be in good shape when I move him next month. Going thru about a round bales every 2 weeks.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Problem with calves stealing from anyone - they may be depleting the colostrum for the unborn new calf.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Problem with calves stealing from anyone - they may be depleting the colostrum for the unborn new calf.

Agreed. Gotta be mindful of when your mamas are due!
Bessie won't be along til March at the earliest. And Eleanor is hopefully just bred. She's got a couple weeks with Big Sexy yet before he goes to visit the other ladies. After his annual BSE of coarse!
I don't foresee any problems. The animals I sold were all bred....

Good tip on the colostrum issue!
Thanks!

 

[MurraysMutts]

I'm gonna put this is Eleanors thread just because. Them babies are eating feed!
And Big Sexy is so easy to get along with. He loves em too. Lol

 

[TCRanch]

That picture is everything!!

 

[MurraysMutts]

That picture is everything!!

Ikr?!?
His head is near as big as the dang calves!

 

[MurraysMutts]

So Eleanor is down to 3 calves for a minute. I got 1 big steer caught and one small heifer out and put on Willow. Bessie went out to pasture. So it's ALL Eleanor now. Til I get the steer caught. He will be weaned. He's plenty big enough. Eats feed well, etc...

When I get him caught, I may just let her finish raising the 2 small heifers and take it easy on her. Unless I find a smoking deal on an orphan....

Eleanor and Bessie are not keeping the condition I'd like to see, so this will help everyone out.

 

[TexasBred]

You need a good 16% feed. She'll need a pound per gallon of milk, that's the standard anyway. If you can only find a 15%, then throw in a handful of soybean meal.

I buy bulk pellets, my jerseys cost me about $14 each per week in grain. They also get free choice leafy brome and a couple flakes each of red clover hay.

Make darn sure you only have her dry for 2 months. To long is actually harmful to the longevity of a jersey or Holstein.

Don't think you'll ever get a gallon of milk from one pound of dairy feed. I'd go about 4 lbs for each gallon anticipated plus all the good quality hay and/or grazing she wants

 

[MurraysMutts]

The 2 cows, Bessie and Eleanor, as well as the 5 calves have been getting 6 bags a week. Same when the bull was in there. I'll cut back a little now that there is one less cow and 2 less calves. O yeah! Opal has been eating too. She's in that lil spot as well. I'm probly gonna kick opal out. Plan to have her RE- pregged soon as she don't even look like she's close. If she's open, I may just have to sell her. Shes consumed way too much of my time to be unproductive

 

[Travlr]

The 2 cows, Bessie and Eleanor, as well as the 5 calves have been getting 6 bags a week. Same when the bull was in there. I'll cut back a little now that there is one less cow and 2 less calves. O yeah! Opal has been eating too. She's in that lil spot as well. I'm probly gonna kick opal out. Plan to have her RE- pregged soon as she don't even look like she's close. If she's open, I may just have to sell her. Shes consumed way too much of my time to be unproductive

6... BAGS... ? Around here a bag is 50# and expensive as hell. You buy cheap as hell cows and feed them like they are bovine royalty?

Does it work financially for you?

 

[MurraysMutts]

6... BAGS... ? Around here a bag is 50# and expensive as hell. You buy cheap as hell cows and feed them like they are bovine royalty?

Does it work financially for you?

I don't know yet.......

The original idea was to feed ONE cow while she raised 3 calves to turn a profit! Or at least pay for herself and the purchase price of the calves and feed.

That's why Eleanor is under the "cattle sales" section. She's an experiment! So others can see if they want to get into this thing we call cow/calf...


But yeah...
It kind of got out of hand didn't it?
First the bull being in there to breed her. He's gotta eat.
Then Bessie in there because 4 calves just seemed like too much for 1 cow. She's gotta eat.
And Opal should've been kicked out long ago. She's gotta eat.
Now the calves are eating too!!

So total there was 3 cows. 1 bull. And 5 calves eating. Not exactly fed like royalty....

It kind of snowballed.....

I'll have totals later. Don't worry!
Feed bought on contract at about 400 a ton...


Edited to add...
@50/50Farms mentioned profitability in another thread.
Stay tuned.
This one may or may not turn a profit.
I knew I was gonna spend some money on this project going into it. My hopes are some folks hop in with both feet or at least consider getting in. Or perhaps they read and decide something like this isn't for them. Perhaps my experimental shorthorn project better suits them. @Dave Posts some numbers occassionally on his one n dones. Maybe that's their cup of tea!


My profitable projects fuel the insanity!!!

And initial costs are on first page iirc

 

[MurraysMutts]

Cut from page 25 of my bottle calf thread....
There's more to the story than the cow just raising 3 calves folks. I should've been posting about the calves she's helped along. She has 3 on her now that are PAID for. I'm keeping a tally for later. Don't worry!

We've seen a HUGE HUGE increase in baby calf prices all a sudden. I mean when 2 and 3 day old babies are approaching 400 bucks!! Really?!?!
2 Of the calves on her now I would expect to bring close to 600 each. Which would ALMOST put me in the black. And that would leave one runt heifer on her.

Should I take the money and run? Successful experiment? Luck of the draw? (There's always some element of luck involved) I could sell all 3 and complete the experiment easily I think. BUT I have no babies to put on her so I would have to dry her off prematurely. And I don't like that at all!
We will see....
Still looking for a couple fresh babies. If I can find 2 for the RIGHT PRICE, we are gonna be GOLDEN!

That lil snippet from page 25 is below. That thread and this one should kind of provide some sort of clarity. I kinda let more out than I wanted to right now....

I should probly post this in my Eleanor thread, but here goes anyway. These lil boogers I flip in a week or two or three. Have basically PAID FOR the calves I have on her. In addition to supplementing the feed bill!
I will save exact numbers til the experiment is nearly complete. But the way it's looking, the extras I've moved and she's helped along are adding up fast!!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

And you will need more calves for Bessie.

 

[MurraysMutts]

And you will need more calves for Bessie.

D'oh!
Yep. Shes coming along soon too!! This could get interesting.
May have to get em off FB if this continues. They may be cheaper there before it's all over

 

[farmerjan]

How far is it from you to say Harrisonburg VA ???? Maybe you need to make a trip with a truck and trailer and get a dozen at the stockyards here on a Wed evening.... $50 to 300 each.... lots of holstein bull calves go for $50 and as feeders now are bringing 1.20 /lb at 400 lbs.... Or a Saturday.... I just got one off the dairy up the road.... black ang x hol for $150..... 7 miles from the house and put it right on a beef cow that lost her calf.... took her 3 days and a couple of shots to get her to come into her milk, but she took it without any problems.
Most calves are dairy x though.....