I'm not a million miles from you I don't think, 90% of my stores I buy as calves and rear them.
Is it all calves the milk buyers are stipulating or just the dairy bull calves?
Black and white bull beef costings
- Thread starter FarmerK
- Start date
Is it all calves the milk buyers are stipulating or just the dairy bull calves?
Headless chicken
Member
- Location
- West Wales
Because if you ask for money people will always moan and say they’re not good enough and I spend half my day pissing around negotiating.
west wales based.
My milk buyer hasn’t stipulated anything yet. Calf trade is pathetic currently and my main focus is my heifers. To me it makes far more financial sense to give them away when they’ve only cost me 10 days than get £5-£50 at 2-3 weeks old and cost me a fortune. Reasonable blue bull went before Xmas made £80. Doesn’t seem much sense in that to me. I also have issues with calves going direct to slaughter so this agreement mitigates that.
A neighbour got told before Christmas he had to keep his bull calves on until a certain age.
If your still interested next year in doing a deal on your calves give me a shout. But not for free, a deal that suits both of us.
If they’re costing £2 a day they have to gain 1.5kg a day just to break even
- Location
- Cheshire
Yes, Ive stopped buying B&w stirk bulls. Used to buy plenty of them in markets to make batches up. Usually been dragged up or not bred right. My fresian bulls that come at 5 weeks off farm are 290+kg dead and gone by 13and half month old. . The stirks are usually 16-18 months, they hit the weight but grade crap. IT costs me far too much to feed big greyhound type Holstein bulls the extra time. If you want Bulls to grow well and be gone early do not turn them out! One sniff of a neighbours heifers or similar and you've a proper bull fight and lose a load of flesh off them in the process. Plus you can't just mix batches in the field like you can heifers and bullocks. With the right Bulls, the right system and the right buyer it's a system I think is brilliant and complements my sheep flock well.
Also remember... Good calves ain't cheap, cheap calves ain't good. If they aren't piling the flesh on by 11 months you're in for a long wait! Not too bad I feel out can get them on silage, veg/bread waste and barley but I run barley beef and get bonus at the end because they kill out better.
Also remember... Good calves ain't cheap, cheap calves ain't good. If they aren't piling the flesh on by 11 months you're in for a long wait! Not too bad I feel out can get them on silage, veg/bread waste and barley but I run barley beef and get bonus at the end because they kill out better.
gone up the hill
Member
- Location
- Devon
Colostrum, Colostrum, Colostrum.... If they don't get that they will always be bad news and how many of these large spring calving dairy herds with grass rats will bother to make sure every and each calve gets some within 6 hours of birth if they are just giving the calves away at 7/10 days old??
ollie989898
Member
- Location
- North Yorkshire
That’s about the only alternative, substitute half the barley for it. It won’t be much cheaper mind but it is good stuff
Mixedupfarmer
Member
- Location
- Norfolk
- Location
- Durham, UK
Brewers/ potatoes/ maize/ trafford gold erm buscuit meal. Its more if u can get it.
ollie989898
Member
Mixedupfarmer
Member
- Location
- Norfolk
Be in a different league to feed though
ollie989898
Member
It would be superior as it has a higher starch content from memory. Would take a period of adjustment to get them onto it though.
- Location
- North Yorkshire
There’s a thousand and one products out there but Holstein bulls aren’t easy to do they won’t fatten on anything like other breeds. Stay away from anything too wet, keep the starch up. If they don’t stop shagging the diet is wrong
gone up the hill
Member
- Location
- Devon