Fattening bulls

Location
Devon
2.2 ton is where i have mine at guth

I agree and cost wise if a home ration you would put that in at Cop growing costs of say £130t for the grain + milling/ protein/ minerals etc so say £150t or £330 head but if buying the feed in then at current prices and say £230t that = £506 head!..

I have seen no end of suckled steers around the 9/10 month old mark sold the last few weeks that have not been overfed and be very good turn out/ grazing but quite clearly have had maybe 0.5t at the most of hard fed/ high protein cake make £950/1050+ head so if your not in a high risk TB area then i am not sure keeping them as bulls is the way forward at this time!
 

Werzle

Member
Location
Midlands
I agree and cost wise if a home ration you would put that in at Cop growing costs of say £130t for the grain + milling/ protein/ minerals etc so say £150t or £330 head but if buying the feed in then at current prices and say £230t that = £506 head!..

I have seen no end of suckled steers around the 9/10 month old mark sold the last few weeks that have not been overfed and be very good turn out/ grazing but quite clearly have had maybe 0.5t at the most of hard fed/ high protein cake make £950/1050+ head so if your not in a high risk TB area then i am not sure keeping them as bulls is the way forward at this time!
Half a ton would be a massive amount for cattle of that age. They would look like fat moles if they had eaten half a ton. 9/10 mth bulls 400kg ish and eaten 300kg ish of creep would be £1000+ and finish far far quicker than steers which is a quicker turn around on the investment and possibly less risky with future fat prices hard to fathom
 
Location
Devon
Half a ton would be a massive amount for cattle of that age. They would look like fat moles if they had eaten half a ton. 9/10 mth bulls 400kg ish and eaten 300kg ish of creep would be £1000+ and finish far far quicker than steers which is a quicker turn around on the investment and possibly less risky with future fat prices hard to fathom

The steers might have eaten 0.5t at most that is why if you can get £950+ for 10 month old steers currently that will pay much better than bulls.

And it does not take much of a suckled steer calve to make £950+ currently!
 

Vader

Member
Mixed Farmer
He’s a cracker what a length and good shape! Who’s this fella and what’s his breeding? How old?
20210324_233333.jpg
 

Whitepeak

Member
Livestock Farmer
Well hopefully it improves your herd in the long run! Well good luck hope you get a good price for them! Do you finish much pure heifers?
Why do you think this is? Iv seen many many good blonde bulls in shows etc yet hardly any semen available which I think let’s the breed down! I seen the Norbreck bull I think I will give him a try! Which other bull has become available privately? Which bulls have you went for A.I? I don’t normally A.I but willing to give it a try with the blondes.
I think the breeders are shooting themselves in the foot there tbh what better way to promote a breed than at a breed sale! More bulls more buyers will go in my eyes. Hopefully there a good few entered for Carlisle and I will make the trip down and purchase 1 or 2.
Haven't finished many pure heifers, we've been rapidly expanding the herd in recent years so have kept pretty much every heifer. Currently number 40 pedigree cows with approx 15 pedigree heifers to go to the bull this time.
The other new bull on AI is Hutton Oli, he was male champion at the Highland in 2019. I've ordered Clondown Eddie, he's one of the top bulls in Ireland, and Hashtag, he's the best bull in France for calving ease and carcass growth and also scores highly for milk. I've gone mainly for good calving figures as I'm only going to AI the batch of heifers.
Yes, hopefully there's some good numbers entered for Carlisle.
 

FarmerDanny1989

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Scotland
Haven't finished many pure heifers, we've been rapidly expanding the herd in recent years so have kept pretty much every heifer. Currently number 40 pedigree cows with approx 15 pedigree heifers to go to the bull this time.
The other new bull on AI is Hutton Oli, he was male champion at the Highland in 2019. I've ordered Clondown Eddie, he's one of the top bulls in Ireland, and Hashtag, he's the best bull in France for calving ease and carcass growth and also scores highly for milk. I've gone mainly for good calving figures as I'm only going to AI the batch of heifers.
Yes, hopefully there's some good numbers entered for Carlisle.
Just wondered how they would finish compared to commercials. That’s a good number of pedigrees I’d defo like a few on the farm, I’ll head to Carlisle if there’s a good enough entered get a few heifers and a bull or two. Iv seen hashtag he’s some carcass on him! Hopefully he breeds as well as he looks.
 

Vader

Member
Mixed Farmer
Just wondered how they would finish compared to commercials. That’s a good number of pedigrees I’d defo like a few on the farm, I’ll head to Carlisle if there’s a good enough entered get a few heifers and a bull or two. Iv seen hashtag he’s some carcass on him! Hopefully he breeds as well as he looks.
We find pure bulls or heifers tend to finish bit slower but get better price .
 

Bill the Bass

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cumbria
I agree and cost wise if a home ration you would put that in at Cop growing costs of say £130t for the grain + milling/ protein/ minerals etc so say £150t or £330 head but if buying the feed in then at current prices and say £230t that = £506 head!..

I have seen no end of suckled steers around the 9/10 month old mark sold the last few weeks that have not been overfed and be very good turn out/ grazing but quite clearly have had maybe 0.5t at the most of hard fed/ high protein cake make £950/1050+ head so if your not in a high risk TB area then i am not sure keeping them as bulls is the way forward at this time!

We haven’t fattened bulls in any anger since 2012. I managed to get about 60 tonnes of barley of the combine at a sensible price which with a cereal balancer protein stands me at £158/tonne this year so we are fattening a few. I sold four feeding bulls in January for £1105 ave. going to take the first draw of fat bulls probably next week so we will see how things fare. Can’t see there being a great deal more margin in it than selling feeding bulls at ten months old but we should end up with a bigger heap of cash..
 

Vader

Member
Mixed Farmer
We haven’t fattened bulls in any anger since 2012. I managed to get about 60 tonnes of barley of the combine at a sensible price which with a cereal balancer protein stands me at £158/tonne this year so we are fattening a few. I sold four feeding bulls in January for £1105 ave. going to take the first draw of fat bulls probably next week so we will see how things fare. Can’t see there being a great deal more margin in it than selling feeding bulls at ten months old but we should end up with a bigger heap of cash..
We got £1200 as stores.
Sold some fat last week.
20210326_110108.jpg
 

bazza3034

Member
Location
co.tyrone
Could i be cheeky and ask whats your ration for your animals from weight 350 kgs on ward my cattle never do that well feeding 5 top flock buckets of meal a day ad lib silage suckler calf blend to 11 beasts .
 

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