Beef Calf 2024

[Peanut]

Calf won’t be here until next week. In the mean time I needed to do some bush hogging along with some fence and gate repairs. I bushhog under these big pecan trees every fall anyway. Makes picking them up easier, looks like a good pecan crop this year, 1st pic.

Next pics, several years ago I got half of this gate built just before we sold the herd to my grt nephew. I set both gate posts in quickcrete. I then used a 10x6ft chainlink fence panel as a temp gate for half the span. I thought the kid would finish it. He never did anything so… I’ll finish it now.

The 10ft gate I bought today had a dent and a few nicks so I got a discount. I knew I had plenty of rustoleum in the shop. Went ahead and touched up the old gate while I was painting.

 

[Peanut]

After the calf and I get acquainted I'll turn him up in this field to graze, plenty of grass just waiting for him.

Some grass pictures taken today for @Mountain trapper . Still plenty of graze here until November unless we get an early frost. This is the field where the hay was cut. You can just make out the rolls behind a few small trees in the last pic. Taken from the opposite side of the very first pic above in the OP.

 

[Patchouli]

@Peanut How will pupper dog do with having the calf around? How old is the calf ? (How big?)

 

[Peanut]

@Peanut How will pupper dog do with having the calf around? How old is the calf ? (How big?)

The pup does fine, I trained to help me herd cows. The first year I had this pup my grt nephew still had cattle here.

The calf is about 4months old, haven't seen him yet so don't know how big he is.

 

[Pearl]

@Peanut How will pupper dog do with having the calf around? How old is the calf ? (How big?)

He's busy getting his picture taken, no time for calves!!

 

[Peanut]

Another morning, another set of clothes. 95F at the shop without a breeze blowing. It was sure hot in the corral. I could’ve squeezed water out of my socks when I got done.

I bushhogged it saturday but had to cut all the perilla around the edges today. Perilla is very toxic to livestock, will kill cattle! So I put the metal blade on the weedeater and cut weeds for a couple hours. Could do a little trimming with the chainsaw but the toxic plants are gone so I’ll leave as is.

In the spring my cousin is going to demolish it and build a new one from scratch. Dad built it in the 80’s, he and I rebuilt it twice since 2000… time for a new corral. Even though it’s on it’s last legs it’s ready for the angus calf. He’ll be fine under the little shed.

If needed I could keep him in there all winter, just add feed and water. But I want him on pasture grass asap. As soon as I get him trained to come when I call I’ll turn him out on good grass.

 

[Mountain trapper]

After the calf and I get acquainted I'll turn him up in this field to graze, plenty of grass just waiting for him.

Some grass pictures taken today for @Mountain trapper . Still plenty of graze here until November unless we get an early frost. This is the field where the hay was cut. You can just make out the rolls behind a few small trees in the last pic. Taken from the opposite side of the very first pic above in the OP.

View attachment 162917View attachment 162918View attachment 162919

Nice green grass! Ours looks like that in early spring, around May, June and July. Now it's all gone. We supplement the dry grass with a few tubs of Vitaliks.

 

[sonya123]

is he going to be out there all by himself? Or are there other animals in the pasture? Do cows not get lonely on their own? Goats and sheep don't like it. We always make sure they have at least one buddy in the pasture
But we haven't had any cows

 

[Peanut]

is he going to be out there all by himself? Or are there other animals in the pasture? Do cows not get lonely on their own? Goats and sheep don't like it. We always make sure they have at least one buddy in the pasture
But we haven't had any cows

My cousin uses our farm for heifers that are too young to breed and for hay. He'll bring a small herd over in a few weeks, leave them here til next summer. When old enough he'll move them back to his main herd with the bulls. He has a couple hundred brood cows and sells the calves for beef. He keeps the best of the heifers each year to replace cows that are sold because of age or other issues.

So, my bull calf will be alone for a month or so. He was alone before aside from a couple of pigs but my friend's grandkids turned him into a pet. When he gets here I want his focus to be on me for a few weeks. I want him to learn to come when I call or rattle a bucket. So being alone is a good thing. (No worries with the heifers, my calf has been banded so technically he's a steer now.)

 

[Peanut]

I hung the other 10ft gate today. Finally have a working double gate for moving livestock, equipment, trucks with trailers etc. between the bull pen (3 acre holding pen) and the front pasture by the highway.

I also adjusted two other gates into the bull pen, the primary and the backside gate. Both are now in good working order. Rechecked all the fencing.. good to go.

Now the bull pen and corral are done. Ready for the calf this weekend.

 

[Bacpacker]

Nice work Peanut

 

[Peanut]

I have beef on the hoof again! My friends dropped the calf off this morning. They said he was registered, have my doubts about that but… His bones and chest look good, lines are decent. Neck and hips look good. He’s gentle but can be a little feisty at this age, looks to be about 6months old. I had my hands on him within 5 minutes so he’ll be no problem. Just have to feed him. I’ll let him out on some good grass late today, an hr or two before dark.

 

[Bacpacker]

Great looking calf. Very nice lines

 

[Mountain trapper]

Nice looking steer Peanut. Get him on some good grass this fall, and hay over the winter and he'll make some good BBQ next Fall.

 

[zoomzoom]

What's the going rate for a feeder steer or heifer where you are? Up here, it's really high.

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/live-cattle

 

[Peanut]

What's the going rate for a feeder steer or heifer where you are? Up here, it's really high.

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/live-cattle

I don't know, this one cost me nothing. Just have to feed him over the winter then split the beef when we slaughter.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Around here a good Angus steer costs around $900-$1,000 for a 500 - 600 pound calf.

 

[Peanut]

He's looking sleepy this morning. But he made the first 24hrs without mishap. After watching him for a day I've decided he may be from registered stock. His lines are very clean.

Got to break him of a little attitude issue. Being around a bunch of little kids he decided he's the boss. Nope, now I'm the boss. And the pup is teaching him that he's second in command. Watching the two of them feel each other out is pretty funny.

 

[Mountain trapper]

He's looking sleepy this morning. But he made the first 24hrs without mishap. After watching him for a day I've decided he may be from registered stock. His lines are very clean.

Got to break him of a little attitude issue. Being around a bunch of little kids he decided he's the boss. Nope, now I'm the boss. And the pup is teaching him that he's second in command. Watching the two of them feel each other out is pretty funny.

View attachment 163542

I had a young bull once that tried pushing me around. One good whack across the forehead with a pipe, almost put him on the ground, and he was a perfect gentleman after that. They need to learn their place.

 

[Peanut]

Little butthead got out this afternoon. A small dead pine fell on the fence sometime this morning. I went out about 2pm to take him an apple, he wasn’t in the bull pen. I found the fence down.

This escape allowed him to the main pasture that was closed off all summer. About 25acres of pasture and another 35 in hardwood timber. I got on the tractor and went looking. The pasture had grown up in dog fennel, about 6ft tall. I drove all around and across it several times looking. Nearly impossible to see a calf in that mess. He was nowhere to be found...

Then I guessed right… I have 3 springs down in the bottoms that form one branch of a small creek. I was betting he smelled water and went for a drink. I had to leave the tractor and walk down there. That’s where I found him. I’d taken a bucket of feed and an apple along. The pup was with me too. I cut the calf a slice of apple and let him get a bite or two of feed from the bucket then started walking. He followed with the pup bringing up the rear. No fun, temp about 90f and there’s a 200ft elevation change, all up hill. Little butthead made me work up a sweat.

Anyway, he followed me all the way into the corral. So he’s home for the night. I’ll worry about fixing the fence tomorrow.

 

[Mountain trapper]

A couple years ago I was driving an old wild range cow off our property. She got to a point and just stopped. I thought she was going to charge, but flat footed she jumped the fence. Never touched the wire. These critters can jump.

 

[LadyLocust]

Sooo his name is Butthead . Under the circumstances, I’d say fitting.

 

[Peanut]

Today I started clearing the section of fence that was down. 6 yrs ago I took a machete and cleaned this fence line enough to begin working on it. I did this for my grt nephew just before he took over the herd. This was the worst section of fence on the farm and needed immediate attention. He didn’t lift a finger to fix anything in 5yrs.

Brush in the deep south can grow 1 to 2 ft a year. Vines are even faster. 60Inches of rain a year and a long growing season means constant fence work just to keep them clear. If you don’t do the work a time comes when the brush becomes the fence. A few years after that the whole mess begins to collapse from the weight. This is it's present condition.

First two, fence to the right and to the left, can’t even see wire or fence posts.

3rd pic, I cleared a spot with a chainsaw. I can see wire and a post.

4th and 5th pics are from the cleared spot looking down the fence line both directions. This is what I had to clear today.

 

[Bacpacker]

Its amazing how fast brush grows

 

[Peanut]

1st and 2nd pics… Vines are the worst, there is poison ivy, muscadine, jasmine and… Saw Briars, they’ll rip through leather gloves. The easy way is to get a chain hooked around a bundle of vines and pull them down with a tractor.

3rd pic, clearing continues…

4th pic, 100ft of cleared fence line, took me 3hrs using a chainsaw, pruning shears and when possible a tractor. Now I can rebuild this section of fence, gonna need 7 new posts and about 300ft of barbwire.. Looks a lot different than when I started.

Last pic, since it’s taking me so long I put a roll of hay in the corral for the calf. Sweet feed wasn’t enough, cows need roughage. It’s just a piece of a roll, last one in the baler when my cousin finished the field.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Today I started clearing the section of fence that was down. 6 yrs ago I took a machete and cleaned this fence line enough to begin working on it. I did this for my grt nephew just before he took over the herd. This was the worst section of fence on the farm and needed immediate attention. He didn’t lift a finger to fix anything in 5yrs.

Brush in the deep south can grow 1 to 2 ft a year. Vines are even faster. 60Inches of rain a year and a long growing season means constant fence work just to keep them clear. If you don’t do the work a time comes when the brush becomes the fence. A few years after that the whole mess begins to collapse from the weight. This is it's present condition.

First two, fence to the right and to the left, can’t even see wire or fence posts.

View attachment 164210View attachment 164211

3rd pic, I cleared a spot with a chainsaw. I can see wire and a post.

View attachment 164212

4th and 5th pics are from the cleared spot looking down the fence line both directions. This is what I had to clear today.

View attachment 164213

View attachment 164214

If you didn't live do far away I'd come give you a hand. I'm pretty good at repairing fences.

 

[Bacpacker]

If you didn't live do far away I'd come give you a hand. I'm pretty good at repairing fences.

You have so much to keep up, you get lots of practice

 

[Peanut]

If you didn't live do far away I'd come give you a hand. I'm pretty good at repairing fences.

I do appreciate that. The fence is the easy part... It's clearing brush and vines that takes hours.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I do appreciate that. The fence is the easy part... It's clearing brush and vines that takes hours.

Yes it is. I have 3 steep draws and over a half mile of fence that is chock-full of brush. Can't get any equipment down there, so I do it all by hand.

 

[Mountain trapper]

You have so much to keep up, you get lots of practice

I actually like working on fences. I'm planning on putting in another 2 miles of new fence next spring, and pulling out about 5 miles of old barb wire. I need to start buying more fence posts throughout the winter. Only have about 100 or so on hand right now.