I’ve been to beef cattle farms there, but not sheep. Years ago I was on a lot of farms. Sheep farms have a way of turning over every 5 years or so. Looking forward to next spring’s lamb pictures!
I really miss having ready access to scales here in the East. When in Colorado we had farmer-owned scales nearby that allowed self-service use. Your dog has discerning taste.
Two heifers left yesterday, heading home to rejoin the herd and get bred. A third heifer was too small, and will leave with the steers in a couple of weeks.
These guys left Saturday. I was contract-grazing for a friend. They averaged 790lb, and he got $1.55, delivered. Two were long-yearlings, while the rest are true yearlings.
Berkshire feeder pigs I raised a number of years ago. They are the Waygu beef of pork, it's probably some of the best pork I've ever had. I don't raise hogs or sheep anymore, just feeder cattle. Shorthorn, and Angus Cross feeders I picked up from a friend last week. Last but not least, a Gartner snake that somehow made it into my house !!!
Flamestead my buddy says that white face black cattle grow better than any others. Thoughts based off of the custom grazing you did ? It does make sense because they are usually a Hereford cross, heterosis is a wonderful thing.
I've always been partial to the back baldies (white face), but with ours haven't necessarily seen where they'd better than all black. But we're also not specialty feeding...they get the grass in the pasture, hay when it's time, and a bit of feed here and there to get them coming to the pen. When we started, we bought 3 black herefords. They have for the most part been the best cows we've had, probably due to the hereford in them. Good mothers and almost too docile sometimes (in terms of getting them to move). Unfortunately, it's bout time for them to go down the road...I keep saying one more calf, but that's gonna catch up with me if I don't send them soon (they'll probably go after this calf).
Yes, most beef cattle in the country are crossbred, for good reason. The biggest advantage comes from a crossbred cow herd, but even if the cow herd is straight bred there is a big advantage to crossed calves. If you are selling live animals, the market still wants a black hide. I had a bit of black Simmental mixed into my Angus X Hereford cows, and was getting great calves from those.
