Calf price chitchat

K.G.

Mooooo wrote: »

Aa heifer 4 weeks 125.
Fr bulls 5 weeks old 30.
Fr bull 3 weeks old 16.
Fr heifer half twin to a bull 4 weeks old, 1 euro

Yeah box load of fine fr bulls 20 euro in the yard.
Seems to be a little more go for aa/hd heifers this year.

older by the day

Mooooo wrote: »

Aa heifer 4 weeks 125.
Fr bulls 5 weeks old 30.
Fr bull 3 weeks old 16.
Fr heifer half twin to a bull 4 weeks old, 1 euro

Thanks I feel like ****e reading calf prices here. I had 2 aa 3 wks old off a 5* bull. Good calves 125. I had 3aa heifers again good calfs 85 Euro. A neighbour sold them. Skibbereen is ****ed for calves. No farmer buyers.

Sillycave

What are Flex bull calves like for beef?
Know a local farmer selling some but think price is a little strong at 200

lab man

wats a flex

Buford T. Justice XIX

lab man wrote: »

wats a flex

Fleckvieh cows? They should be good for beef as they are a breed with a lot of dual purpose Simmental in them.

https://g.co/kgs/WEchQt

lab man

bought 3 in smb today red w bull 200 lm bull 120 bhx115

Panch18

148multi wrote: »

Would calves like that cost you milk

Well they were getting 5-6 litres a day so, costing a fair bit

Don’t use milk replacer

Castlekeeper

Panch18 wrote: »

Well they were getting 5-6 litres a day so, costing a fair bit

Don’t use milk replacer

I think he meant the strain of a hard calving on the cow.
How could you feed less than 5-6 litres to a calf without starving them? It's handy feeding tbh. They'll drink double it ad lib and, believe it or not, it pays to give it to them.

Castlekeeper

Just to back my theory up about feeding calves.
Total milk drank isn't any more plus the hassle of having them about for 4-5 weeks.
And all would be easy calved, no assistance or jack used.

148multi

Castlekeeper wrote: »

I think he meant the strain of a hard calving on the cow.
How could you feed less than 5-6 litres to a calf without starving them? It's handy feeding tbh. They'll drink double it ad lib and, believe it or not, it pays to give it to them.

Yes, will the jacked calf affect the cow's yield.

Mooooo

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Just to back my theory up about feeding calves.
Total milk drank isn't any more plus the hassle of having them about for 4-5 weeks.
And all would be easy calved, no assistance or jack used.

What age and where were they sold?

Panch18

Castlekeeper wrote: »

I think he meant the strain of a hard calving on the cow.
How could you feed less than 5-6 litres to a calf without starving them? It's handy feeding tbh. They'll drink double it ad lib and, believe it or not, it pays to give it to them.

It wasn’t intentional to pulling calves I’ll tell you!! We hadn’t used the jack for about 5 years before this

It’s strange, we had this bull last year and no problem whatsoever. The cows are in good condition but nothing better than any other year

I should say the majority weren’t hard calvings as such, cows fine afterwards. But they just all needed a hand. Can’t make it out

The ai fr all calves without a hand

GrasstoMilk

Mooooo wrote: »

What age and where were they sold?

I find they're very prone to scour if on more than 6l.
If the calf market was more stable I might feed them more milk but tbh I couldnt see the return in the current market. FR Calves making nothing in marts atm.
I'm happy enough to have let the most of ours of for 20e at 14 days and put the milk in the tank

Mooooo

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

I find they're very prone to scour if on more than 6l.
If the calf market was more stable I might feed them more milk but tbh I couldnt see the return in the current market. FR Calves making nothing in marts atm.
I'm happy enough to have let the most of ours of for 20e at 14 days and put the milk in the tank

That's why I asked where. They may still only make the 20 euro at 6 weeks in bandon, not small calves either.

Castlekeeper

Mooooo wrote: »

What age and where were they sold?

Age should be in the pic, 2 1/2 to 3 odd weeks. Sold today in Abbeyfeale, same go in Kilmallock. Plenty €20 Fr valves too that would make 80 with a bit of feeding.
Look I know there's a certain type of Holstein you can do nothing with but for the average grass based man there's no advantage in breeding them. Saying that some of those calves dams would be off Kiwi X dams.

Castlekeeper

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

I find they're very prone to scour if on more than 6l.
If the calf market was more stable I might feed them more milk but tbh I couldnt see the return in the current market. FR Calves making nothing in marts atm.
I'm happy enough to have let the most of ours of for 20e at 14 days and put the milk in the tank

If an extra €12-15 of milk to the calf pays me back €60-120 while giving me an easier life and better job satisfaction, I'm happier to do that.
Nutritional scour shouldn't be a problem with acidified milk, once they're drinking from nipples.
The reason HoFr calves are making nothing is a combination of breeding and feeding.
Now if everyone had good calves they might not be as dear you might say, but we're a long way from that, and getting further day by day.

Mooooo

Castlekeeper wrote: »

If an extra €12-15 of milk to the calf pays me back €60-120 while giving me an easier life and better job satisfaction, I'm happier to do that.
Nutritional scour shouldn't be a problem with acidified milk, once they're drinking from nipples.
The reason HoFr calves are making nothing is a combination of breeding and feeding.
Now if everyone had good calves they might not be as dear you might say, but we're a long way from that, and getting further day by day.

Fair enough. My calves weren't that small and at 5 weeks. Would be interesting if you took your fr down to bandon how they'd do

mahoney_j

2/4 week old calves out of yard 80 bucks nothing spared beastings for 3 feeds transition milk for 3 feeds then onto powder .vaccinated for pneumonia with bovipast .regular buyer

alps

Massive increase in capacity now on line in Cherbourg....can handle close on 17000 calves per week and the weather is settling so most lorries will get away. Will keep a strong sound price under calves..

Castlekeeper

Mooooo wrote: »

Fair enough. My calves weren't that small and at 5 weeks. Would be interesting if you took your fr down to bandon how they'd do

Mine were Nr x off Fr and vice versa, a bit more power than the pure HoFr. The ting is though that yours drank as much or more milk than mine, except that you'd to mind them for a fortnight longer, so even if I got the same price as you I'd be better off.
It's like if you'd only a 100 bales for young cattle for the winter, would you be better off feeding them ad lib for 2 months and selling then or stretching them out over 4 months and then selling? I know which I'd rather buy.

Bandon is no better or worse than Kilmallock for numbers and quality or lack of. Abbeyfeale is a different story to be fair, traditionally small poor dairy farm's where the price of stock matters .

Mooooo

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Mine were Nr x off Fr and vice versa, a bit more power than the pure HoFr. The ting is though that yours drank as much or more milk than mine, except that you'd to mind them for a fortnight longer, so even if I got the same price as you I'd be better off.
It's like if you'd only a 100 bales for young cattle for the winter, would you be better off feeding them ad lib for 2 months and selling then or stretching them out over 4 months and then selling? I know which I'd rather buy.

Bandon is no better or worse than Kilmallock for numbers and quality or lack of. Abbeyfeale is a different story to be fair, traditionally small poor dairy farm's where the price of stock matters .

Two in the batch I sent were off fleckveih cross. They prob averaged 7 litres of milk a day. Sure have some smaller cow's but also have cow's over 700kg mature weight as weighed last year

visatorro

mahoney_j wrote:

2/4 week old calves out of yard 80 bucks nothing spared beastings for 3 feeds transition milk for 3 feeds then onto powder .vaccinated for pneumonia with bovipast .regular buyer

Good price but the ground work is put In with regular buyer. If you brought them to a mart it's hard to know what you'd get. Couple of regular lads took calves off me. 20-80

mahoney_j

visatorro wrote: »

Good price but the ground work is put In with regular buyer. If you brought them to a mart it's hard to know what you'd get. Couple of regular lads took calves off me. 20-80

I’d avoid mart at all costs with fr bulls ,fins lads that buy them to finish them prefer to buy in yard .i will go to mart from early April with last of Hereford calves ,always sell well that time of year

Buford T. Justice XIX

mahoney_j wrote: »

I’d avoid mart at all costs with fr bulls ,fins lads that buy them to finish them prefer to buy in yard .i will go to mart from early April with last of Hereford calves ,always sell well that time of year

Just sold all the bulls left over 3 weeks old here from the yard, E85 for a mixed bunch. Buyer reckons there's going to be lockdown in the next week or 10 days.

Bass Reeves

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Just sold all the bulls left over 3 weeks old here from the yard, E85 for a mixed bunch. Buyer reckons there's going to be lockdown in the next week or 10 days.

Its similar tp pubs the only reason there will be a lockdown is if lads behave stupidly. Dealers in marts will expect taht they are allowed access all the time. They will expect that they can still be 40-50 of them squeezed in around the ring. Business can continue if lads do what they are told.First order of business at any mart is nobody around the ring everybody up on the steps or on the seats. Next if you are not buying no need to be there.To faculiate this marts should publish all mart prices not just the higher prices.

Biggest problem will be putting manners on dealers and make them obey the rules. The other thing is for farmers who want to sell cattle to sell them im lots rather than as singes. This should especially apply to cull cows. If lads have more than one put them in togeather

Castlekeeper

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Its similar tp pubs the only reason there will be a lockdown is if lads behave stupidly. Dealers in marts will expect taht they are allowed access all the time. They will expect that they can still be 40-50 of them squeezed in around the ring. Business can continue if lads do what they are told.First order of business at any mart is nobody around the ring everybody up on the steps or on the seats. Next if you are not buying no need to be there.To faculiate this marts should publish all mart prices not just the higher prices.

Biggest problem will be putting manners on dealers and make them obey the rules. The other thing is for farmers who want to sell cattle to sell them im lots rather than as singes. This should especially apply to cull cows. If lads have more than one put them in togeather

Given the craic I saw in Abbeyfeale on Saturday they'll have to close down, people have just no cop on at all. The ring was wedged, including vulnerable people! People in groups and huddles chatting like no tomorrow, not a sign of hand sanitiser. I just walked around, said as gew hellis as possible, and went out to the car while I was waiting. As it turned out I'd hardly any business there as the sellers box was closed off, and the calves did fine without me!

Castlekeeper

Mooooo wrote: »

Two in the batch I sent were off fleckveih cross. They prob averaged 7 litres of milk a day. Sure have some smaller cow's but also have cow's over 700kg mature weight as weighed last year

Would you think of doing a trial with a few, feeding them ad lib from birth, acidify the milk post colostrum, 2ad feeding would do fine, and seeing how they do in comparison at 3 weeks?
Good calves should clear a €100 even in a bad year like this.

Gawddawggonnit

Mooooo wrote: »

Fair enough. My calves weren't that small and at 5 weeks. Would be interesting if you took your fr down to bandon how they'd do

Calves need to be sold by weight and age.

Reading this thread is reminiscent of the straw thread. A 4x4 bale is never the same, you’ve got to weigh it to know!

I got between €3.5-€4.0 for a mix of Charolais, Belgian Blue and Limousin.
The Limos were €3.50...

Gawddawggonnit

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Would you think of doing a trial with a few, feeding them ad lib from birth, acidify the milk post colostrum, 2ad feeding would do fine, and seeing how they do in comparison at 3 weeks?
Good calves should clear a €100 even in a bad year like this.

From four days old we’d be giving 9-10L a day of new milk until 15days old. Onto the auto feeder then.

Cavanjack

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Calves need to be sold by weight and age.

Reading this thread is reminiscent of the straw thread. A 4x4 bale is never the same, you’ve got to weigh it to know!

I got between €3.5-€4.0 for a mix of Charolais, Belgian Blue and Limousin.
The Limos were €3.50...

What weight and age you selling them at?

Buford T. Justice XIX

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Given the craic I saw in Abbeyfeale on Saturday they'll have to close down, people have just no cop on at all. The ring was wedged, including vulnerable people! People in groups and huddles chatting like no tomorrow, not a sign of hand sanitiser. I just walked around, said as gew hellis as possible, and went out to the car while I was waiting. As it turned out I'd hardly any business there as the sellers box was closed off, and the calves did fine without me!

One of the lads on the sheep thread said marts closed tomorrow in his area.

Mooooo

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

One of the lads on the sheep thread said marts closed tomorrow in his area.

Heard tomorrow may be the last day in bandon for a bit

Bass Reeves

Mooooo wrote: »

Heard tomorrow may be the last day in bandon for a bit

It may or may not be but no matter what we have to get on with it.

Reggie.

Bass Reeves wrote: »

It may or may not be but no matter what we have to get on with it.

Well said

3 the square

Wouldn't keeping the marts open be as important as keeping the supermarket open not many farmers sell cattle to the factory wont the irish people run out of meat
As for calves dont our European friends relay on them like we relay on them for fruit and veg ??

Reggie.

3 the square wrote: »

Wouldn't keeping the marts open be as important as keeping the supermarket open not many farmers sell cattle to the factory wont the irish people run out of meat
As for calves dont our European friends relay on them like we relay on them for fruit and veg ??

Be up to agents to source cattle then. Could get details from marts

Buford T. Justice XIX

Mooooo wrote: »

Heard tomorrow may be the last day in bandon for a bit

https://twitter.com/CorkMarts/status/1239303620962721792?s=19

Buford T. Justice XIX

And at the other end of the country...
https://twitter.com/farmersjournal/status/1239325333293318145?s=19

Gawddawggonnit

Cavanjack wrote: »

What weight and age you selling them at?

There’s no sale for calves from January to May. The only reason I got to sell a few is fear of disruption of livestock transport.

Normally we try and sell at 15days, but often keep them until 30days to put a back on them. The weight varies from 70kg to 45kg at birth. Twins would be lighter.

whelan2

8 friesian bulls 40 euro. Glad they are gone

Timmaay

Praise the Lord clear of tb finally. Got 100 off calves knocking about the place here, mix of everything from good HEs and BBs to jex bull calves, what's my best bet for them?

Mooooo

Timmaay wrote: »

Praise the Lord clear of tb finally. Got 100 off calves knocking about the place here, mix of everything from good HEs and BBs to jex bull calves, what's my best bet for them?

Out the gap whatever way you can and think no more about them.

patsy_mccabe

Timmaay wrote: »

Praise the Lord clear of tb finally. Got 100 off calves knocking about the place here, mix of everything from good HEs and BBs to jex bull calves, what's my best bet for them?

Don't give them away. Mart is the right job. You'll get their value there.

Panch18

whelan2 wrote: »

8 friesian bulls 40 euro. Glad they are gone

At home or mart?

You're lucky to be rid of them the way thing are going

Panch18

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Don't give them away. Mart is the right job. You'll get their value there.

Timmay you'll need to act fast if you are going to sell them

A nationwide lockdown is rapidly approaching and i would say that marts will be closed following that

whelan2

Panch18 wrote: »

At home or mart?

You're lucky to be rid of them the way thing are going

Dealer took them. Will take more next week.

K.G.

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Don't give them away. Mart is the right job. You'll get their value there.

Thats debatable now .heard today you have to sign a.form now to say thats it you take the price for.calves .second hand news so i could be wrong

Reggie.

Panch18 wrote: »

Timmay you'll need to act fast if you are going to sell them

A nationwide lockdown is rapidly approaching and i would say that marts will be closed following that

What's your definition of a national lockdown

Panch18

Reggie. wrote: »

What's your definition of a national lockdown

Similar to what they have in France

Reggie.

Panch18 wrote: »

Similar to what they have in France

Which is?