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Callao, Missouri | I did just what you are describing up until a few years ago. At that time, I was buying calves into a bull market, so not only did I profit from the gain of the calves, but also the changing market conditions. So it was pretty good pay then. It doesn't look to be so easy now, but if you are doing this on a contract basis, then it probably won't matter until the checks stop showing up.
I always said that the biggest difference between a 400# calf and a 300# calf was that the 400# knew how to eat, the 3 weight just knows how to bawl. This is what will seperate those who profit from the business from those who get burned. You have to be mindful of a lot of extremely small details, almost to the point of appearing crazy to someone who backgrounds heavier cattle.
Things that I noticed:
Calves bawl if not weaned. I made sure that they could not see/hear any other cattle while they were being weaned. They had no one to cry to, so they simply shut up. This only works in groups of about 15 or less, but I always made a point to not buy more than that at a time anyway.
Calves don't like to eat alone/at the end of the bunk. This always bugged me, they would crowd in the center, and push the little/weaker guy out or down to the end. My solution was to make round bunks, so everyone felt secure while eating.
Commercial feed kills. Every feed dealer has a miracle calf ration, but none of them work in this situation. The feed will be too dry/dusty, too fine/too coarse, and too expensive. I made my own hand mix each morning by using dry molasses, soy hulls/corn gluten, corn, lots of A,D, and E vitamin mix, and Aureomycine mix. I mixed this all together and then added water until it was no longer dusty. It is the dust from the feed and the lot that will kick those respiratory diseases into high gear. Calf feed needs to be moist. This also keeps them from chasing feed side to side down the bunk.
Conventional cattle feeding equipment like creep feeders, cable bunks, even automatic waterers did not work for the initial receiving period. When I used creep feeders, I couldnt always tell who was sick, because I couldn't observe them eating. Cable bunks spooked the calves and some liked to climb through it anyway. And the automatic waterer would make noise as it refilled while the calf drank, this scared the calf away. It was also difficult to properly dose corid for coccidiosis with the automatic waterer.
I gave them shots the day after I got them. When I brought them home, I'd let them stay on the trailer until I put hay or fresh forage in the bunk, and feed on top of that. I would also fill the water tub. Then I would let them out into the pen, which was pretty small so they didn't seperate themselves from the rest or run the fence. They would eat, and I would watch. I felt that first meal was the most important thing that I could do for calf health. If someone wasn't eating, they would probably get pulled immediately to be dosed with baytril, b-vitamins, and banamine. Also, never underestimate the value of FRESH forage. That calf more than likely won't have a clue what feed is, but will immediately pick up anything fresh and green. I used turnips during the winter, grass in the spring, maybe some sudan grass in the summer/fall. It didn't take much, just enough to peak their interest. I always thought that one day I'd design a moving recieving pen so that each bunch would get fresh grass when they come in.
I didn't mean to write a book, I just wanted to make sure that you knew it's a good business to be in if you don't mind paying attention to the details. My last year was 2004, because I went off to college then. I would like to start again, but the high prices discourage me. I bought a bunch of cows instead.
If you are contracting for this, be a stickler about where these cattle come from. Cattle coming from 200 miles away and 4 different sale barns are almost dead on arrival. Cattle that come fresh off the cow from the guy down the road needing grocery money stand a lot better chance of making YOU money. When I worked at a sale barn, I was constantly amazed at how the traders would put together a bunch of peewees over a couple of weeks and then the buyers would bid them up because there was already a group together. I pity the guy thats writing the check for those cattle.
Scott
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backgrounding beef calves
