Thinking about getting some beef cattle

[banelson26]

First off - I don't know anything about keeping cows, so please excuse my ignorance:)

I've never had cows, just horses, but my senior horse is on her way out in the next couple of years, and I'm thinking about a cow or two as companions for my other horse. Ideally, I'd like to be able to keep this cow(s) for a year or two and then slaughter it for beef for my family and friends. I don't really want to get into breeding or bottle feeding calves at this point - I would just like to buy a young cow or two and raise them to slaughtering age. Is this an unrealistic idea? I'm not looking to make a profit - just hopefully raise my own beef without it costing an arm and a leg!

Also, I live in northern MN, so I would need to feed hay out during the winter - assuming I would feed good quality hay (same as my horse would get), what would be a good estimate of how much hay per cow/per day? I have roughly 4 acres of pasture for summertime.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[leanin' H]

Find somebody raising beef near you and go pick thier brain. I could give you general ideas but our climates are so different it may lead you astray! Welcome to the board and good luck!

[Ben H]

The cows would probably average about 2.5% of their body weight per day in feed. This is on a dry matter basis, a 40 lb bale at 85% dry matter would be 34 lbs per day. Make sure you always convert everything to dry matter basis when figuring your feed stuff.

Amazon has several books to help get you started. Most of the feed stores around me have them as well.

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Maybe talk to other ranchers in your area...or the extension agent. On how many acres it takes to run one cow/steer on. Around here it's 3 acres per head. So with only 4 acres and a horse....you might be lookin at feedin hay more than just thru the winter. But like previously stated....your climate/pasture/etc is different than other area's.