Dry lotting cows

[cowwrangler]

i have a seminar coming up on dry lotting beef cows,was wondering if anyone has ever done this?i was wondering how it would work with broken mouths? i could get some pushoff feed from the daries during the summer,cornsilage and ground straw,add some ddg,creep the calfs,wean early ,push the cows hard and sell to kill? would be no breeding expenses. pasture is getting hard to get here so thought this might be a way to expand,granted they will have to be good broken mouths for this,any thoughts??

 

[Jeannie]

Hi!

We've dry-lotted cows for a few months, and we've dry-lotted them for the entire winter. Biggest problem - aside from calving them out - was the lots got really nasty, pretty fast. It is not the type of environment you really want unless you have no other choice. As far as the broken mouth part, I can't help you with that - sorry.

 

[alabama]

The cheapest way to feed cows is to let them harvest the forage. If a coes lawn mower is broke she needs to take a ride to town.

 

[Andy]

I have drylotted a lot of cows and done it in about every season. Back when corn and Distillers grain was cheap I could feed a cow cheaper than running on grass. The best way to feed a cow is to also have them on some pasture or crop residue if at all possible. If you are going to buy them now I would keep them out of the lot you are going to calve in as long as possible. Then get then out on pasture early and keep feeding them out there until you can get them on some small grain stubble in July and wean the calves. I don't know if it will make a profit or not but I know that it can work very well for some people.

 

[Jeannie]

The cheapest way to feed cows is to let them harvest the forage. If a coes lawn mower is broke she needs to take a ride to town.

That only works if there is something for the "lawn mower" to eat. It seems to me like you missed the most important part of the original post.

 

[cedardell]

In case you haven't noticed feed costs have skyrocketed and cow prices have plumeted. So have calf prices. If you are truly going to drylot them all the way through I'd contract all your feed costs and hedge the calves. Then figure your costs. Only problem is you'd better have a good calving percentage, so a lot depends on your skill as a cattleman to determin if cows are all with calf and at what stage. Then you need to be able to save them all. With increased costs and a volitle market the chances for a loss are pretty good if you don't do it right. Need to buy the cows right too. If you do this and it works out could you please post results? Would like to know how it works out.

 

[cowwrangler]

In case you haven't noticed feed costs have skyrocketed and cow prices have plumeted. So have calf prices. If you are truly going to drylot them all the way through I'd contract all your feed costs and hedge the calves. Then figure your costs. Only problem is you'd better have a good calving percentage, so a lot depends on your skill as a cattleman to determin if cows are all with calf and at what stage. Then you need to be able to save them all. With increased costs and a volitle market the chances for a loss are pretty good if you don't do it right. Need to buy the cows right too. If you do this and it works out could you please post results? Would like to know how it works out.

yes i know this,thats why i am asking if anyone has done it,they are have a seminar on it so i thought i would see if anyone has done it,i can get pushoff feed from a dairy 4 miles away,just have to haul it,so that would lower my costs if i did it,they have trouble getting rid of it in the summer,i get some of it during the winter which helps offsets costs,but so does some of the other neighbors,so during the summer months i would have more,they give this feed away,if no one wants it they haul it out for manure,i was thinking maybe later bred cows ,then they would calf after the spring rains are mostly over,but dust can also be a problem, they have the seminar so someone must have done this,so thats why i was asking,not sure if i will or not,thought maybe the folks here could give some insight :???: