Weaning Time
- Thread starter I Luv Herfrds
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I Luv Herfrds
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One ear got nosey with the camera
Daughters steer is in the center and the steer our friends son picked is to the left
PureCountry
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Great cattle make great pics. Looks like they're adjusting well
I Luv Herfrds
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Weaned on Sunday and all the bawling was done by Tuesday night. Starting them on hay a month before weaning helps.
WyomingRancher
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Calves look great. How do you like that mineral feeder?
I Luv Herfrds
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Don't care for it. We have had to weld them several times because of the cows and bulls breaking the top's off.
WyomingRancher
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Thanks for the advice.
I Luv Herfrds
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Denny we have 3 laying in a heap too. One has been welded by both hubby and our son several times. The pivot pin at the bottom is what keeps snapping.
I Luv Herfrds said:
I just noticed the neighbors laying there and they are useing an old lick barrel for a tub.I have blue 55 gallon plastic barrels hanging from tree branches for mineral useing old roller chain's salvage chain from cutting scrap iron etc for ours not much money invested and very little time.
Faster horses
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What we have found that works well is to use the feed troughs with aluminum frames. They are easy to drag from pasture to pasture and there
is plenty of room for the cattle to get to mineral and the bulls don't seem to
tip them over.
If you like the poly ones that turn with the wind, Vigortone makes some
really good ones. They have a bearing in the bottom and they last forever.
Some here are over 30 years old and still in use. Just a FWIW...
is plenty of room for the cattle to get to mineral and the bulls don't seem to
tip them over.
If you like the poly ones that turn with the wind, Vigortone makes some
really good ones. They have a bearing in the bottom and they last forever.
Some here are over 30 years old and still in use. Just a FWIW...
Hay Feeder
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The plastic one piece 10 ft bunks work well but when it rains there goes your mineral even the rain mineral. I like the SOUIX flat ground mineral feeders they have changed the top bolt on them . Some still use the blue plastic barrel from the tree and many people are buying the wooden feeder with roofs on them but they break off as well
nice to see a lot full of white face calves I have not seen Hereford calves for years all from one herd. REALLY not even at the markets
nice to see a lot full of white face calves I have not seen Hereford calves for years all from one herd. REALLY not even at the markets
Soapweed
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The calves look great, I Luv Herfrds. Your breed of choice is back in style.
On the subject of mineral feeders, those old plastic/rubber half-barrels work as well as anything. Some of the molasses companies used to merchandise their product in these durable re-usable containers, and I'd buy their product just to get the nice future salt-bunks. They have lasted for many years. Sadly, most companies now use rinky-dink plastic "disposable" containers that aren't reusable. Even if they could be used again, they don't work because they are tapered. The taper is fine for hard molasses, but with loose salt and mineral, if the container gets tipped it stays tipped and the valuable feed goes out on the ground.
Some molasses products come in steel barrels that are reusable. These require a deposit, which is given back after the barrels are returned. Being steel, they don't work good as salt bunks because salt rusts them out so fast.
There is one company that makes good feed, and it comes in a nice reusable rubber container. This is MLS (Midcontinent Livestock Supplies) distributed by Pharmco. I get my tub-type feed from GE Associates in Martin. Their product is as good or better than any other, and is preferred by me because of the container. There is a deposit required, but it is still a bargain price for a good substantial future salt bunk. They are made from rubber, but are stackable and reusable. I can put ten sacks of salt, ten sacks of mineral, and a stack of these nice tubs on my Ranger, and go tootin' out through the hills to take care of the cattle. Two sacks of salt and two sacks of mineral fit into each tub. Some of these tubs have a small hole in the bottom, but a little piece of duct tape neatly solves the problem.
Years ago, my cousin drew a cartoon of a pickup rambling through the hills with tire tracks making circles in the pasture. The caption read, "For a young rancher, happiness is finding the salt box full of water after a good summer rain. For an old rancher, happiness is finding the salt bunk."
On that note, after a lifetime of salt box observation, I have determined that the best location for salt and mineral is on a sandy spot near a water source. The cattle always come in to water, and there they will find their other nutritional requirements. Some people place their salt and mineral in off-the-beaten path locations where the livestock seldom find it. It becomes like an Easter egg hunt for both cattle and rancher to re-find it. When cattle do go to it, a sandy spot occurs. There is no use starting a blow-out on perfectly good sod. The "educated" theory is that cattle will then go to areas of the pasture where there is more grass. Trust me, if there is unused grass in a pasture, the cattle will find it all on their own. Put the salt where the grass is already beaten out, and don't start another spot.
On the subject of mineral feeders, those old plastic/rubber half-barrels work as well as anything. Some of the molasses companies used to merchandise their product in these durable re-usable containers, and I'd buy their product just to get the nice future salt-bunks. They have lasted for many years. Sadly, most companies now use rinky-dink plastic "disposable" containers that aren't reusable. Even if they could be used again, they don't work because they are tapered. The taper is fine for hard molasses, but with loose salt and mineral, if the container gets tipped it stays tipped and the valuable feed goes out on the ground.
Some molasses products come in steel barrels that are reusable. These require a deposit, which is given back after the barrels are returned. Being steel, they don't work good as salt bunks because salt rusts them out so fast.
There is one company that makes good feed, and it comes in a nice reusable rubber container. This is MLS (Midcontinent Livestock Supplies) distributed by Pharmco. I get my tub-type feed from GE Associates in Martin. Their product is as good or better than any other, and is preferred by me because of the container. There is a deposit required, but it is still a bargain price for a good substantial future salt bunk. They are made from rubber, but are stackable and reusable. I can put ten sacks of salt, ten sacks of mineral, and a stack of these nice tubs on my Ranger, and go tootin' out through the hills to take care of the cattle. Two sacks of salt and two sacks of mineral fit into each tub. Some of these tubs have a small hole in the bottom, but a little piece of duct tape neatly solves the problem.
Years ago, my cousin drew a cartoon of a pickup rambling through the hills with tire tracks making circles in the pasture. The caption read, "For a young rancher, happiness is finding the salt box full of water after a good summer rain. For an old rancher, happiness is finding the salt bunk."
On that note, after a lifetime of salt box observation, I have determined that the best location for salt and mineral is on a sandy spot near a water source. The cattle always come in to water, and there they will find their other nutritional requirements. Some people place their salt and mineral in off-the-beaten path locations where the livestock seldom find it. It becomes like an Easter egg hunt for both cattle and rancher to re-find it. When cattle do go to it, a sandy spot occurs. There is no use starting a blow-out on perfectly good sod. The "educated" theory is that cattle will then go to areas of the pasture where there is more grass. Trust me, if there is unused grass in a pasture, the cattle will find it all on their own. Put the salt where the grass is already beaten out, and don't start another spot.
Faster horses
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Hay Feeder said:
Where we are, it never rains enough for that to be a problem.
:wink: Honestly, rain doesn't hurt our brand of mineral. Cattle go right back
and eat it.
I Luv Herfrds
Well-known member
Thanks Soapweed!
We put our mineral feeder out by the stock tank in the summer pasture and near the south spring in the winter. The one in the summer pasture I found the metal base right where we had put it and the top was down the coulee almost to the fence line.
We put our mineral feeder out by the stock tank in the summer pasture and near the south spring in the winter. The one in the summer pasture I found the metal base right where we had put it and the top was down the coulee almost to the fence line.