Melvin
Snot (Apparently his mother's name was Booger)
And Cocoa Puff
We bought four bull calves from a local dairy farmer this weekend. Cocoa Puff is 2 weeks old, Melvin and Harvey are 3 weeks old, and Snot is a month old. Cocoa Puff is the only one who is still on a bottle, the other three are drinking from pails. Our daughter thought it was hilarious that daddy was bringing them home in the back of the truck. She told him, "Oh daddy, you're just like mommy bringing home all those animals in your truck, she must be rubbing off." :) So sometimes as a farmer you have to improvise!!
The last couple of years, I have not kept a running list of how much it costs to raise a bull calf from when we bring them home to when we take them to butcher. This year I've started a spreadsheet. The milk replacer is leftover but we will need another bag but I'm not entirely sure what the current cost is. So currently, we have $100 into four bull calves.
Even the lil' one got in on the action!
Blessings,
Lisa
we raise our own beef and right now it is pretty expensive. But when it is all said and done it is still the best way to go. You know what you have in your meat and it works out to be cheaper by the pound than store bought. I want to encourage you to hang in there! You can also sell one after it is feed out and that should help you pay for some of the feed.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! This is our next adventure- we got our first dairy cow this weekend and hope to eat the calf if it's a boy. Thanks for sharing this at the HOmestead Barn Hop!
ReplyDeleteWe also raise our own beef, chickens, eggs, and pork. If I run out, I hate having to buy at the store. Actually about all we ever run out of is chicken but yuck! Hopefully this year we will put up enough to last. We have been looking for a milk cow and got a call about one this week. Maybe next week we will also have fresh milk. I love our life on the farm.
ReplyDeleteWe too, are hoping to go down this path. I will enjoy reading about your journey. We already raise chickens, pork, and have just ordered our first lamb.
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