The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: SallyintNorth on May 21, 2017, 09:34:34 pm
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Me again. We've done some soul-searching and have decided to see if we can sell our four non-short Dexters, as it makes more sense now we are milking our Jersey to keep the dairy cattle rather than the beef - and trying to manage them as one unit isn't working.
We have Moonshine, born Feb 2009, a lovely cow, very quiet, eats from your hand, a good shape and an excellent breeder, who we would want to go to a breeding home.
Moonie's 2016 daughter Luna, who is looking like a chip off the old block.
Charlie, a 2015-born heifer, a nice shape and now coming bulling regularly, and her 2016-born half sister Flora. Flora is a nice little heifer, very friendly, but much smaller than Luna. Holly, their mother, was a nice cow, but not as quiet as Moonie (though she was tame enough and would also eat from your hand) and her offspring haven't grown as fast as Moonie's.
Moonie is in calf to the son of Luna's father, due August.
Moonie is registered, all the bulls used have been registered.
Moonie and Charlie are polled, Luna and Flora are horned.
We'd be okay about any of the others going for meat, now or in the future, but want a nice home for Moonie - she's too good and nice a cow for the pot yet. If someone wanted a small starter herd, Luna has the makings of a very good heifer, and Charlie would be ready to bull any time now.
We're in North Cornwall.
We are open to input on price, hence my posting here in Cattle at this stage.
Pics of Moonie, Luna with Moonie behind, Charlie, and Flora.
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We'd been thinking £500 for Moonie, £400 for Charlie, £275 for Luna, £250 for Flora. Do those sound about right? Don't want to sell them too cheap and have someone buy them as meat if they'd go (or some of them would go) to a breeding home if they were correctly priced.
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Sounds about right to me Sally.
As you probably realise, you'll always get people thinking they can get Dexters cheap as they fetch very little in the standard livestock markets. But they're ideal as starter cattle for smallholders and give a very commercially saleable calf when crossed with a larger breed.
I cross mine with my Hereford bull and have achieved nearly £900 for the male offspring in the fatstock market.
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Thanks very much for the validation, landroverroy. Better do a proper ad in Marketplace now, then!
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I may be interested in your girls to be keep together but can make no commitments until late September they would be some the foundation of our heard we aren't aiming big and they wip be our first animals.I have done calling disbudding general care of cattle moons ago at collage
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All sold
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Well done. :sunshine: Where did you find your buyers from in the end?
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Well done. :sunshine: Where did you find your buyers from in the end?
Across the valley! Lovely that they haven't gone far, and went as a breeding herd. He clearly thought a lot of our Moonie, too. :love:
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Brilliant SIN .. hope I can be as lucky