High dollar generating cows

[justintime]

A visitor was telling me about another breeder who had a cow that had produced about $180,000 in progeny and that she was old and not producing anymore. He said that this breeder was going to send her to market, as she was no longer producing for him. The guy telling me this story thought it was simply awful that anyone would ship a cow that had been so important and he said she should be able to live out her life and be buried on the farm. I can see both sides of this discussion and I was wondering what everyone else thought about this. Personally, I have done both. I have shipped a couple cows that have been big money makers for me, and I also have a couple cows here right now that I will just let enjoy their last few years and I may just bury them her when the time comes.
What does everyone else think about this?

 

[sizzler14]

for me it really depends on the cow and if you have the resources to allow her to stick around. My first show heifer produced some heifers for me that went on to be big time. she now holds a pregnacy for a few months and then slips it. eventually she will take and have a calf at some point in time. but  being my first show heifer she is a big baby. i take my two year old son out and he pets her and gets on her back and when it comes to getting cows in to vaccinate or cidr i put a halter on her and all the cows follow her right into the pen, and when something is in heat she will ride them every single time. for me there is no price on that and i feel she earns her keep that way.

on the flip side, i have a half sister to her thats a complete bitch and the day she stops producing anywhere remotely, she is down the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she actaully has thrown my 2nd best heifer that ive ever raised and we sold for for some really good money, but i will have no problem getting ride of her!

a lot of people will say get rid of them because you're losing money and i understand that part. but if they're that good and you can IVF them, or theyre like your pet and can somehow serve a purpose every now and then ill show i have a little heart and say i understand while theyre still around

 

[bim1986]

Cattle like that become like family a kin to a having a pet.  Call me a softy, but I leave them out to pasture.

 

[RyanChandler]

Im a big softy when it comes to that too--  I've only changed my outlook recently as old broke mouth cows don't tend to hold up very well around my place.  I think shippin them sits a little easier w/ me now as opposed to watching them gradually starve out.

 

[Barry Farms]

For me it depends on disposition. There is a cow that is the widest female we own, stoutest, really square etc. in the cull cow lot right now because of attitude. She reminds me of the slick shear steers in the south (minus disposition) but she is just a commercial angus and REALLY stout for being that. In the same way I will probably never sell Uno (this years show heifer) because there is always grass at home for her. She also has a super disposition. Her mother too.

 

[cowboy_nyk]

I ship them regardless.  I can't stand to watch them deteriorate.  To me that's more painful than letting them go.

 

[jaimiediamond]

This topic is very relevant for me right now as my sister and I have been debating about my old 4-H heifer (15 rising 16) who has started to lose her teeth.  She is currently raising one of the best calves on the place but for the first year she did not start gaining weight after winter. 

My sentimental self could not even fathom getting rid of the old girl in the fall so in order to keep her healthy I formed the "old ladies club" where a couple of the old girls get a little supplementation a lot of which is just maintenance extruded feed.  So basically not pushing grain to them just providing a different form of feed easier to process.  My cow will be the only long term member of the club as she owes me nothing and gives me a large amount of joy.  The cost of helping me helping her out is minimal considering the maximum profits she has provided over the years.  This will likely be the only female I will work so hard to have around but she has been a cow of a lifetime.

 

[BTDT]

I have kept some, and shipped some. I will not let them suffer and will put them out of their misery when it reaches that point. 
I understand some people are not in that position, and that is ok.  But I can afford to keep a few free loaders around, and as long as I can pay my bills, I will. 

 

[Lucky_P]

They leave here - but if they're a well-liked old granny who's done a good job, rather than sending 'em to the local salebarn where the cretins working the pens and ring whale on her with sticks and yell at her, we just haul her directly to the local custom processor and have her ground into hamburger and donate it to the local Salvation Army soup kitchen.
Minimal distress to the old gal, somebody needy benefits, and she's no longer consuming grass/feed that a productive cow can use - and I get a charitable-donation tax credit.

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

I kept my first show heifer for many years as a pet. She never had a calf because she never cycled. The vet said she had a very small reproductive tract. She was a big ol' fat cow. My daughter and my niece and nephew all rode on her back. She was by far the gentlest animal I've ever been around. Everyone loved her! I always figured she'd die on our farm. Last winter, however, she started getting weak in her hind legs. She was not getting around well and all she ever did was rest by the creek all day and would occasionally make it to the hay ring to eat. It was hard to see her like that. I got her up and fed her feed for a month. Last January we took her in to the local butcher shop and sold her on the rail. I was sorry to have to do that but she wasn't getting around well at all and it was hard to see her like that. She had a very happy life and was really well taken care of. She dressed out at 808 pounds. I believe when an animal is in pain the most humane thing to do is put them out of their misery.

She was a wonderful cow and I will never forget her. Because of her I started loving cattle.

 

[Limiman12]

My first purebred show heifer got to die on the place, I had actually said I would tan her hide but that didn't work out.  She was a lead cow and you could put the halt on her and other cows would follow....  Much like the cow mentioned above.  She raised a great son that changed our herd and left me many good daughters and granddaughters......  We still have cows that look an awful lot like her and they could be no more then great grand daughters......

Likewise we bought an six year old fomer show bull, was gold medal pure bred lim bull for central region or something like that....  He broke the tip of his penis on the third cow he tried to breed....  We kept him around because he was a puppy dog, helped move heifers by leading ing him and was awesome to get anything back in cause he would heller at them as soon. We led him near and they would fall in line behind him.... was a great gomer bull, and is he happened to get one stuck, so be it, he was as good as what we were breeding the cow too, in fact we AI Ed a lot to him while he was the gomer.....  The biggest reason he stayed around for so long was because my daughter was the when we got him, he made her fall iN love with cattle, and for that Stocktrader will always have a special place in our hearts.  We promised his previous owner he would have a good home and he did for three and a half years before it got to where he was having a hard time getting up on cold days.....  We ended up shipping him because we couldn't stand to to see him moving around so slow....  He paid out about 2200 by the pound and was described on the market report on the radio as "one outstanding Limousin bull brought 1.06".  I smiled when I heard it, but fought back tears as well.....