Henry Rifle Forums

On Tuesday, Miss T loaded up the two calves and took them to the stockyard, pre-positioning them for the Wednesday auction. They had appointments at the butcher in April, but we didn't have room in either freezer and although they had been weaned for six months, every time they were let into the pasture with mom they ran her down and latched on. Tina would go to milk and the gauge would be on empty. Being a good mom, she never tried to stop them like most cows would after weaning. (They did fine at the auction.)

That evening, about two hours after dark, the other cow dropped a present. She had been due "Any Day" for a couple weeks. Tina went out with the flashlight to check on mom, and four eyes looked back at her. She said, "Jesus, that is one ugly little sucker." I named him Ug-Leigh."

The next morning when we could take some pics, she decided he wasn't so bad after all. Too bad, he has a name. I'll call him UG.


She was hoping for a heifer, but she'll keep him around for six months or so, as long as he is being hav. If not, he'll leave early and hit the auction block. We'll leave him a bull as they bring more under the hammer. We are down to just the two cows and the little bull. Hay out here has gotten outrageous, $150 to $200 per round bale. Some farmers have sold off entire herds.


Here is UG at one day old.

Good news for you, for sure. Congrats.

Ug-Leigh will look very pretty on the dinner table.

Thanks guys. He'll look pretty good on someone's dinner table. Not ours. Both freezers are full. We sold both calves we had been raising as beef cattle. We are intentionally leaving him intact. Bulls sell better at auction than steers. Six month old bulls will pull double what the steers do. The buyer can then decide down the road to keep them as a bull or later take him to the butcher.

How much do your round bales weigh? I paid $12 a 75# bale for some good grass hay for the goats last fall so around $300 a ton. Better than the $20 a bale the feed store wants which works out to over $500 a ton. I haven't had to buy any for several years as we had bought quite a bit right before we decided to thin the goat herd down to to two. We paid $7@bale and it's was pretty much the same hay as what I bought this year. Glad I have more than enough pasture to feed them Spring, Summer and Fall.

Round bales weigh between 1200 to 1500 pounds, and you have to have a decent size tractor to move them and to stack them higher than a single layer. We can move them with our Kubota L2501 but can't lift them high and have to move VERY slow as they are right at the edge of the weight limit.


In addition, you have to be very careful in buying hay from unknown sources. If you don't know the quality and the hay contains the wrong grasses or chemicals, it can make your animals very ill.

He is so ugly he’s cute.

Sir Henry wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:43 am

He is so ugly he’s cute.

I know the feeling.

He looks Ok to me.
Hay is always super expensive when you need it and cheap when you dont.
I made 50 bales just before Christmas, we go through about 60 most winters I was hoping to get another cut but it hasnt come away as well as I hoped. 100 ewes and lambs will be going into the paddock tomorrow. Still about 10 bales left from last year so should have enough for winter but I would be happy with a few more.

Boy, do I luv this forum. Where else can you talk about live stock, hay in Australia/US, and guns. Very diverse group we have here.