Raising a few cattle quite often seems like a very quaint idea. Cows are generally quiet, calm, and gentle creatures. Cows are also very productive: they provide milk, meat, and for the industrious, leather and other byproducts. Aside from their products, they present a wonderful opportunity to develop such skills as: animal husbandry, personal responsibility, planning, accounting, attention to detail, and overall, the value of hard work.
Cattle are large animals that require quite a lot of resources, infrastructure, time, and attention. They are curious, tend to get into mischief, are endlessly frustrating, yet ultimately immensely rewarding to raise. Let’s examine some of the things to consider when deciding whether or not to “get into” cows.
As with all animals, cattle have the basic needs of: Nutrition, Shelter, and Space. Each of these general needs present varied and complex problems to the farmer. Many questions immediately spring to mind, the first of which is, what kind of cows do I want? For nutrition we need to solve the problems of what and how much do cows eat, how much water does one cow drink in a day, and then we need to figure out how do to deliver those things to the cows.
Cows need a place to stay, so what kind of barn or shelter is best, consequently, they’ll need some sort of bedding so what is suitable and how much of it will they need? Do their needs change through the year? How much space do they need? How do we get the cows into their pasture or barn and most importantly, how do we keep them there?
What kind of health issues are common and how do I deal with them? What equipment do I need? Finally, how much time and money will I need to invest?
In this series, we will do our best to answer all of these questions, and more, as we begin our journey as small acreage homesteaders aspiring to become full-time ranchers.