Buying Cattle For a Cattle Ranch - 5 Steps

"Bdd bllaa bdd going once, bdddd blllaaa bdddd going twice, sold, to number 452!" This is the sound of an auction. An animal is brought out in front of a group of people sitting in the bleachers, who are looking to buy. The highest bid, wins. To have a cattle ranch, there must be cattle. Auctions are the best places to buy cattle in bunches.

There are some steps to take before and after cattle are purchased. I have 5 that I will share, that helped me out when I started my own cattle ranch.

1. Before the auction begins, inspect the cattle that are for sale. The stockyard allows future buyers to walk the holding pens. Each one is numbered and some are sold in bunches.

2. When bidding on cattle, have a list of the ones wanted. The list should have the number of steers, cows, and bulls wanted for the cattle ranch. An example, there is 2,000 acres so there's going to be around 150 head of cattle. Take 100 steers, 48 cows, and 2 bulls. Steers should be a year old (yearlings). Cows between 1-2 years old is best. Bulls, they are older, like 2-4 years old.

3. After the cattle are bought, the stockyard can transport all of the cattle for a fee. Having a trailer works well. But remember, hundreds were bought. Making trips sometimes cost the same as to having the stockyard deliver one load to the cattle ranch.

4. When the cattle are brought to the ranch, unload each one through the ramp. Separate the steers, cows, and bulls.

5. This is where tagging and branding is done. It will take 3-4 individuals to hold the animal down to give shots to fight disease and to brand each one. The brand is your own "mark", it tells other ranchers this animal belongs to you. The tagging is more for the cows. When the cattle are out to pasture, it's easy to find the cows to inspect for pregnancy.

Now the cattle are ready to be released to pasture. Let the grazing begin. The cattle ranch now has cattle!

To learn more on how to start a cattle ranch, follow along with my future articles.

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