Most breeders prefer to host chickens rather than cattle on their farms because they are easier to handle. Compared to chickens, cattle are more prone to infections. The root cause is their dietary insufficiency.
Due to this, most breeders don’t wish to invest in cattle. However, if you look closely, the cattle business is highly profitable if you follow fair pricing. Thus, below are some things you must consider before buying cattle.
- Purpose
There are plenty of options available in the cattle market when you look around, such as horse, goat, ox, calves, & more. So, before investing, you must identify the reason behind it.
For example,
- If your requirement is milk production, then buy Holstein.
- If you want good quality beef, consider investing in Hereford cows & goats.
- In the USA, people buy a horse for recreational purposes such as showing, racing, and benefits like racing on a horse keep you fit. Plus, betting on a horse race is quite popular amongst wealthy people.
- Age
Boer goat is highly in demand due to its faster growth, and if you’re trying to invest in them, then you should hurry because, in the commercial market, the Boer goat gets slaughtered at the age of 6 to 9 months, and that’s why it is hard to find 3 to 5 months of Boer goat for sale.
- Breed quality
Inspecting the breed quality is highly advisable if you’re buying cattle because everyone is not an expert in this area.
The most common signs of poor cattle quality are split noses and smaller humps. Also, you might have noticed people saying that a Brahman cow with a pink nose looks beautiful and is rare. Yes, it’s rare because of the genetic defect.
So, it would be best if you had a trusted advisor or a seller who would show you all the possibilities while you buy cattle.
- Dietary requirements
It is not hard to predict the dietary requirements of cattle upon work. For example, when compared Hereford cow for sale require protein, water, carbohydrates, fats, fiber & minerals in the most incredible quantity & quality because it is a beef cattle.
Plus, grasses & legumes are also essential but again, they are seasonal, especially breeders let beef cattle graze on pastures because that improves their meat quality.
- Space
Space is again one of the essential factors to consider when buying cattle because the animal itself is enormous and bulky, so you can’t keep it in the cage-like chickens.
To compare, you can accommodate 5000 chickens on 0.375 acres of land.
In contrast, to accommodate 200 cows, you need at least 2-3 acres of land plus for fooder production of 2 cows 1-acre land is sufficient as already explained why is it essential for beef cows to graze on pastures.
- Expense
Cattle livestock are excellent options for earning huge returns because they are multipurpose.
For example, by can buy beef milk from the same cow, but the quality can differ. Yet, some people think that investing in cattle is expensive as they have low immunity plus requires enormous portions of feed.
However, if you have affordability, then you must buy cattle. An average cow price costs around $2000 to $5000 if they are matured, while the baby cows cost $800 to $1500.