Right, that's what my parents use to do in my old country with dairy cows (only). But here I met lots of folks that ***believe*** in allowing a calf to suckle for about 2 or more weeks. I did some research, and here are two very insightful articles - well-balanced, in my opinion. So, I decided to ask here to check out what is the prevalent practice here, in the US. We aspire to use eco-friendly or organic practices, but it seems crazy to allow calves to suckle. At least we could NOT do it as the cow would start reserving milk for her calf and we could not get much. I think it makes perfect sense with Highland or other meat breeds, but does not make sense to me with dairy cows. Here are the articles I mentioned. http://oacc.info/Docs/AnimalWelfare/AWTF/Dairy_calves.pdf http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/outreach-extension/uploaded_files/4-h-files/files/beef-handouts/feeding%20bucket%20calf.pdf Oregonwoodsmoke, thanks for your input!

I think you should be able to post anything you want...as long as it in some way relates to the forum heading. I don't live on a farm, or even in the country..so I don't feel it is appropriate to post very often, but I do occasionally. I like to read everyday though. Someday I would like to own a hobby farm. I will never own, nor do I want to, a large commercial enterprise. And would fall in the category of animals for pets/entertainment. I don't have anything against owning cattle, etc. I eat steaks and burgers, but know myself well enough to know I couldn't handle butchering, as hypocritical as that may seem. I love hearing about chickens and horses, and llamas and pigs. I might not ever own or be around some of these critters...but I am another suburbanite learning every day from you nice folks. Ignore the occasional trouble maker and keep us updated on your lives and experiences! Duane

I have not read the rest of this thread, just this most recent post, but I got 1/4 beef last week. The cow was apparently on the smaller side, at 610 pounds, so we paid our price per pound based on 1/4 of this total weight, so our portion was 152.5 pounds. We buy through a small local store, so our price per pound includes cut and wrap and everything in one number. We have 36, one pound packs of ground beef, about 18 pounds of stew, stir fry and cubed steaks, 10 pounds of steaks (we opted for rib roast for Christmas rather than rib steaks, and we chose to have more other roasts than steaks, so our steaks are NY strip, top sirloin, tenderloin and tri-tip), about 30 pounds of roasts and 6 pounds of "soup bones". I told them I wanted a share of the organs, they just left it for me to work out with the store, I think it depends what the other buyers want, but you should be entitled to a share of the organs. I'm not sure why, and we didn't get this before, but they also packaged about 25 pounds of bones and 18 pounds of "beef scrap". I have not gotten these when we've gotten beef before, even last year through this same place. Maybe it's because we discussed the organs being for the dogs (though I declined "dog bones" ) but I wanted soup bones, I really don't know. I'm going to thaw a pack of the scrap and see if it's feasible to cook that for the dogs, but I may also share it with my neighbor who hopes to have a deer to process this fall. Anyway, I just had to throw in that last part because all of this, including the 43 pounds of stuff we've not gotten before, fit in 3 cardboard boxes. Heavy boxes, but still will fit in the car with no problem. I think without the extras, it would have been pretty close to fitting in just 2 boxes.

I was worried about foxes and cats, but they really do not hunt them. As I did research, I found that foxes don't want anything that fights back. I had a 6 lb manx Kitty that looked like a little bunny and I worried and worried about her when I spotted my first fox here. One day, she was sleeping on a small deck in my back yard (no railings) and I saw the fox approaching from the forest behind the house. I watched to see what would happen, (I was in the house but near the door to the deck and her) believing I could save her if he looked like he might grab her. She saw him approach and raised her head, but did not move from her spot and did not appear alarmed. He saw her when she raised her head and they looked right at each other, while he just kept on walking around the house. She went right back to sleep! It appeared they had an agreement of some kind. Another time she was lounging under my chair in the garden, with me in it. The fox saw her (maybe a different one) and tried to figure out how to get to her without her seeing (he seemed to be ignoring me). She wasn't asleep but was rolling around on her back looking for tummy scratches. He was walking up from the side; she flopped over and saw him and shot out after him - he flew out of the yard with her in pursuit. She came back to her spot and he tried it again, and she took off after him again. He then took a very circuitous route around the house, avoiding the area she was in. After that I never worried and she lived to be 18. I also saw a fox chase the neighbor's young cat around my house. That worried me until I heard a big fuss and here they came back around with the kitty chasing the fox. So I don't think you have to worry about cats and foxes. It's the coyotes and owls that are the worry...and cougars if you have them nearby.