Thomas - Storeys Guide to Raising Beef Cattle

STOREYS GUIDE TO RAISING BEEF CATTLE

Health Handling Breeding

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

Foreword by Baxter Black, DVM

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Rebekah Boyd-Owens, Sarah Guare, and Deborah Burns
Art direction and book design by Cynthia N. McFarland
Cover design by Kent Lew
Cover photograph by Lynn Stone
Text production by Erin Dawson

Photography by Heather Smith Thomas

Illustrations by Elayne Sears, except for Jeffrey Domm: 83, 90, 150;
Carl Kirkpatrick: 75; Elara Tanguy: 8485, 110, 168, 180, 186, 249, 266;
U.S. Beef Breeds Council: 37

Expert readers: Julius Ruechel and Dr. Ronald Skinner
Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

2009, 1998 by Heather Smith Thomas

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information, please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247.

Storey books are available for special premium and promotional uses and for customized editions. For further information, please call 1-800-793-9396.

Printed in the United States by Versa Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thomas, Heather Smith, 1944
[Guide to raising beef cattle]
Storeys guide to raising beef cattle / by Heather Smith Thomas ;
foreword by Baxter Black. [New ed.]
p. cm.
Originally published as: Guide to raising beef cattle, c1998.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60342-454-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-60342-455-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Beef cattle. I. Title.
SF207.T47 2009
636.213dc22
2009013688

This book is dedicated to my husband, Lynn, who has been my partner and helpmate during 42 years of raising beef cattle.

The first edition of this book was published in 1998. I wrote it to help stockmen (first-time cattle owners as well as old hands) deal with the various aspects of raising beef cattle. Much of the information in the original edition is still valid today, while other information has changed as our knowledge of certain subjects (certain diseases, for example) has expanded. Whether you are raising one steer or 500, this new and revised edition brings you the most up-to-date and helpful information on cattle breeding, health, and care.

My husband and I have spent a lifetime with cattle. We both grew up on ranches and have spent the past 43 years of our married life raising cattle together. On our ranch in central-eastern Idaho, we typically calve out about 170 beef cows each year. No matter how many years of experience we have, however, there is always more to learn. Even though weve had help from a number of veterinarians, university professors, textbooks, and other sources, our cattle have always been our best teachers. Much of what Ive written about here has been gleaned from working with our own herd, augmented by information gathered during 40-plus years of interviewing numerous breeders, beef cattle specialists, and researchers around the country for cattle-care articles in livestock publications. It is my hope that this book will be a helpful edition to your livestock library.

BY BAXTER BLACK, DVM

IF YOU WERE TO ASK A LIVESTOCK PERSON, How do I know where to stand when Im helpin drive a cow through the gate? his answer would probably be, Im not sure how to explain it its hard to put into words. Well, Heather Smith Thomas has tried. In this tome dedicated to raising cows she has attempted to explain where to stand, what to pull, when to quit, how to know, and why to bother.

It is a daunting task. I mean, the title is so simple: Storeys Guide to Raising Beef Cattle. Its sort of like A Guide to Building Your Own Trident Submarine. Heather has done a thorough job of sticking to the letter of her title. Were a novice, dude, tenderfoot, or urban cowboy to completely absorb the extensive contents of this book, he or she could probably qualify as a graduate teaching assistant at Agricultural A & M. He would have accomplished the equivalent of memorizing the Boeing 747 instruction manual without ever having seen an airplane. It wouldnt make you a pilot, but you could sure talk a good story.

However, if you were sitting in the cockpit and it was up to you to land the plane to save the day, your knowledge of the manual could be crucial. So, Storeys Guide to Raising Beef Cattle will be quite useful to those gentlemen farmers, male or female, with limited livestock experience but a desire to have some decorative but functional bovidae on their few acres. It will also be an excellent reference for those 4-H parents who need to answer questions like, Is their poop supposed to be this color?

The in-depth, practical coverage in laymans terms of disease, breeding, and nutrition should fill in some blanks for many others, including people with lots of cattle experience.

And for you trail-ride cowboys who are generally classified as All hat and no cows, this would be an excellent study guide so that the next time you go help your brother-in-law brand, youll know where to stand.

Heather keeps things simple and doesnt hesitate to drop pearls of wisdom, such as:

Purchase a calm animal

Never make a pet of a young bull

Leave your dogs at home

Be there for every birth

No strange smells in the barn

Dont wash your coat

In truth, I have never seen a book like this. Heathers attempt to explain the unexplainable is so successful that Im going to send a copy to Hank and Debbie, friends of mine, urban people who went back to the land to satisfy their primitive urge to farm. They have asked me too many questions in the past few months that I have had to answer with, Well, its hard to put into words.