Cow cuties

I purchased a few calves at the auction; here's a couple of them.  They're beef calves, about 300lbs.  The little whitefaced one is not at all tame, in fact, its a little wild.   Which I actually prefer.   She'll keep her distance, usually 15' or so minimum, and that's pretty nice for me.  I don't have to worry about her stepping on my feed or knocking me out with her big hard head by accident. 

I chose this particular calf because... well, I like herefords.  A good british beef breed that should make for good eating in a few years. 

The little black one was in the same lot, and is about the same age, and every cow needs a buddy, so I took her, too.  She's solid black, maybe an angus or angus cross.  Her funny expression here is because she's chewing her cud, with her eyes half open as she does so. 

This is a little red steer that I got off craigslist for $175.  About 300lbs; can't figure out what it is.  Maybe red angus?  Maybe jersey cross?  Dunno.  I'll have a few years to figure it out. 

Another cow I picked up off craigslist is the black one in the background.  About 600lbs, seems in fair shape, $200. 

If you can over-winter animals you can often buy them in the fall for very low prices; $200 for a 600lb young cow is a pretty good deal, even if you just immediately eat her.  That's $0.30/lb live weight.  At the auction that same cow would probably fetch $0.90 - $1.10/lb, but the fellow who was selling her didn't have a trailer, so couldn't get the cow to market. 

The low prices for pigs means that I don't sell many of them right now; I'd rather keep them and finish them for sale next year than sell at this low price in the season.