Cows! Cows! I want some cows!

[TheCluckyClucker2]

Would artificial insemination be an option for you? It makes life so much easier as, being inexperienced, it's not the best idea to be dealing with a bull. Bulls eat a lot, which cuts into the number of heifers/cows you can have on your block of land and they are very hard on fencing. You also need to be careful of sexually transmitted diseases that bulls can pass to the cows, so any bull needs to be thoroughly tested before being purchased if you do want a bull. That's another reason that AI is easier as they are all screened for diseases so you know the straws you are getting are safe.

Heifers can get pregnant too young so any bull needs to be kept well away from the girls until they are at least a year old. If they become pregnant too young they often have terrible difficulty birthing the calf because they haven't grown big enough yet. It also stunts their growth, so best to wait until they are a year to 18 months old before getting them pregnant.

Beef cross breeds grow fast. You want to cross a Continental breed to a British breed for hybrid vigour. Their weaning weight will be heavier than a pure breed which means you get more money when you go to sell them.

Dairy/Beef cross heifers and cows are also an option as they make more milk and grow a calf faster than a pure beef breed will. We have two Dairy/Murray Grey cows. One is my housecow, but even with me taking milk every day her calf is huge. She had a heifer calf which I'm very happy about. She was AI'd with a Salers (pronouned Sa-lair) straw. Salers are an old French breed that grow well purely on pasture, and in studies Salers cross calves always have heavier weaning weights. They also produce a lot of milk for a beef breed and some are still milked in France for the specific purpose of making cheese.

Our Salers cross heifer calf will be kept as another future housecow so that I can have one having a spring calf and one an autumn calf, so we'll have milk all year round. She's got a fabulous personality and I love her to bits.

Electric fencing is a must with cattle. Our boundary is fenced with 7 strand wire but internally we move them around with electric tape fencing. If you do want permanent fencing you'll need a hotwire inside each fence to stop them leaning on and scratching on the fences which quickly wrecks them. Ideally you want to be moving them often and giving the grass they were on a good rest in between grazing. How fast your grass grows and the quality of it will dictate how many animals it can support. I'm in a different country but ours are out on pasture all year round. You'll also need yards for when you need to medicate them or give them vaccine boosters etc.

Have you got a dam or water source on the property? Cattle drink a lot of water, especially lactating cows.

Cows are lovely but ones that were hand raised are much easier to deal with than flighty wild ones (though you don't ever want a hand raised bull - they are downright dangerous). We've had both and only the nicest get to stay here because they have to be easy to handle on our small block. They all have different personalities and some are real snotty bullies, some have no interest in interacting with a human (even if they were hand raised) and some want to be your best friend. Some can be super protective of their calves so you have to be very aware of your own safety when working with cows who have calved, but if they trust you they are usually ok. But just always be aware of how much bigger and more powerful they are than you. They do need to respect you too and move out of your way when you tell them to (use your big voice and a stick if necessary).

Here's my precious baby who is 11 weeks old:
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And her mother:
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Thank you so much! You have some beautiful cows!