Cattle care??

[Wmwendler]

Breed is not so important, just find out what most people run in your area and thats a good place to start.  Although being tropical I'd say something with Brahman in it is a good way to go.  More important is functionality.  If you are wanting momma cows the most important thing in my opinion is to have a cow that is femenine.  Cows that look like bulls or steers are always culls in my opinion.  She should have a feminine head, wide hips with shoulders narrower than hips, lean muscle and not bulky like a bull.  3-5 cows on 36 acres should be good in a tropical inviroment (that is green almost year round i think?).  At that rate you should not have to feed them much.  Momma cows would be your best bet in my opinion but your only problem would be getting them bred you could barrow a bull or buy your own and run it on them year round.  But a good blooded bull will be expensive to buy 1500-2500$ is a fair price around here for a good but but it will be hard to keep him happy with only a few cows.  He might tearn into the neigbors to find some other cows.  You could buy an older bull that has lost his hussle but still has enough in him to cover a hand full of cows and would be cheaper.  All I can say is don't buy junk because having a sorry cow is worse than having a sorry dog.

As far as care goes.  All cattle really need is grass and water for basic survival.  A salt/mineral supliment is also very important to keep them in good health.  Regular deworming with Ivomec (for example) is also a good idea.  Vaccinating the calves when they are young for what ever viruses are common on the Islands is also something that needs to be done, because they will most likely get sic if you dont. A feed store employee should help you find out what is apropraite for that climate and what is most often used by others.  Also its best to wean the calves when the reach 6-8 months old or around 500-600 lbs or if they start to draw the momma cow down too much.  In your case weaning would most likely involve hualing them to a local auction.  You will also need some sort of pen to work them in for worming and vaccinations ect.  Most cows in Texas calve between Jan and April and the calves are weaned in the fall.  Thats just the basics.

Waylon

[BigAinaBuilt]

Thats very good info Waylon! Thank you!
 I am sorry guys my info on Parker Ranch was wrong, It is the 2nd biggest ranch in the U.S. at 225,000 acres after King Ranch in Texas at 825,000 acres!

[BigAinaBuilt]

I've got an uncle who has a few cattle and horses that I will give a call to and see what he tells me. I was trying leave him out of this but I believe I am at the point where I will just have to tighten my belt and see what he says!  Maybe I can talk him into leaving a few of his cows in my pasture and kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I really wanted to do my own thing but the deeper I look into this the more I think it would be smarter to start off with someone more experienced to help me out. The lease I am signing is quite a long term lease so I will more then likely get my own head in there at a later point. Thank you everyone for all the input and advice. I will keep everyone updated on how it goes! I am gonna be having dinner with the owner and his family tommorow night and I am pretty ready to get my name on it and start working it!

[Wmwendler]

Good deal......this topic stirred my intrest about Hawiaian ranching and I searched it and the Parker ranch.  From what I can tell they run mostly Hereford/ Angus cross cattle ("black baldies").  Also they have had cattle ranching there in Hawaii a long time which is very cool but they calimed to have cowboys longer than Texas   I'm not too sure about that one. lol.  I also found a ranch rodeo event that they do out there and would like to know what its called. Basically one man ropes a steer and pulls him through the fork of a big forked pole and snubs him up to the pole with a head rope like  you would snub one up to a tree.  If you know or could find out what thats called over there I would definately appreciate it.  I saw a video of that event on youtube and they said the name of it but I dont speak hawaian so I did'nt understant a bit of it. haha.

Waylon

[sfboarbuster]

Thats very good info Waylon! Thank you!
 I am sorry guys my info on Parker Ranch was wrong, It is the 2nd biggest ranch in the U.S. at 225,000 acres after King Ranch in Texas at 825,000 acres!

Not the 2nd either, Deseret Ranch in Fl is 300,000 acres.

[BigAinaBuilt]

Good deal......this topic stirred my intrest about Hawiaian ranching and I searched it and the Parker ranch.  From what I can tell they run mostly Hereford/ Angus cross cattle ("black baldies").  Also they have had cattle ranching there in Hawaii a long time which is very cool but they calimed to have cowboys longer than Texas   I'm not too sure about that one. lol.  I also found a ranch rodeo event that they do out there and would like to know what its called. Basically one man ropes a steer and pulls him through the fork of a big forked pole and snubs him up to the pole with a head rope like  you would snub one up to a tree.  If you know or could find out what thats called over there I would definately appreciate it.  I saw a video of that event on youtube and they said the name of it but I dont speak hawaian so I did'nt understant a bit of it. haha.

Waylon

Thats very good info Waylon! Thank you!
 I am sorry guys my info on Parker Ranch was wrong, It is the 2nd biggest ranch in the U.S. at 225,000 acres after King Ranch in Texas at 825,000 acres!

Not the 2nd either, Deseret Ranch in Fl is 300,000 acres.

Waylon if you could post the video or spell it for me so I could find it.

SFboarbuster- If I could own a quarter of Parker Ranch I would be happy!  But no I have to stick to leasing the lot I've got now! One day I will buy myself a lot!

[BigAinaBuilt]

Po’o Wai U
This event is found uniquely at Hawaiian Rodeos and has evolved from when cowboys would rope wild cattle in the mountains and tie them up so that they could continue to gather more cows and later lead them to their pasture. This event requires the contestant to rope a steer and get him to a Y shaped post (called an amana) placed in the middle of the arena. Once the steer is roped the cowboy pulls the animal close to the Y and he flips his rope into the Y, the steer is held tight to the Y by the horse and then the cowboy dismounts and ties the animal with another rope up close to the Y post. This is a timed event.

Po'o in Hawaiian means head and Wai would be water so my guess as far as translation would be water head?? I will ask my uncle tommorow when I see him and will get back if my translation is wrong or if I can get more better information from him.

[Wmwendler]

Thanks........Cowboys everywhere have done that for ages but, it is neat that they made it a rodeo event in hawaii.  If you tie a cow like that and they can stand there for a long time without being injured, compared to tying one down which is only good for a short while.

Waylon

[BigAinaBuilt]

My favorite event at the rodeos is Double mugging! I have tried it on a few occasions but am not near where a few of the ol timers are! They've got the technique down to a science and they make it look like the cow just rolls over for them! It definately is fun though to try!

[BigAinaBuilt]

Well guys I went through with it and got the lease and got bored today and decided I would make a quick cruise through with my one out Bull. We we're in alot of sign when I noticed a herd of goats settled down in a Kipuka (hole) with the matriarch nanny at her post I then noticed she startled and started blowing. We were definately upwind of her as I could smell the herd very strongly when I herd a puppy bark and from the hills behind it came a pack of wild dogs! Wild dogs are becoming a problem here in Hawaii as alot of guys are getting into hog hunting and using untrained dogs and leaving them. The herd of goats split and the dogs gave chase but never caught one as far as I kept an eye on them. I have 6 cows that are gonna be on this property come next week wednesday so I called up my uncle and let him know I had seen a few dogs chasing some goats and then called an old friend from the animal shelter and rented 3 traps to set up. So our quick trip got ruined but we got to see some excitement so it wasn't a total waste! I hope to get a few of these dogs caught and off the property. Todays pack looked like kelpie/Bulls (just a guess). My Pitbull is extremely anti social and would have loved to play but it happened so fast and unexpected that I kinda just stood there amazed as I watched (Kinda cheering for the dogs but then again not  ) I will be back up there tommoror to see if I can figure out where they're living at, According to the owner ther are no wild dogs on the property so I will bring a camera with me tommorow! 

[sfboarbuster]

Are you allowed to shoot the dogs?

[BigAinaBuilt]

That was my first thought Sfboarbuster! I believe I am but am not to sure on the specifics.

[wcg89]

Thats very good info Waylon! Thank you!
 I am sorry guys my info on Parker Ranch was wrong, It is the 2nd biggest ranch in the U.S. at 225,000 acres after King Ranch in Texas at 825,000 acres!

Not the 2nd either, Deseret Ranch in Fl is 300,000 acres.

Waggoner Ranch is 535,000 acres and four sixes is 300,000+

[BigAinaBuilt]

Thats very good info Waylon! Thank you!
 I am sorry guys my info on Parker Ranch was wrong, It is the 2nd biggest ranch in the U.S. at 225,000 acres after King Ranch in Texas at 825,000 acres!

Not the 2nd either, Deseret Ranch in Fl is 300,000 acres.

Waggoner Ranch is 535,000 acres and four sixes is 300,000+

  Don't let Parker Ranch find this out! Their claim to being the biggest has brought them alot of money over the years!! Really though thanks for the information guys, I always thought it was the biggest but I guess it isn't even close!

[BigAinaBuilt]

While I am on this thread!

Update on the dogs: I ended back up there to get my dogs after the tsunami scare so figured I would check traps and let the dogs go for a quick run. I ended up catching 3 dogs in the traps and from what I saw the other day have 3 and 2 puppies left roaming so I set back up the traps and hope to have them off the property soon! I haven't been able to run the whole  property yet as I have been dealing with these dogs but I will be up there pretty often for the next coupe weeks. As far as shooting the dogs it is a no go in Hawaii! I have to trap them and turnt hem into the shelter but for some reason the ones I caught yesterday dissappeared! 

[sfboarbuster]

Post up some pics of the place