Newbie to this site and LSB

Hi all Have come across this wonderful site while looking for weed sprayer info for a quad. My husband & self purchased our first ever LSB last year in the Kapiti Coast Area and are hoping to build our dream forever home next year. Are slowly getting thing done around the place like fencing OMG but are still struggling getting my head around everything. Wanting to start looking at purchasing some beefies or lambs but really don't know where to start lol (even what to purchase?) Hoping to get some much directed information over my time as a LSB owner & maybe in 10years ill have it sorted lol. At present we lease our 13 acres to a lovely lady who runs her horses so she does pretty much everything but feel its time for me to take some of the reins (figure of speech ) Looking forward to all the assistants i can get... Thank you in advance

If you decide to start with cattle that you plan to grow for your own table, or to sell on to the works, then buy good quality quiet weaners. They are not so daunting to handle for newbies as older cattle might be, and rearing calves can come with its own challenges. You do need good yards to handle cattle, for worm drenching or vet visits; loading in or out.
Sheep, you need good fences and also yards, but they don't need to be solid like cattle yards unless you will eventually have both cattle and sheep. Sheep also need care. Feet trimmed, wool sheared, fly strike watched out for and treated if need be. You can get sheep which don't need shearing and you will find lots of information about them in these pages. Sheep and horses graze in a similar way and will compete for feed. Cattle will clean-up rank or over grown patches of grass.
We run a mix of cattle and some grazing horses, which means that by cross grazing, we don't need to worry so much about worms. Horses help pay some of the set costs like rates. They can trash a paddock however, so up-skilling on pasture management is a good idea. We also run a couple of milking goats.


Anyway, welcome to the LSB.

HI Kennygirl, in regards to a sprayer check out the Selecta by Silvan range - ask at your local farmlands store, we have a 50 litre one on the front of our quad and it is a god-send, permanently filled with round-up to zap the constant growing weeds! Would never go back to the knapsack now.
Good luck with your property, there is always a lot to learn, I would recommend getting a couple of quiet beef x weaners for your first cattle, check out TM (you need to nait registered first, which is free and easy just google nait.)
In regards to the fact that your land is leased, you need to check out your agreement before you get any stock as your leasee wont be impressed having cows competing with her horses for grass.

Hi rider1803 thanks for your info. Yes I have registered with Nait thanks you for that and have spoken to my leasee regarding putting a couple of beefies on site. Looking like wearers are the way to go by the comments so well start looking into it. Can you assist with how often do they need drenching etc as like I have said this is totally new to me cheers

Hi Kennygirl, and welcome to the site.

I've been buying in weaners for over a decade now, and found if you feed them well, they give very little trouble. If you don't know much about cattle, a good choice is the good old black-whiteface, which there should be plenty of around this time of year. You can almost guarantee that they will have had a Friesian mother from a dairy herd, and a purebred Hereford father, so they will grow into a good large beef animal.

With regard to drenching, ideally the seller would have drenched them just before sale. If you buy privately, remember to ask. I generally find they need one after a month or two, and maybe one more a few months later. I only drench if I think they need it, ie they have dirty bums, and coats not very shiny. I use the eprinex pouron, which is quick and simple, if you have a race.

Hey, when you buy your weaners ask the seller as much as you can, ie, date of birth (at least the month is helpful) what drenches, etc they have already had, are they used to eating the likes of muesli - what brand can be helpful as well.

There are no hard and fast rules around drenching, your vet will be best to advise on local conditions as these make a big difference.
Try to get some that have been raised in smaller mobs so are used to human contact as they will be less flighty, and feel free to bribe them with muesli etc to make them used to your presence.
They will be helpful to clean up behind the horses as they eat lots of the less-tasty bits that horses wont.

Have you read any ofmy suggestions in previous posts, about what I would do if I were starting again. I have very little interweb at a very big cost so have not searched for you, but if you cannot find my suggestions I will, just for you, write it all out again

Pouron type drenches are useless for weaneers. You need to give them a good down the gob type drench when they are still quite small. Ask your vet for a recommended type. Vets will often decant a small amount to cover your needs as lots of drenches come in big big containers and are costly.
Pourons are ok for older cattle especially when they are getting a bit big to handle safely.