Selling Heifer without cattle yards

Hello,
We have been running a 2ha lifestyle block in Te Kauwhata, Waikato for about 3 years now and have a 2 year old speckle park heifer we are trying to sell. We will also have an Angus heifer coming up in 6 months to sell aswell.

We have tried to sell them on trademe offering delivery via horse float but they were very reluctant in getting in (even with hay bribery) we gave up after the 2 year old jumped over our post and rail fence and we had to herd her back from the neighbours section.

We have also had little interest with selling it offering to accomodate a slaughter-man of the buyers choice on our section.

Since lowering the price of the heifer to lower than everything on trademe and still having no luck we are worried she will be going to be too old to sell.

Help! How do we get rid of this heifer? We know we will have the same problem in 6 months with the other Angus aswell so are getting a little worried!
 

it's not too hard to homekill yourself if you have a friend with a firearm.  I did a couple myself and just kept the steaks and the rest i minced. Worked out quite well as most of those fancy cuts the butcher sells tend to be tough so mince is always a versatile option. You can even do sausages which are even better. You would need to do it soon though before the warm nights set in.
In future I would go with sheep as they are more manageable, especially Dorpers or Wiltshires.

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately we allready have a big chest freezer full from our previous homekill earlier this year. If we got her done for meat we would be overflowing and have nowhere to put it all

You could have another go on Trademe, explaining the transport situation and making it buyer must pick up. You'll have to sell her at a discount but there are people who have cattle trailers with gates that could probably load her.

Presumably you've explored the option of walking her to a neighbour's place.

Failing that is building a taller stronger structure.

Being fairly new to the selling cattle business I wouldn't have a clue what a discounted rate might be. Any Suggestions?

Also do you know if there are any cattle trailers or cattle movers business that we could hire to move them? We have had a few offers but they have required delivery so it would be fantastic if I could outsource that to somebody who knows what they are doing

2 year dairy beef heifers made $2.88 - $3.05/kg at Tuakau last week. What she's worth depends how much she weighs, but you'd have to expect the value to be less because it's only one animal and there's the transport issue, compared to a line of cattle that a stock truck could pick up.

 

My opinions, for what they are worth .
When was the Speckle Park born? If July/August 2021, she has at least 6 months to live before she is ready for slaughter.
When was the Angus X born? Slaughter at about 30 months. If she is a year younger, what are you going to do for company for her?
Legally, slaughter for another person cannot be done on your property unless the buyer is currently owning cattle, or until the new buyer has owned her and daily cared for her for 30 days.
If you are on a County road rather than a State highway, I would ask a local farmer if you can borrow a few heifers to run with her for a week. Then walk them down to his cattle yards so that she can be loaded out from there. Offer to pay the farmer something, but he might consider that the grazing covers his yards and effort.
Check with a professional Stock Agent, and phone the nearest Freezing Works Buyer to see if he has any ideas.
Don't forget the ASB forms, but a professional should be able to organize that. Don't forget the NAIT tag before she gets onto the truck, and to record the movement with NAIT.

You might find some yards for hire.
Some in my area (Nth Canty) will assemble got you, help load and then take away the yards again for $100. I imagine your local stock agent would help with sale.

My understanding is you now have to have yards (animal welfare act??) so moving forward, I would be biting the bullet and having a set installed or buy a portable lot.   Failing that, neighbour wise, who owns the nearest yards to you?   

I'm mindful of a local who was trampled under the loading ramp of of horse float (she is lucky to be alive) whilst loading ''quiet'' beasts, so please please please be aware of personal safety.

I'm not far from you, but one of the local stock carriers has a walk in system, can't remember who it is, but if you call an agent from Wrightsons or Carrfields I'm sure they will put you in touch.   Send to Tuakau sales yards.

Are you registered for NAIT and are they tagged?
 

Selling livestock can be tricky sometimes! Have you considered reaching out to local farmers or ranchers directly? Sometimes word of mouth in the farming community can be more effective than online listings. You could also check with local livestock auctions or contact a cattle broker in your area to see if they can help you find buyers.

max2 wrote:

My understanding is you now have to have yards (animal welfare act??) 
 

I've looked to see if I can find any reference to handling facilities in the Act but haven't found anything.  Does anyone know any more?  

Certainly it's a risky thing to have cattle and nowhere to restrain them in case of a need for emergency care, or routine maintenance treatments.

Ruth wrote:

max2 wrote:

My understanding is you now have to have yards (animal welfare act??) 

 

I've looked to see if I can find any reference to handling facilities in the Act but haven't found anything.  Does anyone know any more?  

Certainly it's a risky thing to have cattle and nowhere to restrain them in case of a need for emergency care, or routine maintenance treatments.

I can't find it either Ruth, understood it to be an amendment to the Act.  Perhaps I'm thinking of the Vets requirements in handling on site animals....?