| Ravenwood Ranch |
| Copyright 2007. Al l Rights Reserved. Created by Taylormade Web Design. Last Updated October 5, 2007. |
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| Where Quality Counts |
| Ravenwood Ranch Beefbooster Cattle |
| Ravenwood Majestic - 2 year old Beefbooster bull and current herdsire. |
Why Beefbooster?
When it comes to a commercial beef herd, ideally you want a group of females who
are moderate, intermediate framed with excellent calving ease, great udders and
sound feet and legs. Females like this are able to produce viable, growthy calves
year after year with minimal inputs. They make good use of pasture in summer and
do not require extensive feed in winter to maintain a large frame. They are docile
and easy to handle. They produce healthy, vigorous calves who are up and sucking
within minutes of birth. They are born small but grow and finish quickly.
We discovered an animal that fits our criteria in the Beefbooster. We first began
raising Beefbooster cattle in 1993. The choice to start raising these commercial
crossbreds was an easy one. The Beefbooster program has developed five hybrid
seedstock strains based on maternal traits, calving ease and rapidly growing
feedstock. We currently raise the M1 strain, an Angus based hybrid renowned for
maternal traits of excellent mothering, sound udders and weaning rates. The calves
have a lower birth weight than your typical beef cattle, but grow quickly to reach
excellent weaning weights. The Beefbooster program is based on years of
selectively breeding animals with excellent performance. This performance has been
verified through ongoing and rigorous testing. We love the fact that the Beefbooster
program takes the guess work out of successful crossbreeding, producing an
animal of consistent type based on performance data. We feel that you can't beat a
crossbred cow when it comes to producing calves with minimal inputs. The
Beefbooster program has provided a formulaic way to do so.
How It All Began
Prior to discovering the Beefbooster program we raised a Hereford-based herd of
females. We had a lot of trouble in the beginning and calving season was always a
labour intensive time. We switched to Beefboosters in 1993 and never looked back.
By the late 90's we'd built up a female herd of approximately 100 animals. We were
hit hard by drought one winter and ended up dispersing of the entire female herd,
retaining only 25 of the very best heifer calves as replacements. It was a sad day
when the "girls" were sold. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, as
the BSE crisis hit the following May. We were lucky that we were able to sell our
females before the bottom had fallen out of the market. We retained those 25 heifer
calves and used those as the base of our current herd. We are now starting to build
our maternal herd back up, stronger than ever.
How We Do It
The cows are out on pasture year-round. During the summer their feed is provided
solely through grazing. In the winter months they are fed free-choice good quality
grass-timothy hay. We feed protein-mineral blocks and clean, fresh water at all
times. We winter the calves quite a distance from the watering area so the cows get
ample exercise year-round.
In the fall we vaccinate our cows an 8-way vaccine and treat with a pour-on
dewormer at preg-checking. Prior to calving all cows are treated with Scourguard.
Cows calve out on pasture. At birth we tag, weigh and give the calves Vitamin A,
D, E and Selenium injections.
All Natural Beef
We will be offering naturally raised beef finished on grain and pasture beginning in
2008. Please check back for more information.
Please email us for more information
on our Beefbooster cattle.
When it comes to a commercial beef herd, ideally you want a group of females who
are moderate, intermediate framed with excellent calving ease, great udders and
sound feet and legs. Females like this are able to produce viable, growthy calves
year after year with minimal inputs. They make good use of pasture in summer and
do not require extensive feed in winter to maintain a large frame. They are docile
and easy to handle. They produce healthy, vigorous calves who are up and sucking
within minutes of birth. They are born small but grow and finish quickly.
We discovered an animal that fits our criteria in the Beefbooster. We first began
raising Beefbooster cattle in 1993. The choice to start raising these commercial
crossbreds was an easy one. The Beefbooster program has developed five hybrid
seedstock strains based on maternal traits, calving ease and rapidly growing
feedstock. We currently raise the M1 strain, an Angus based hybrid renowned for
maternal traits of excellent mothering, sound udders and weaning rates. The calves
have a lower birth weight than your typical beef cattle, but grow quickly to reach
excellent weaning weights. The Beefbooster program is based on years of
selectively breeding animals with excellent performance. This performance has been
verified through ongoing and rigorous testing. We love the fact that the Beefbooster
program takes the guess work out of successful crossbreeding, producing an
animal of consistent type based on performance data. We feel that you can't beat a
crossbred cow when it comes to producing calves with minimal inputs. The
Beefbooster program has provided a formulaic way to do so.
How It All Began
Prior to discovering the Beefbooster program we raised a Hereford-based herd of
females. We had a lot of trouble in the beginning and calving season was always a
labour intensive time. We switched to Beefboosters in 1993 and never looked back.
By the late 90's we'd built up a female herd of approximately 100 animals. We were
hit hard by drought one winter and ended up dispersing of the entire female herd,
retaining only 25 of the very best heifer calves as replacements. It was a sad day
when the "girls" were sold. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, as
the BSE crisis hit the following May. We were lucky that we were able to sell our
females before the bottom had fallen out of the market. We retained those 25 heifer
calves and used those as the base of our current herd. We are now starting to build
our maternal herd back up, stronger than ever.
How We Do It
The cows are out on pasture year-round. During the summer their feed is provided
solely through grazing. In the winter months they are fed free-choice good quality
grass-timothy hay. We feed protein-mineral blocks and clean, fresh water at all
times. We winter the calves quite a distance from the watering area so the cows get
ample exercise year-round.
In the fall we vaccinate our cows an 8-way vaccine and treat with a pour-on
dewormer at preg-checking. Prior to calving all cows are treated with Scourguard.
Cows calve out on pasture. At birth we tag, weigh and give the calves Vitamin A,
D, E and Selenium injections.
All Natural Beef
We will be offering naturally raised beef finished on grain and pasture beginning in
2008. Please check back for more information.
Please email us for more information
on our Beefbooster cattle.
