Wrangler Feedyard provides fattening services for 46,000 cattle to ranch owners. Cactus Feeders owns ten feed yards in Texas and Kansas, which hold a total of 500,000 cattle, starting at 12 months of age at approx. 750 lbs, to 1,300 lbs slaughter weight six months later. They gain an average of 3.3 lbs /day and are fed approx 20 lbs of dry feed per day, and 60% of feed is agricultural products not edible by humans. Cactus does not own the cattle, but charges rent and costs for feed and any medicines to grow the cows, and then ships them to Tyson slaughterhouse in Amarillo. Cattle mortality rates average 1-2% during their six months in the feedyard.
Pen riders check on the health of all the cattle in the feed yard on horseback each morning and take any unwell cattle to a medical station for treatment. The cowboys start at sunrise and have an hour break at noon before finishing up at 3pm.
