Different kinda perfect calf.......

Limiman12 · Mar 17, 2013

Last year we ended up keeping some heifers for replacements that we normally would not have, later b-dates, smaller overall, but we had two bulls go bad in the heat two summers ago, and had 27 of59 cows open last spring so we kept a handful more then we normally would have. 3 in particular were pretty small, but very correct stucturally, out of young cows that had done what they could in the heat the year before and bred back to move back up.......Have been fretting it since, unfortunatly they did not frame up much more over the winter. Just figured we would pull the calves and make the best of it.

When dad called me this AM and told me one of those heifers had started I told him I was on my way, I live about a half hour from him. But he told me he thought it looked like everything was going fine. I got dressed anyway, it had been a half hour, I was just going to go anyway. But when I called to tell dad I was coming she had had him already! 55 pound black baldy heifer calf, mama was licking like a possed kid witha lollipop and baby was up sucking in ten minutes......

Not the big boned wide as a barn extreme calf that will grow up to compete Ina big time show, but easy, unassisted, and nursing is exactly what we wanted for this little heifer!

misty · Mar 17, 2013

Who were they bred to?

Limiman12 · Mar 17, 2013

Power2Change. Sexed heifer semen. Like the calves so far.

Till-Hill · Mar 17, 2013

Good to hear Limiman,
I had some recips that were May calves we bred right with the rest of my heifers for 2-22 calves and all 3 of them laid down and spit them out. I used Dikeman's Sure Bet and a Pharo bull to see if I could make them a little more hardy.

But now for the clubby heifers to calve, they make me nervous!

Duncraggan · Mar 17, 2013

I learned all I know about farming until I was in my mid-20's from my father. I had a gap of about five years in which I was not involved at all in agriculture. I have since been involved in beef cattle for the last ten years or so.

After extensive reading, performance recording and (academic?)research, one of the best things I have done is to keep all my heifers that index above 80. This is all due to the view of an octogenarian consultant my father got in about three years ago to sharpen his herd as well as improve profitability, if possible.

The advice was to keep all his heifers until joining, except those with severe wean weight issues or structural faults, discard those that came up open after joining and that didn't calve a live calf. After weaning, throw out any that didn't have a good weight calf and those that did not re-conceive.

He also suggested that he ask his vet to identify the cows that were due to calve at the end of the season and sell those on the annual sale, not the 'worst' heifers as judged by the eye.

There was a lot of scepticism, more so when the consultant suggested that my father sell what he rated as the best bull he had ever bought as he had short cannon bones and he would breed small progeny! Two years later, he did just that. That was the exact result, good, but small progeny. My father is a purebred Hereford weaner calf producer.

The result of this, after three years, is that most of his cattle calve within the first four weeks of a nine week calving season with a 90%+ reconception!

I am now trying to implement the same programme!

kidsandkows · Mar 17, 2013

Duncraggan said:
I learned all I know about farming until I was in my mid-20's from my father. I had a gap of about five years in which I was not involved at all in agriculture. I have since been involved in beef cattle for the last ten years or so.

After extensive reading, performance recording and (academic?)research, one of the best things I have done is to keep all my heifers that index above 80. This is all due to the view of an octogenarian consultant my father got in about three years ago to sharpen his herd as well as improve profitability, if possible.

The advice was to keep all his heifers until joining, except those with severe wean weight issues or structural faults, discard those that came up open after joining and that didn't calve a live calf. After weaning, throw out any that didn't have a good weight calf and those that did not re-conceive.

He also suggested that he ask his vet to identify the cows that were due to calve at the end of the season and sell those on the annual sale, not the 'worst' heifers as judged by the eye.

There was a lot of scepticism, more so when the consultant suggested that my father sell what he rated as the best bull he had ever bought as he had short cannon bones and he would breed small progeny! Two years later, he did just that. That was the exact result, good, but small progeny. My father is a purebred Hereford weaner calf producer.

The result of this, after three years, is that most of his cattle calve within the first four weeks of a nine week calving season with a 90%+ reconception!

I am now trying to implement the same programme!

Duncraggan that is really interesting. So by indexing you mean in herd ratio? If not could you explain what you mean? and then by joining i think you are talking about breeding? I dont have a big herd but I have been having a lot of problems the last few years this sounds like exactly what I need to do. Even though I am breeding for club calves I need to focus on the reproductivity instead of looks. It is so hard I keep wanting to blame a lot of my problems on the severe drought we have been in the past few years but I think there is more to it than that.

Duncraggan · Mar 17, 2013

Exactly that! My beef management programme throws out all the data, the more you put in, the more you get out. The data is all in-herd data, comparing apples with apples!

The cattle are all indexed against one another, except birth weight. The only weight I don't measure is dam weight at calving, logistically difficult! I weigh at birth to get 100-day, 205-day, 365-day and 540-day weights and indexes.

I weigh the cows at weaning (205-day calf) as well, that gives a weaning weight ratio, as well as a cow efficiency index which takes into account age at first calving, progeny weaning weight as well as inter-calving period!

The only thing I don't do is a growth test for my bull calves!

I have been doing it long enough to notice trends. Poor producing cows are most often serial offenders!

This latest small deviation/readjustment is just a 'fine tuning' of a working programme, I believe.

Maybe someone has some other take on it, comments will be appreciated!

leanbeef · Mar 18, 2013

kidsandkows said:
Even though I am breeding for club calves I need to focus on the reproductivity instead of looks. It is so hard I keep wanting to blame a lot of my problems on the severe drought we have been in the past few years but I think there is more to it than that.

I don't think it matters which segment of the industry you're in, if you're females aren't productive, it's hard to make it work. Whether you're raising club calves or seed stock or commercial cattle, you have to know where you're going and focus your decisions on that goal. Regardless of the type of cattle you raise, your success is connected to the productivity of the females in your herd.

kidsandkows · Mar 18, 2013

Totally agree leanbeef! I think limiman12 has it going in the right direction, these calves may not have all the traits you are looking for but they have some of the essential ones and hopefully you can keep breeding up for those other traits without sacrificing the essential ones. I am going to have 6 heifers to breed this spring similar to what you are describing I might look at that Power2Change

Limiman12 · Mar 19, 2013

We are up to seven calves out of P2C out of our heifers..... Have pulled one that was breech, a relatively easy pull, she would have had it if it was the right way..... I have been teasing the AI guy for putting the straw in backwards. (lol). Have had a couple of pretty small ones 55 or so pounds both out of small heifers, one was 85 she was the breech. the heifer was actually a fall born that we held over. Liked her enough that we wanted her in with our spring cows, felt long term it was worth waiting six months for a calf to have her as a spring calves for the next ten years.... She has higher BW herself, and I suspect she may have been getting more then her share at the bunk in the evenings. Basically, 85 out of her we considered a success. Most have been low to mid seventies, all but one was baldy. We will likely use him again next year. Potters have several young cows out of him that they like a lot and we are looking forward to this crop of heifers and their production for many years to come. Hopefully the blonde five year old with her arm around me right now will show a few steers out of them!

Different kinda perfect calf.......

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