SWMO
Well-known member
It seems to me that starting in April (we start calving the first of March) several of our cows have gone over and the calves have been HUGE in comparison to previous years with the exact same matings on some.
I believe that the extreme weather that we have experienced in our area has become a factor in these later calving cows. A very hard and cold winter, hence we fed the cows harder and with better quality hay, the cows didn't move around and exercise as much (how could you with 20 plus inches of snow on the ground) and then grass got here and the cows look good and have been gaining weight through the month of March.
We have had two Kadabra bred cows having their fifth calf have bull calves that easily went over 10 or more days. This is approximate because we set every cow up and AI'ed to calve March 1st. These two cows did not settle AI so I am basing the overage partly on cycles after the AI date. Cows were bred to a moderate calving charolais bull that we have used for several years HOWEVER, this year was very different. Both calves were in the 120 to 140 pound range. One of the cows calved on her own the second had to have assistance. Another cow(PB charolais) calved on her approximate due date with a heifer calve that easily weighed 90 lbs unassisted but a big calf for this particular mating.
All of these calves are VERY FAT with very broad heads they look to be three weeks old when born. Thank goodness that we are about finished calving and most of the cows calved in March because the calves seem keep getting bigger and later as we go on.
I believe that the extreme weather that we have experienced in our area has become a factor in these later calving cows. A very hard and cold winter, hence we fed the cows harder and with better quality hay, the cows didn't move around and exercise as much (how could you with 20 plus inches of snow on the ground) and then grass got here and the cows look good and have been gaining weight through the month of March.
We have had two Kadabra bred cows having their fifth calf have bull calves that easily went over 10 or more days. This is approximate because we set every cow up and AI'ed to calve March 1st. These two cows did not settle AI so I am basing the overage partly on cycles after the AI date. Cows were bred to a moderate calving charolais bull that we have used for several years HOWEVER, this year was very different. Both calves were in the 120 to 140 pound range. One of the cows calved on her own the second had to have assistance. Another cow(PB charolais) calved on her approximate due date with a heifer calve that easily weighed 90 lbs unassisted but a big calf for this particular mating.
All of these calves are VERY FAT with very broad heads they look to be three weeks old when born. Thank goodness that we are about finished calving and most of the cows calved in March because the calves seem keep getting bigger and later as we go on.
