Cow size

[LLBUX]

I don't think I'd have to separate the cattle, but I keep the Belties here at my farm.  My cow/calf is running with a bred Hannibal heifer.

Our Beltie heifers and bull are with my son's steers right now growing.   In March I will separate the heifers from the steers so I can fatten the steers and grow the heifers.

My dad recently pulled me aside and told me to "get rid of those damn Belties, you'll never make any money with them.  You should gave Angus".  I smiled because I have no trouble selling Beltie cattle.  Wish I had more room here at home.  

 

[aj]

Whats your annual rainfall aussie?

 

[Aussie]

Whats your annual rainfall aussie?

Lots and lots  ;D 50 inches. If you click the weather at the bottom of my posts it will give you a bit of an idea of our climate it is about ideal for growing grass.

 

[kfacres]

It is very hard to breed larger framed cattle with a lot of natural thickness but that is my goal

isn't that the truth.. and isn't that everyone's goal...

breeding a good big one, is much harder than a good tiny wrong...  more surface area to potentially screw up....   I think that's why most people resort to small livestock... the odds of making a great one are much better...

 

[KSanburg]

If bigger cows mean bigger profit Aussiee then a 2,000 # cow  would mean more profit.......how big can we make the cows? Is a 2,000# cow something to shoot for as far as an average. Can we make em all that big? Can we make them bigger?Could we add some of the ole white chi blood to them if we keep em wide and long?

So if the 2000# cow can raise a profitable calf what would he weight at weaning and the what would it weight at slaghter and is that an exceptable product on the rail at this time or would it ever be? I mean they already dock a 1450# steer when it hits the rail.

My personal ideal cow is a frame 5+, 6 to 7 and will weight 1350 to 1600.

 

[JTM]

The herd of commercial cows I have right now are probably averaging around 1350 lbs. They weaned calves averaging around 550-650 lbs with no creep, no hay, no silage, no grain, only pasture. I had one calf that weaned at 770 lbs and his momma is probably only about 1300. Given, the ages of the calves were spread out. The 770 lb calf was about 7 months old.
So ideally I would have a bunch of 1300 lb cows that would wean 750 lb calves every year. That is not my current situation but I'm just getting started.  ;D

 

[kfacres]

The herd of commercial cows I have right now are probably averaging around 1350 lbs. They weaned calves averaging around 550-650 lbs with no creep, no hay, no silage, no grain, only pasture. I had one calf that weaned at 770 lbs and his momma is probably only about 1300. Given, the ages of the calves were spread out. The 770 lb calf was about 7 months old.
So ideally I would have a bunch of 1300 lb cows that would wean 750 lb calves every year. That is not my current situation but I'm just getting started.  ;D

Without a doubt.. I know which bull will sire those 770 lb steer calves... and in two years which bull will sire those 1300 lb females weaning 750 lb steer calves....

and I'm going to check his ass out in May...  and maybe swindle you out of some semen...

 

[Mill Iron A]

First thing when comparing maybe we should say in a BCS 5.  Aussie if those cows were in a BCS 5 they may only weigh 1350.  By the way nice looking bull and cows, looks like nice country.  Personally we do run5+ to just over 6 frame cattle and we graze out year round.  With the char x those cows in a BCS 5 are weiging an average of 1400 and we only get about 12" of moisture a year. One thing to think about is not only is it nice to have wide based cows because of the progeny they produce but those 800 to 1100 lb mama cows don't make it here because they literally freeze to death out on range or they come up open.  Now I guess if you had them sheltered and were feeding them everything they ate then maybe I could see the smaller framed cattle.  Also I know weaning weight seems to be the biggest indicator of cow profitability but as an industry we should all look at yw and slaughter data as well. Even if we don't directly profit from it.

 

[hamburgman]

Isn't it not just about cow size and utilizing your resources the most to generate the greatest return, which I feel and the numbers I see favor smaller cows and early weaning?

 

[RyanChandler]

The herd of commercial cows I have right now are probably averaging around 1350 lbs. They weaned calves averaging around 550-650 lbs with no creep, no hay, no silage, no grain, only pasture. I had one calf that weaned at 770 lbs and his momma is probably only about 1300. Given, the ages of the calves were spread out. The 770 lb calf was about 7 months old.
So ideally I would have a bunch of 1300 lb cows that would wean 750 lb calves every year. That is not my current situation but I'm just getting started.  ;D

Without a doubt.. I know which bull will sire those 770 lb steer calves... and in two years which bull will sire those 1300 lb females weaning 750 lb steer calves....

and I'm going to check his ass out in May...  and maybe swindle you out of some semen...

Do tell?? 

 

[aj]

Nobody talks about # weaned per pasture they always talk about a calf weaned at 800#. To me it's kinda like a corn yield contests. A lot of impractical inputs go into it to bump up the yield 10 bushell....20 bushel or what ever. I spose harvested feed and supplements would be the equivilent in the cow deal?

 

[HAB]

Our Galloway cows range from 900 - 1100  lbs (BCS of 4-5)  trying to raise average to 1100 lbs

Our Angus cows range from 1200 - 1600 lbs (BSC of 4)

On the Galloways, our herd bull weighs 2500 lbs and is a frame 5

On the Angus we are trying to downsize frame.

The 1/2 bloods are right on the money for the size cows I like.

We run everything together, the cowerd gets only grass hay, the replacement heifers get alfalfa.

 

[KSanburg]

Feed inputs should absolutely play in the factor AJ. Creep and supplements could have a huge effect on weaning.

As for my cows they get grass alfalfa mix from the time the snow covers the pasture until the grass get tall enough to stay ahead of the cows and that's a winter average of 28 lbs., then on spring pasture on hay fields until we can go to the mountains up to 10,000 feet toward the end of the summer, we gather the middle of September get them home give them their booster vac. turn them out for 2 week on hay field pasture with 27% protein tubs and wean, the cows stay on that pasture with protein tubs. The cows we try to maintain at a BCS of 4 to 5 and they get Ivomec 3 times a year.

This past summer with drought conditions our weaning weights were off by 35 to 45 pounds mainly due to the cows traveling up to 11/2 miles for water, but the feed was good and hard and over all it could have been a lot worse. If we don't get adequate snow this year we will be in serious trouble.

 

[frostback]

I heard on the radio today.......a K-State beef specialists discussing replacement heifers. I almost ran into the ditch at what he had to say. He theorized that the best replacements may not be the largest weighted females. They may not be the heaviest milking females. He said that the fastest way to cut supplementation needs was to reduce cow size. When the academia swings around to a common sense idea one might wonder if the smaller cow deal may start to swing around. Maybe its not a Kit Pharo radical concept. I can't help but think that maybe the maternal breeds might head a little more this direction. I know the Shorthorn show ring people love their 1700# cows but could this thing swing back around in my lifetime. Kinda interesting.

So sorry to hear that.

[size=10pt]I was just sorry you missed the ditch.[/size]

 

[jaimiediamond]

In Canada size matters...  Actually "down under" it really does

 

[thunderdownunder]

In Canada size matters...  Actually "down under" it really does

From personal experience, I have to say I agree

 

[aj]

I was wondering about cows in the southern Kansas,Oklahoma, Texas area where they had heat of 100 degrees or more of 60 straight days. Are there any reports of an increase of cows preg checked open.

 

[aj]

Are the big black ones really that great. Seems like a red colored cow might soak up less sun. In theory would 100 red cows have percentage point higher pregnancy over the same exact black cows or not? Are lighter colored cattle better in this aspect? Any research been done?

 

[bart]

AJ the  heat,we had 26 days over 100 and  lack of water from above really hurt the cattle here in Texas. Some places alot of open cows  about 30% would be a good number. Now I am not talking about a few show cattle I am talking in pastures of 200 head or more.
For some reason I had 96% of my cows bred. The open ones hit the truck. Not sure we have seen the full affects of the lack of rain yet. I agree with the color of the cows most of my cows were black beacuse i ran angus bulls for the last several years to get the top dollar on the calfs of contract. I can tell you the heat is hard on them and the flies or really bad.  When I went to culling cows I was really hard on the black ones. Of course we have alot of american blood in them so they can take the heat and fight off the critters. We have had alot of rain the past few days still 25 inches below normal.
The cows that I sold weighed 1160 avg. After a 2 hour truck ride to the packer.

 

[Shady Lane]

Are the big black ones really that great. Seems like a red colored cow might soak up less sun. In theory would 100 red cows have percentage point higher pregnancy over the same exact black cows or not? Are lighter colored cattle better in this aspect? Any research been done?

Food For Thought:

Do the people that originated in hot climates around the equator tend to have darker skin or lighter skin than those that are from European descent and who's ancestors came from colder climates?