to keep or cull this cow and her calves

[Belties R Us]

We have a belted galloway cross cow who we have had for three years I believe. She is very easy to keep weight on feeding just hay. She is a larger framed cow. We have two heifer calves out of her. The first calf is 2 years old and not bred yet because of her small size. The 2nd heifer calf weighs around 400lbs and is a January calf. Our April Angus calf weighs 20ish lbs less being 3 months younger. So should we keep the cow and sell the calves as beef feeders? Or cull the cow and heifer calves? Would a bull calf grow faster then the heifers have been? Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

Sounds to me like the dam doesn't milk very well. And since your in Ohio and it's been a bad year for grass so that could have a little something to do with it. I have had cows like this before. I shipped them and cut my losses.  Sounds to me your seeing good growth in your other calves? Id ship her IMO.

 

[leanbeef]

I don't know a lot about Belted Galloways in particular, and I admit my opinion was somewhat jaded after reading the subject of your post and the opening statement, "We have a belted galloway cross cow..."

Regardless of the breed, cattle that don't perform run a high risk of being more of a liability than a profit maker for a cattle breeder. I'm sure a lot of breeds have SOMEthing to offer the industry, but in the whole scheme of things, there are reasons why a lot of breeds will  never be widely popular or useful to the industry as a whole either. If you're serious about the cattle business, then I think you've answered you own question...just read your own post again! If you have to think about this decision, my guess is you're undecided about your commitment to your program or you have some other small niche segment of the business in mind. You listed the reasons you're thinking about culling the cow and her daughters...what are the reasons you're thinking about NOT culling them? I'm kinda curious about those...

I'm not ignoring the fact that a lot of people own cattle--and are entitled to own cattle--who aren't necessarily in the beef business. Some people just enjoy owning a few cows. Some people prefer to cater to niche markets or have their own ideas about doing things differently from everybody else. Still, those of us who do own cattle do contribute to the beef industry in some way, and I believe there are good ones and bad ones in every breed. If you want to own cows, why not own the best ones you can own of whatever particular breed you choose? It doesn't cost any more to feed a good cow than it does a borderline cull.

 

[Belties R Us]

If you have to think about this decision, my guess is you're undecided about your commitment to your program or you have some other small niche segment of the business in mind. You listed the reasons you're thinking about culling the cow and her daughters...what are the reasons you're thinking about NOT culling them? I'm kinda curious about those...

The biggest thing for us is we have a cow herd of 6 two being a steer and a feeder. So we didn't know if we should try to build our herd up before culling or not. Besides the crossbred cow and her calves we only have an angus cow and bred heifer. The beltie does regularly give us a calf and appears to be a good mother. Those were our problems with just shipping her.

 

[leanbeef]

Sometimes it's hard to be hard-nosed about some things like that. I think you just need to think about the reasons you have cattle & the goals you have for your breeding program, regardless of how big or small it is. If this females doesn't fit, I would cut them all loose & invest that money in some that DO fit and that have more potential to return some of your investment, or even make a profit! At our place, it isn't enough for a cow to have a calf if she doesn't do a good job with it or isn't genetically capable of contributing to the plan we have for our program. Answer those two questions, and you'll know what to do with the cattle...

Why do we own cattle? And what are our goals with our herd?...where do you want your herd to be five or ten years from now?

 

[cedarcurve]

sell the three and buy one good one...

one good one will take you further in life than a whole herd of average ones will.

 

[LLBUX]

You say she is a Beltie-cross. Crossed with what?
What has she been bred to?
Same bull as your Angus?
You have to compare apples to apples.
Belties are highly fertile and do well on marginal forage.
To continue growth after calving or for calving they need better feed than has been available this year.
A 400 poind January calf really is not that bad for a purebred Beltie,especially on short feed and no creep or supplement to the cow. I would expect better growth from a crossbred cow.
As mentioned above, set your goals and work toward them.
Belties will not make you rich under commercial operations, they don't grow fast enough. They excel
in grass fed conditions and the meat is superb.  I recently sold a bull to a guy who sells beltie beef and averages $5000 on each two year old grass fed steer.  No grain.

If she calves every year, breed her to something with more growth potential. If the bull is not
too bad BW she should do fine and raise a better calf.

 

[Aussie]

It costs as much to feed a good one as a bad one. I for one when started in to a breed have bought cows and spent a lot of money on them only to find that they are just no good. Believe me cut your loses because they will just compound and in a small herd and you will go nowhere. CCCF has good advice.

 

[BuckeyeBeef2]

I am not gonna talk as much as everyone above me has....they have had some fantastic answers and opinions, but also i read an article (i regret i forget where from, but the fact stuck with me) and this article said that if the average cow doesnt have a calf, or loses a calf, it will take 6 years to pay for that loss....so do you want to take a chance on future cows that go through the winter open and not bred, well that is up to your niche market, what you are doing,and what you plan on doing, and if you have faith in your cows