Wanted: 1800# cow

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aj

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I am looking for a 1800# cow. Its allright if she looks like hell but she must take a good picture in Denver. Must be able to travel from an air conditioned barn outside to a water tank 20 yards away.Must not be allergic to OXYGEN or anyother showring additive. Must have a birth weight uder 150 pounds and calves must average under 140#. Must have one good quarter to her udder and she must raise a calf naturally ever 3 years for photograpy purposes. Must be able to surive on showfeed or home cooked feed and must flush alot of eggs when nessecary. Must have a popular pedigree(on paper anyway) and must be good with kids. Must have a high yearling growth epd(because real world performance is important).I hate those small framed easy keeping cattle that have no real world performance. Also cow must have at 3 out of four genetic defects so her flushes will sell well in online auctions.Whoops the phone is ringing now. ;D
 

DL

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bet there is someone who can help you out aj - just weighed mine and have a couple 1800# but they calve annually and all 4 quarters work and they are TH and PHA clean but they are good with kids 8) ;)
 

BIGTEX

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I have some great clean cows that  are safe to those winning dirty genes. Maybe they wont need a C-Section this year. You mean you have cows that calf more than 3 times a decade? WOW! PM me if interested.
 

Davis Shorthorns

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Boy oh Boy do I have a deal for you, you can even pick her up tomorrow. All at the low low price of $50,000  (lol)
 

Show Heifer

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Gee Aj, have you looked at all the sale offerings this fall???? There seem to be plenty to pick from.....
although some I noticed are "open and ready to flush".  HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM......
 

justintime

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I will totally agree that most 1800 lb cows are not what most people are looking for in N America today. That said, I think it would be wrong for us to totally eliminate all of these cows, as I think the day will return when some of these genetics are wanted again. If I have learned anything about the beef industry, in my lifetime involvement, it is that the perfect sized cow changes constantly. I also know that it much easier to get small cattle than it is big cattle. In my opinion, any cow that helps pay the bills, is a good cow, regardless of her size. Here is one example....

Last fall I purchased a cow in a dispersal for $5300. She was a big cow, in fact, we weighed her directly off the trailer after a 550 mile haul and she weighed 2130 lb.Her calf was weaned that day, and this cow had only had grass for nutrition. You are probably asking" why would I be so dumb to buy such a creature?"  The answer is, that I have not seen many cows as thick and as easy fleshing as this cow in recent years. I can remember herds full of cows like this, in Western Canada, when I was growing up, but now they are few and far between. She is thick enough that two people could sleep on her back. She was wintered in our herd with no grain supplement and was one of the best fleshed cows when she calved. Yes, I am sure she ate more than a 1200 or 1400 lb cow, but I also know that she did not eat twice as much. She raised a good bull calf that weaned at 720 lb at 157 days of age,with no creep feed, and he is certainly going to make a good herd sire for someone. He has the same thickness as his dam, and sire, and he has lots of muscle and style.

Since she has calved, we have flushed her twice.  In these two flushes we have collected 41 grade 1 embryos. She will be flushed again in October. So far we have sold 24 of her embryos, mostly to Scotland, Australia and USA for over $17,000.So far, I have owned her for 10 months and she has already tripled our investment in her. I have a notion that before she is done producing ( providing God doesn't call her home) that she is going to generate even more revenue. I already have two US breeders wanting embryos from other sires than we have flushed to so far.  So is this cow too big????  Personally, I am really starting to like this cow. I will also add that prior to this year's bull calf, she has had 4 heifer calves that have averaged over $4000 when they were sold.

My point is, yes, this cow is probably too big for most people's operations. I have seen many people complain about someone else's cows being too big, yet, I have watched these same people buy bigger cows at sales. Go figure?  So, in my world, the perfect cow size is whatever the buyer demands. I have to say that I am a little overwhelmed in the interest we have received in this cow from Australia, where most cattle are raised year round on grass. We have sold several embryos from her to a large Aussie commercial rancher, with over 25,000 cows,who is hoping he gets all bull calves. His intent is to try and raise herd bulls for his commercial herd... and he wants bulls that come from bigger framed cows that also have fleshing ability.
By the way, she is TH and PHA free, has calves unassisted 5 times, and  has one of the best dispositions.... a true gentle giant. She has a good udder and milks well.

So, to all those that like to bash big cattle, please do not clump this cow in with the rest of the big cows out there. This cow may not work in your program, but she is certainly looking like she is working in mine. I would also suspect my banker would like me to have a few more cows like this cow. I have attached a picture of her. I think I may have posted it before, a few months ago. She is pictured running on pasture in January 08 on a -35 degree morning.
 

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DL

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JIT - I certainly don't think anyone was bashing the 1800# cow - I think aj was being aj - he doesn't want your cow if she calves unassisted, has all 4 quarters, calves annually and is TH and PHA clean - I personally love big cows that make me $ - nice cow BTW
 

shortyjock89

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IL
So, AJ, if the cow is out of Nobody's Fool, would you be more interested?  (lol)
 

DL

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Olson Family Shorthorns said:
So, AJ, if the cow is out of Nobody's Fool, would you be more interested?  (lol)

If she met all the other criterion for aj's perfect cow I am sure he would! ::) ::) ::)
 

knabe

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justintime said:
Knabe.. most high gaining Maine fullbloods capable of 5 - 6 lb/ day look a lot like this cow.

is it possible to curtail the terminal product from these cows with % starch and time they start getting it from say 1700, 1800, to 1350-1400 and still get marbling?

what i'm after is not necessarily the obvious antagonistic growth vs marbling curves/lines, but just if there are animals that put more into marbling as opposed to back or inner cavity fat.
 

justintime

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There have been numerous feedlot trials here in Canada where large framed growthy exotic bred steers and heifers have been weaned at early ages and put into feedlots, on a high starch ration. Reports have been mixed but some of these trials have proven that they calves can be able to grade with excellent IMF values at weights of 1150 to 1250 lbs. Many of these trials have also shown that this weight gain can be as economical as backgrounding smaller framed cattle and then using a shorter finishing period, when all factor such as interest, turnover rates and death losses are considered. Some of these tests have been used in Simmental promotional materials in recent years.
 

knabe

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justintime said:
There have been numerous feedlot trials here in Canada where large framed growthy exotic bred steers and heifers have been weaned at early ages and put into feedlots, on a high starch ration. Reports have been mixed but some of these trials have proven that they calves can be able to grade with excellent IMF values at weights of 1150 to 1250 lbs. Many of these trials have also shown that this weight gain can be as economical as backgrounding smaller framed cattle and then using a shorter finishing period, when all factor such as interest, turnover rates and death losses are considered. Some of these tests have been used in Simmental promotional materials in recent years.

i know this is a pipedream, but have any of these trials put collars on the calves, not weaned them and allowed them to get the starch source through one of the feed weigher thingy's that would say empty the container after the animal feeds, so the cow couldn't get it?  i'm assuming a calf gate wouldn't allow enough size discrimination between cow and calf for what i'm intersted in.
 

BCCC

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Hillsboro, TX
Would you settle for a cow that weighed 1600 4 months ago? I am sure she is weighing 1800lbs by now. Hell I will even sell her for SUPER cheap compared the Davis, I am only asking 25k give or take a couple bucks....... Which would be a complete steal for her!! By the time she calves she wont have calved for 2.5 years, and her uddder will be filled with so much fat you will be lucky to get one quater to work ;D ;D
 

simtal

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Champaign, IL
knabe said:
justintime said:
There have been numerous feedlot trials here in Canada where large framed growthy exotic bred steers and heifers have been weaned at early ages and put into feedlots, on a high starch ration. Reports have been mixed but some of these trials have proven that they calves can be able to grade with excellent IMF values at weights of 1150 to 1250 lbs. Many of these trials have also shown that this weight gain can be as economical as backgrounding smaller framed cattle and then using a shorter finishing period, when all factor such as interest, turnover rates and death losses are considered. Some of these tests have been used in Simmental promotional materials in recent years.

i know this is a pipedream, but have any of these trials put collars on the calves, not weaned them and allowed them to get the starch source through one of the feed weigher thingy's that would say empty the container after the animal feeds, so the cow couldn't get it?  i'm assuming a calf gate wouldn't allow enough size discrimination between cow and calf for what i'm intersted in.

It my observation that you get the same effect on marbling from high milk producing cows as you do for starch.  It makes sense, since marbling can be dependent on glucose being absorbed in the small intestine.
 
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