Am I improving my herd?

[Crazy Farmgirl]

I realize these pics are not the best but I think you can get the idea. My cows all seemed to be lacking width across the board and I would like to see better muscling all around. Tried AI and was not impressed with the results so I went looking for a bull. I found Walter, very docile, low birth weights and high heifer to bull ratio. So far I like what I am seeing from his calves. I'm looking for others opinions.

Walter 7yrs Hereford



This cow is one of the first cows I purchased (was a 3-in-1 package)
Dora 7yrs


She is the dam of these cows and Walter the sire of all the calves:
Patch 4yrs(Hereford x Simmetal)

her bull calf 2011 (born 10/10/11)


Lily 3yrs(Hereford X Simmetal) (pictured with this years heifer calf at 2mo old

Same calf now (born 6/5/11)


Madeline 19mo(currently bred to above bull)


This years calf (born 10/12/11)





This one is a 3 yr old Angus
Jezebelle

her 2011 heifer calf (born 10/13/11)

[oscar p]

Oh,No. You ask for it.

[KNERSIE]

The bull will certainly make an improvement over the cows, but whether he is quite enough bull for you situation (or maybe he is all the bull your cows can handle at the moment?) is a debateable point.

[ALACOWMAN]

looks like their raising some decent calves,, just keep making good bull selections

[oakcreekfarms]

The bull only works if your eye is correct when picking replacement heifers.

The cows look like middle of the road commercial cows. You need to look at a lot of pictures of cattle, and ask yourself what type of phenotype you like. Once you have your eye trained to what you like start making your cows follow suit.

The video isn't great, but this is a cow that I like pretty well. She, like all cows, has flaws but she is pretty enough and productive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IS2cHTXb8U

[ALACOWMAN]

The bull only works if your eye is correct when picking replacement heifers.

The cows look like middle of the road commercial cows. You need to look at a lot of pictures of cattle, and ask yourself what type of phenotype you like. Once you have your eye trained to what you like start making your cows follow suit.

The video isn't great, but this is a cow that I like pretty well. She, like all cows, has flaws but she is pretty enough and productive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IS2cHTXb8U

yeah, thats what they are

[3waycross]

The blk baldie and the herf cows shown are OK for commercial cows. I would NEVER keep a replacement out of either one of the blk cows pictured.

Like someone said the bull is good enuf for right now. I would still AI and use him to clean up. Congrats on going forward and having the courage to post the pics and ask for help!

[Crazy Farmgirl]

Thanks for the input guys. I know the cows leave alot to be desired, hence why I'm trying to improve them. I refuse to go into debt buying cows, they all have to earn their keep. Right now I have such a small herd that I sell off the farm as freezer beef, people are more worried about what they ate than what they look like. I use that income to improve pasture, hay feilds and the herd so it is a slow process.

[oakcreekfarms]

Just remember that it costs as much to keep a good one as a bad one. Cheap rarely means better, and good S%*t ain't cheap and cheap Sh*$ ain't good.

Always keep your best heifers, if a cow isn't producing the lbs to make you more money sell her. You have to take the steps to improve your cow herd, just remember that increasing numbers and increasing quality is hard to do for a few years. Usually you will cull the same amount that you keep.

and alacowman-- I know what they are, and the statement was meant as such

[ALACOWMAN]

Just remember that it costs as much to keep a good one as a bad one. Cheap rarely means better, and good S%*t ain't cheap and cheap Sh*$ ain't good.

Always keep your best heifers, if a cow isn't producing the lbs to make you more money sell her. You have to take the steps to improve your cow herd, just remember that increasing numbers and increasing quality is hard to do for a few years. Usually you will cull the same amount that you keep.

and alacowman-- I know what they are, and the statement was meant as such

i think she knows what they are to,

[angus9259]

good S%*t ain't cheap and cheap Sh*$ ain't good.

My most productive cow cost me $500 bred. my worst "deal" was 1/2 interest in a $3500 bred heifer that couldn't keep condition when I had her tethered at the bottom of my corn silo. you can buy expensive junk as easily as cheap junk and there are always good deals to be had.

if I were starting all over again, I certainly wouldn't pay the big bucks for anything even if they were higher performers - I'd want to learn and make my mistakes on cheaper stuff and keep some money in the bank.

[robert]

the question "are you improving your herd?" has to be a resounding 'yes!', as far as the photos tell the story every calf appears to be an improvement in phenotype from their dams, so the bull seems to be more than doing his job, maybe the best policy is to stick with the old bull over the cows then look at potential AI sires to mate to his daughters (thinking that with this small herd another bull is an excessive investment at this time). If you are looking for good cow making bulls there are not too many in studs in my opinion (as far as the Black Angus bulls go anyway) but making the assumption that you would go for Angus or red angus from a calving ease perspective then I would consider the Boaz bull that regular poster here Julian (dwight elmore) has would be well worth looking at. If you are looking to go back with Hereford then the genex bulls Victor 719T or Legend 242 would be worth considering.

[MO_cows]

The calves look like they will grow out to be superior to their dams, and isn't that the very definition of herd improvement? You want to stay commercial, right? So some of the things you want to improve aren't necessarily judged by the eye. Do the cows breed back and calve timely? Do they hold their condition on the forage and hay you provide? Do their calves weigh up at weaning time to an acceptable percentage of the cow's weight? Just work on the traits you can measure in dollars and let the looks take care of themselves if you are raising calves to sell at the auction, IMHO.

[Sean M]

I'd be getting rid of Lily. Maybe you should look at buying some decent heifers or cows rather than worrying about the bull because he's only half the genetics. Buy a few good ones and keep the good progeny out of them and you'll probably get more improvement.

[novatech]

CrazyFarmgirl

3 things I see. You know you need to make improvements . And second you are taking action. Third you are asking for opinions to gain knowledge. In my book that puts you ahead of most.
You certainly need a fourth when you ask...A thick skin.