My 2025 replacements - I think. Oops - double post

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TCRanch

TCRanch

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Winfield, KS
Narrowed it down to 8 heifers I want to retain. All subject to pelvic measurements in Feb. Pros/cons? Love 'em or hate 'em? All were born within 3 weeks of each other, so a consistent group. And I do NOT take good pictures.

Poppy. Mama is (was) Kubie and this was her 8th calf. Kubie is the cow that had the weird leg thing where she would shake it prior to calving. General consensus was a pinched nerve. But she never got over it, and I sold her at weaning. Poppy is the last of my Steamroller lineage; Steamroller was a whopping 2300 lbs. heavy bred but that fat girl calved like clockwork.
IMG_20251110_144218500~2.jpg

Jinx. Mama is Jimmie and Jinx is her 8th calf. She's already the leader of all my weaners - she calls the shots.
IMG_20251110_144409564_MF_PORTRAIT~2.jpg

Eggo. Mama is Pop Tart, and this is her 2nd calf. Granddaughter of Pink Tongue, my red headed stepchild that a lot of you may remember, compliments of our neighbors bull.
IMG_20251110_144551910_MF_PORTRAIT~2.jpg

Lexi. Mama is Lily and this is her 7th calf but only the 2nd heifer she's ever given me. Kept her sister, Leggo, last year.
IMG_20251110_144602658_MF_PORTRAIT~2.jpg

Tarnish. Mama is Rusty and this is her 2nd calf.
IMG_20251110_144748669_MF_PORTRAIT~2.jpg

Fire. Mama is Blaze and one of the few Simm-Angus cows I still have. Fire is her 4th calf.
IMG_20251115_085758906~2.jpg

BooBoo. This is Bebe's 14th calf - and last one. She was going to be 16 in a few months and had lost so much condition, it was time. I've kept all of Bebe's lineage and they are prolific.
IMG_20251115_085950617~2.jpg

Moxie. She's Squeaker's 13th calf and only the 4th heifer she's ever given me. Squeaker (officially, Pipsqueak) was a 40 lb preemie/subsequent orphan and still looks great at almost 15 years old.
IMG_20251115_090011647~2.jpg
 
Warren Allison said:
I like them all, but Fire and Booboo I like the most. I always thought y'all were all Angus, TC. How did Poppy come about?
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I still have a couple Hereford-Angus but yes, primarily purebred Angus. My best friend zeroed in on Fire when we worked them last spring. Only 3 months old at the time (give or take) and already stood out.

This is how Poppy came about:

1763678674628.jpeg
 
Ky hills said:
Good calves, they got good length, and look to have some frame too. I like all of those.
What size about will they be as mature cows?
Click to expand...
Good question. I think their mature weights will vary. I've "sized down" and not raising/retaining as many big cows. The matriarch of Poppy's lineage was 2300 heavy bred. Steamroller was large and in charge! But Kubie, Poppy's dam, was 1630 when I sold her last month. I still have a few that tip the scale, but I'd say the majority of my herd averages 1400-1500 lbs. Lexi's dam, Lily, is one of my bigger cows at a good 1800 lbs. On the flip side, Bebe, Booboo's dam, was down to a pitiful 1100 lbs. when I sold her and was never more than 1300 tops.

Just looking back at last year's retained heifers when I moved the 2023 bred heifers to the west 80 (temporarily, before moving them to the barn to calve them out), they grow A LOT in a year. When my vet was out in Feb to pelvic measure/BANGS, she guessed the majority of the bred heifers were already 1100-1200 lbs.

This is a pic of Peck at 23 months & Pickles at 11 months (sisters) last Feb, to give you an idea.
1763754302585.jpeg
 
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TCRanch said:
Good question. I think their mature weights will vary. I've "sized down" and not raising/retaining as many big cows. The matriarch of Poppy's lineage was 2300 heavy bred. Steamroller was large and in charge! But Kubie, Poppy's dam, was 1630 when I sold her last month. I still have a few that tip the scale, but I'd say the majority of my herd averages 1400-1500 lbs. Lexi's dam, Lily, is one of my bigger cows at a good 1800 lbs. On the flip side, Bebe, Booboo's dam, was down to a pitiful 1100 lbs. when I sold her and was never more than 1300 tops.

Just looking back at last year's retained heifers when I moved the 2023 bred heifers to the west 80 (temporarily, before moving them to the barn to calve them out), they grow A LOT in a year. When my vet was out in Feb to pelvic measure/BANGS, she guessed the majority of the bred heifers were already 1100-1200 lbs.

This is a pic of Peck at 23 months & Pickles at 11 months (sisters) last Feb, to give you an idea.
View attachment 63388
Click to expand...
Peck and Pickles are fine looking calves.
I like that 1400-1500 lb range too, I’ve had a some 1800-2000 pound cows but hadn’t been getting any that big in replacements for a while.
Sold a couple coming 4 yr olds the other night that only weight 1110
Mine have been pretty much 1200-1400 with a few bigger and a few smaller.
I’m guessing of the few I’ve got left they are going to fall between 1200-1300, with one being probably 1400 or a little more.
I’d like to get that size back up in future replacements.
 
Ky hills said:
Peck and Pickles are fine looking calves.
I like that 1400-1500 lb range too, I’ve had a some 1800-2000 pound cows but hadn’t been getting any that big in replacements for a while.
Sold a couple coming 4 yr olds the other night that only weight 1110
Mine have been pretty much 1200-1400 with a few bigger and a few smaller.
I’m guessing of the few I’ve got left they are going to fall between 1200-1300, with one being probably 1400 or a little more.
I’d like to get that size back up in future replacements.
Click to expand...
To get that size back up, that's when it helps to know your cattle and their lineage.

I have some bigger girls that have & raise average size calves. And I definitely don't retain any as replacements. And some smaller girls that consistently have 100+ lb. calves that grow like weeds. And then there's the middle of the road. I know that Tator's lineage, including her granddaughters and currently one great granddaughter, will have around a 100 lb. calf, regardless of how high CE bull I use. Spunkey's first calf was a 115 lb. heifer that I had to pull. She pelvic measured 168 and Tallywacker was the bull with a CE +9 (certainly not extreme CE but theoretically should throw 70-75 lb. calves). Anyway, that lineage tends to average 1500 lbs. full grown but they're also tall and long with Tator, the matriarch, as the exception. Short and just a butterball. But she was also a 40 lb. preemie/subsequent orphan that couldn't walk for 10 days. Goes back to "know your cattle" and it makes it easier to select replacements that will benefit your operation. Whether it's upsizing, downsizing, producing only terminal calves (no replacements), docility, CE/CEM, health history, all other traits.
 
Pelvic measurements and BANGS today! And in record time. I was the only casualty, when Tarnish blew out a super-sized load ALL OVER my coat while I was pushing her down the alley. So gross!!! But it happens.

So, here we go:
BooBoo - 156
Moxi - 150
Poppy - 144
Jinx - 175.5
Lexi - 162.5
Fire - 169
Eggo - 162.5
Tarnish - 156

150 is generally my minimum but made an exception with Poppy. I've done it before and honestly, have never had to pull one. Actually, the last ones I pulled were from heifers that were well above my 150 "sweet spot" but I wasn't sure when they started hard labor and felt they were taking too long. One other measured 169 but comes from a lineage that just grows big calves. And she had a 115 lb heifer. Overall, I'm good with the results.

Bred heifers on one side. I'm moving them to the barn in about a week and will calve them out there.IMG_20260210_130440255.jpg
Replacements:
IMG_20260210_130516898.jpg
 
branxchar&charx said:
They'll cough and them calves will come flying out!
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Delta's dam measured an epic 232! Noticed she was acting like she was just starting labor when I went down to feed. Came back maybe 30 minutes later and she was licking off her calf. In her case, your analogy is not wrong! Hoping Delta and the others follow suit.🤞
 
I am sorry I seem to see so many posts too late. But my favorites are Boo Boo first and then Moxie. Tarnish seems to have a good volume to her gut, but not the density of shoulder that the first two do. They are all good calves but those are the two I like the best.
One of the first things I look at on a calf is the size of the forearm. It seems to develop first. It works on horses as well.
 

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