i had a heifer have a calf 2 weeks ago out of my judd ranch bull, i did not buy him for heifers, 73 lb act BW 1.3 HAHA, she got bred on the cow under 9 months. WOW what a monster calf, i went to check on her and when i seen the hooves sticking out i went and got help. everybody was doing hay, all i could see was hooves and not much more room. it took 5 of us and a set of pullers to pull the calf, he was a little swelled, head and front feet, and the heifer was down for 2 days. but they are doing great now, she is milking well and is a a good mother. thank the Lord for good neighbors who have a dairy with holstiens, and calf pullers, and experience. i have calved alot of heifers but not like that.
18 month old mother
- Thread starter jcarkie
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Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Glad to hear all ended well --- but --- you think a 73# calf is a monster???? what is the normal size of your calves? Do you have miniatures? What breed do you have?
Everything is relative. On my farm, 73# is fairly small. 140# would be a monster. We don't like anything over 100# (all males get castrated), but cows can spit out 125# with no problem. But, I have some pretty wide mommas.
Everything is relative. On my farm, 73# is fairly small. 140# would be a monster. We don't like anything over 100# (all males get castrated), but cows can spit out 125# with no problem. But, I have some pretty wide mommas.
MO_cows
Well-known member
Jeanne, I read that to mean the BULL's bw was 73, and the other number was the BW EPD.
Glad that the calf was saved, and that the cow recovered from the paralysis. Sounds like it took quite awhile to get the calf out so it easily could have been lost. What was the birthweight of the calf?
Glad that the calf was saved, and that the cow recovered from the paralysis. Sounds like it took quite awhile to get the calf out so it easily could have been lost. What was the birthweight of the calf?
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Mis-read - sorry about that! :hide:
hillsdown
Well-known member
Congrats on having a healthy calf and that mom is doing well.
Are you sure your herd bull bred the heifer and not a bull calf in the herd ? I have seen my girls being bred by their contemporary intact male calves at as young as 4 months ,but never have I seen my clean up bull breed any. Each year we abort them at weening.
Best of luck and am glad that she is up and doing well .
Are you sure your herd bull bred the heifer and not a bull calf in the herd ? I have seen my girls being bred by their contemporary intact male calves at as young as 4 months ,but never have I seen my clean up bull breed any. Each year we abort them at weening.
Best of luck and am glad that she is up and doing well .
jcarkie
Well-known member
all of mine are calves are steered and the herd bulls BW was 73, we were in the hay and didnt get to weigh him. by the day she calved she was still in the main herd with the judd ranch bull. when we got to the hips i thought it was not going to end well
Nesikep
Well-known member
sounds like a 2 year old heifer we had this spring with a 120 lb'er.. a couple years back we had a long yearling heifer calf... she did it by herself, but it was a pretty tiny calf (50 lbs)... she never did grow to be a good cow though, just stayed small and never made much milk
