Backbone Ranch
Well-known member
We are in the midst of calving out our first-calf heifers right now. So far, we have had two bull calves, two heifer calves, and have two left to go. The two bull calves weighed 68 and 82 lbs, and the two heifer calves weighed 58 and 70 lbs.
The first heifer calved a week early on September 13th to a 58 lb heifer. The calf is pictured below at 4 weeks of age. She already looks a lot like her mother did as a calf. Both the sire and dam of the 632 heifer scored 10 out of 10 on the Igenity tenderness test. She is already my favorite calf in the fall calf crop.
This second photo shows OK Lucy with her 2 week old bull calf. This bull calf weighed 82 lbs and already has a lot of width for his age. He is one of the darkest purebred calves that we have had. Both the sire and dam of the 633 bull calf also scored a perfect 10 out of 10 on the Igenity tenderness test.
The rest of these calves were born between early March and mid-April this year. This particular heifer calf is a 6.5 month old daughter of a very dark Murray Grey bull, MCC Trigger's Champion. She is out of a 5 year old cow and was born on March 20th at 80 lbs. We will keep her as a replacement.
This heifer is also a keeper. She is out of one of our biggest cows and was 98 lbs at birth. We really like her depth through her heart girth and flank. She is pictured here at 7 months.
This next heifer is another one of my favorites. Her dam is 8 years old, and this is her second heifer calf. Her mother is very deep bodied, long, has a great temperament, and a perfect udder. This heifer was 76 lbs at birth and is pictured at 6 months of age. Her sire is BB Uncle Tony.
This was the first bull calf born this year. He was 86 lbs at birth and is sired by the Australian bull, Wallawong Under the Radar. He started out by growing upwards, but he has deepened and widened substantially over the past few months. He is 7 months old now.
We have a handful of Murray Grey crosses in our herd, including a cow that is part Guernsey. She is relatively young, just 4 years old, but she has proven her worth time and time again. As a first calf heifer, she raised two calves for us and she allows us to milk her in the middle of the pasture. She gave birth to a spotted bull calf this year. He just turned 6 months old and is one of the biggest and beefiest calves in the calf crop. He should be great in our beef program.
We purchased this cow from a Murray Grey breeder up in Oklahoma last fall. She is currently 5 1/2 years old and is raising a heifer calf that is a full sister to OK Lucy (above). We AIed this cow this past June with hopes of getting a nice bull out of her next year. Her current heifer calf is a keeper and is 7 months old.
This is another cow that we purchased from Carole Brown and Tommy Gunn's herd in Oklahoma last fall. This particular cow was born in 2010 and is the mother of the 614 heifer. She has plenty of milk, a lot of depth, and is a great mother.
This last cow, OK Sadie, is one that is having a profound impact on our herd. She is the mother of our current herdbull, BB Uncle Tony, and much of our herd is descended from her. She is dry currently, but she is 13.5 years old. In fact, the 633 bull calf is her great great great grandson. Sadie is a frame 3 and weighed 1240 lbs after weaning her calf. We have a handful of embryos from her that we intend to use in the near future.
This final photo shows our current herdsire, BB Uncle Tony, at 4.5 years. He is a son of OK Sadie and weighed 682 lbs at weaning. He is a frame 4 and weighed 1,860 lbs this past May. Tony will be the sire of most of our 2017 calves. Tony's first daughter gave birth this fall. She has a terrific udder and is a great mother.
We will be weaning the calves in another three weeks or so. We have one or two cows that are a bit more drawn down than the rest, but they are towards the older end of the herd. I think that, as a group, the calves will be heavier this year than they have been in the past. I am really excited to see how these heifers grow out over the coming years.
The first heifer calved a week early on September 13th to a 58 lb heifer. The calf is pictured below at 4 weeks of age. She already looks a lot like her mother did as a calf. Both the sire and dam of the 632 heifer scored 10 out of 10 on the Igenity tenderness test. She is already my favorite calf in the fall calf crop.
This second photo shows OK Lucy with her 2 week old bull calf. This bull calf weighed 82 lbs and already has a lot of width for his age. He is one of the darkest purebred calves that we have had. Both the sire and dam of the 633 bull calf also scored a perfect 10 out of 10 on the Igenity tenderness test.
The rest of these calves were born between early March and mid-April this year. This particular heifer calf is a 6.5 month old daughter of a very dark Murray Grey bull, MCC Trigger's Champion. She is out of a 5 year old cow and was born on March 20th at 80 lbs. We will keep her as a replacement.
This heifer is also a keeper. She is out of one of our biggest cows and was 98 lbs at birth. We really like her depth through her heart girth and flank. She is pictured here at 7 months.
This next heifer is another one of my favorites. Her dam is 8 years old, and this is her second heifer calf. Her mother is very deep bodied, long, has a great temperament, and a perfect udder. This heifer was 76 lbs at birth and is pictured at 6 months of age. Her sire is BB Uncle Tony.
This was the first bull calf born this year. He was 86 lbs at birth and is sired by the Australian bull, Wallawong Under the Radar. He started out by growing upwards, but he has deepened and widened substantially over the past few months. He is 7 months old now.
We have a handful of Murray Grey crosses in our herd, including a cow that is part Guernsey. She is relatively young, just 4 years old, but she has proven her worth time and time again. As a first calf heifer, she raised two calves for us and she allows us to milk her in the middle of the pasture. She gave birth to a spotted bull calf this year. He just turned 6 months old and is one of the biggest and beefiest calves in the calf crop. He should be great in our beef program.
We purchased this cow from a Murray Grey breeder up in Oklahoma last fall. She is currently 5 1/2 years old and is raising a heifer calf that is a full sister to OK Lucy (above). We AIed this cow this past June with hopes of getting a nice bull out of her next year. Her current heifer calf is a keeper and is 7 months old.
This is another cow that we purchased from Carole Brown and Tommy Gunn's herd in Oklahoma last fall. This particular cow was born in 2010 and is the mother of the 614 heifer. She has plenty of milk, a lot of depth, and is a great mother.
This last cow, OK Sadie, is one that is having a profound impact on our herd. She is the mother of our current herdbull, BB Uncle Tony, and much of our herd is descended from her. She is dry currently, but she is 13.5 years old. In fact, the 633 bull calf is her great great great grandson. Sadie is a frame 3 and weighed 1240 lbs after weaning her calf. We have a handful of embryos from her that we intend to use in the near future.
This final photo shows our current herdsire, BB Uncle Tony, at 4.5 years. He is a son of OK Sadie and weighed 682 lbs at weaning. He is a frame 4 and weighed 1,860 lbs this past May. Tony will be the sire of most of our 2017 calves. Tony's first daughter gave birth this fall. She has a terrific udder and is a great mother.
We will be weaning the calves in another three weeks or so. We have one or two cows that are a bit more drawn down than the rest, but they are towards the older end of the herd. I think that, as a group, the calves will be heavier this year than they have been in the past. I am really excited to see how these heifers grow out over the coming years.
