2018 Seventh Calf - 112 pounds!

[Bright Raven]

Ken: I put my back brace on for this one. Wasn't as bad as I thought. Took my time getting a good hold on her. Calf was standing waiting for me this morning. All quarters nursed. I separated mom, administered Inforce 3, weighed, and sprayed navel with iodine. I am out of First Defense. I took the picture after I turned her back to her calf.

Price is my biggest cow. A HPRP Cow sired by Shocking Dream. Probably 1650. She was born 2009. So almost 10 years old. She is so easy to AI and stick, all you have to do is wave the straw over her back. She is a hippo. You could put 5 calves on her and they would not pull her down. Excellent feet. Udder is deteriorating. Her calves are always a 100 pounds.

Dam: Price
Sire: Broadway
Due: 9/9/2018
DOB: 9/5/2018
Gestation 281 days
BW: 112 pounds, Heifer.

 

[Bright Raven]

Gestation and BW numbers:
1. Broadway Heifer: 279, 97 lbs.
2. W/C Lock N Load 1143Y Bull: 279, 78 lbs.
3. Cowboy Cut Heifer: 277, 70 lbs
4. HPF Optimizer Bull: 280, 88 lbs.
5. Cowboy Cut Bull: 282, 94 lbs.
6. W/C Lock N Load 1143Y Bull: 278, 82 lbs.
7. Broadway heifer: 281, 112 pounds.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Any white on the calf? The frame race is on.

 

[Bright Raven]

Any white on the calf? The frame race is on.

Absolutely ZERO white. This cow has never put a white hair on any of her calves.

 

[Bright Raven]

My birthweight average for the year just went up to 88.7.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Any white on the calf? The frame race is on.

Absolutely ZERO white. This cow has never put a white hair on any of her calves.

She's what I'd call homozygous black. That's crazy how things work out. Our best all around cow, a SimAngus finally had another heifer, it's only her second in heifer in 10 calves.

 

[Bright Raven]

Here is a picture of the condition this cow carries.

 

[Lazy M]

I try to keep an open mind, but I'd have a real hard time buying a bull that had a 112 lbs act bw. Have you thought of doing genomic testing to see what their ced and bw predictions would be for him?

 

[Bright Raven]

I try to keep an open mind, but I'd have a real hard time buying a bull that had a 112 lbs act bw. Have you thought of doing genomic testing to see what their ced and bw predictions would be for him?

Luke
First. I would not buy a bull throwing Broadway type birthweights. However, I sold a Broadway to a guy who wanted exactly that.

That cow definitely contributes pounds to BW. The fact is, however, she is literally the easiest calving cow I have. I see most of my calves born, she spits 100 pounders out like watermelon seeds.

Regarding the bull, Broadway is earning his reputation here for high birthweights. I got one more Broadway due this fall and I am going to get her up today, just in case she has an issue. I have probably used Broadway for the last time. Remember: I am 100 % AI, so I don't have a Broadway bull here.

I will probably keep this heifer. I can moderate the calf size by breeding her to a CE AI sire.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Ron, Cowboy Up is having some large BW calves.

 

[Bright Raven]

Ron, Cowboy Up is having some large BW calves.

Vince,

We all sometimes dismiss the role of the Dam in BW and CE. This cow is a great example. I might try breeding her to Uno Mas or Elevate and see if I can moderate her calf weight.

The reason Kris and I selected Broadway for this cow was because we knew she could handle a 100 pound calf. It was a mistake (but don't tell Kris I said that - she is way more Sensitive than I).

 

[True Grit Farms]

Ron, Cowboy Up is having some large BW calves.

Vince,

We all sometimes dismiss the role of the Dam in BW and CE. This cow is a great example. I might try breeding her to Uno Mas or Elevate and see if I can moderate her calf weight.

The reason Kris and I selected Broadway for this cow was because we knew she could handle a 100 pound calf. It was a mistake (but don't tell Kris I said that - she is way more Sensitive than I).

You have me confused which isn't very hard. I thought you wanted yearlings as big as possible to sell as bulls and heifers? Your target customers aren't buyers that breed for moderate framed animals. I'd be willing to guess that most of the folks that buy stock from you have the same management practices as you do. It's a long ways from the show ring to the sale barn.

 

[Bright Raven]

Ron, Cowboy Up is having some large BW calves.

Vince,

We all sometimes dismiss the role of the Dam in BW and CE. This cow is a great example. I might try breeding her to Uno Mas or Elevate and see if I can moderate her calf weight.

The reason Kris and I selected Broadway for this cow was because we knew she could handle a 100 pound calf. It was a mistake (but don't tell Kris I said that - she is way more Sensitive than I).

You have me confused which isn't very hard. I thought you wanted yearlings as big as possible to sell as bulls and heifers? Your target customers aren't buyers that breed for moderate framed animals. I'd be willing to guess that most of the folks that buy stock from you have the same management practices as you do. It's a long ways from the show ring to the sale barn.

There is an important upper limit to the birthweight I want. I am getting to the age when lifting 100 pound plus calves is too much.

 

[Lazy M]

I try to keep an open mind, but I'd have a real hard time buying a bull that had a 112 lbs act bw. Have you thought of doing genomic testing to see what their ced and bw predictions would be for him?

Luke
First. I would not buy a bull throwing Broadway type birthweights. However, I sold a Broadway to a guy who wanted exactly that.

That cow definitely contributes pounds to BW. The fact is, however, she is literally the easiest calving cow I have. I see most of my calves born, she spits 100 pounders out like watermelon seeds.

Regarding the bull, Broadway is earning his reputation here for high birthweights. I got one more Broadway due this fall and I am going to get her up today, just in case she has an issue. I have probably used Broadway for the last time. Remember: I am 100 % AI, so I don't have a Broadway bull here.

I will probably keep this heifer. I can moderate the calf size by breeding her to a CE AI sire.

I guess I'm confused. Is the new calf a heifer or bull? If heifer, I'd probably keep her too based on the good history from the cow. Or if you don't want her, I'm sure that there's a farm in Richmond that would welcome her.

 

[Bright Raven]

I try to keep an open mind, but I'd have a real hard time buying a bull that had a 112 lbs act bw. Have you thought of doing genomic testing to see what their ced and bw predictions would be for him?

Luke
First. I would not buy a bull throwing Broadway type birthweights. However, I sold a Broadway to a guy who wanted exactly that.

That cow definitely contributes pounds to BW. The fact is, however, she is literally the easiest calving cow I have. I see most of my calves born, she spits 100 pounders out like watermelon seeds.

Regarding the bull, Broadway is earning his reputation here for high birthweights. I got one more Broadway due this fall and I am going to get her up today, just in case she has an issue. I have probably used Broadway for the last time. Remember: I am 100 % AI, so I don't have a Broadway bull here.

I will probably keep this heifer. I can moderate the calf size by breeding her to a CE AI sire.

I guess I'm confused. Is the new calf a heifer or bull? If heifer, I'd probably keep her too based on the good history from the cow. Or if you don't want her, I'm sure that there's a farm in Richmond that would welcome her.

This calf is a heifer.

 

[Nesikep]

With a few of my cows that throw high BW calves, there's nothing you can do as far as sire selection, they're going to make a big calf regardless.. they'd totally mess up a nice Low BW bull's stats! Somehow those same cows never need any assistance either though (they're all bigger girls)

 

[Bright Raven]

With a few of my cows that throw high BW calves, there's nothing you can do as far as sire selection, they're going to make a big calf regardless.. they'd totally mess up a nice Low BW bull's stats! Somehow those same cows never need any assistance either though (they're all bigger girls)

Exactly. This cow has a gigantic birthcanal. When you do a lot of AI, you get pretty good at telling the ones that are tight versus the ones with plenty of room. Price has a large birthcanal.

I have had the same thought you expressed. It would really wreck havoc on a bull's CE and BW numbers to breed a bunch of cows like Price to him.

 

[True Grit Farms]

With a few of my cows that throw high BW calves, there's nothing you can do as far as sire selection, they're going to make a big calf regardless.. they'd totally mess up a nice Low BW bull's stats! Somehow those same cows never need any assistance either though (they're all bigger girls)

The CE and BW numbers after about 5 years of history are fairly accurate. There's been a lot of testing done on what your thinking, and every time SS has shown that birthweight can be manipulated by bull choices. Everything works on percentages in the beef business, and the semen companies don't like when accidents like Broadway happen.

 

[Bright Raven]

Everything works on percentages in the beef business, and the semen companies don't like when accidents like Broadway happen.

Then, pray tell me, why do they still promote Broadway? He is still listed in their catalog. They carry his semen for sale right off the truck. I acknowledge they might be disappointed in his CE numbers but not enough to discontinue to package straws of his semen and market them with big flashy pictures.

 

[True Grit Farms]

With a few of my cows that throw high BW calves, there's nothing you can do as far as sire selection, they're going to make a big calf regardless.. they'd totally mess up a nice Low BW bull's stats! Somehow those same cows never need any assistance either though (they're all bigger girls)

Exactly. This cow has a gigantic birthcanal. When you do a lot of AI, you get pretty good at telling the ones that are tight versus the ones with plenty of room. Price has a large birthcanal.

I have had the same thought you expressed. It would really wreck havoc on a bull's CE and BW numbers to breed a bunch of cows like Price to him.

I'd be interested in what the birthweight of a heifer calf using Uno Mas would be. Or for a slim chance for a blazed faced calf why not breed her to Rapid Fire? Rapid Fire isn't proven yet but he's working on being the most CE blazed faced bull available from SS.