Backbone Ranch
Well-known member
This spring's calving went without a hitch. Ended up with 19 heifer calves and 18 bulls. The AI calves were born first, followed by the natural service calves sired by BB Backbone's General. I have not done the math, but our average birth weight was heavier across the board this year. Not a bad thing, as everything was born unassisted, but definitely something we noticed. We will start watching for natural heats on May 1st and turn out the bulls on June 1st. This is one of the more exciting calf crops that we have had, in my opinion, and I am excited to see what they turn in to.
301 Bull- Born 2/17/23 at 100 lbs. He is sired by Fox Hill Francois, a Murray Grey bull out of New York. The dam of this particular calf has raised some awesome females for us.
312 Heifer- Born on 3/11 at 82 lbs. Her dam is a 2011 model and a full sibling to our previous herdsire, BB Uncle Tony. This is only the second heifer that she has had since 2015. She is sired by BB Backbone's General.
313 Bull- Another General calf born on 3/17. This one is out of a 2016 model cow. She is smaller framed but adds a lot of thickness to anything she is bred to. I think that this guy is already showing some potential.
315 Bull- This calf was born on 3/17 at 96 lbs. He is sired by Wallawong Under the Radar, an Australian Murray Grey bull that is in the top 10% of the breed for 200, 400, and 600 day weights and the top 5% of ribeye area. He is definitely growthier than we are used to.
320 Heifer- This was our lightest birthweight calf of the year, born on 3/26 at 66 lbs. She is sired by General and out of a BB Uncle Tony daughter.
330 Heifer- Born on 4/3 at 82 lbs. She is sired by General and is out of a 13 year old cow who is a great female producer. We have kept two full siblings to this heifer in recent years and are excited to see what this one turns into.
These next two are 5 and 4 year old 75% Murray Grey x 25% Angus females with their General heifers. Both of these cows are sired by BB Uncle Tony. The dams of these cows were both born in 2009 and are the oldest cows that we have producing in the herd currently.
301 Bull- Born 2/17/23 at 100 lbs. He is sired by Fox Hill Francois, a Murray Grey bull out of New York. The dam of this particular calf has raised some awesome females for us.
312 Heifer- Born on 3/11 at 82 lbs. Her dam is a 2011 model and a full sibling to our previous herdsire, BB Uncle Tony. This is only the second heifer that she has had since 2015. She is sired by BB Backbone's General.
313 Bull- Another General calf born on 3/17. This one is out of a 2016 model cow. She is smaller framed but adds a lot of thickness to anything she is bred to. I think that this guy is already showing some potential.
315 Bull- This calf was born on 3/17 at 96 lbs. He is sired by Wallawong Under the Radar, an Australian Murray Grey bull that is in the top 10% of the breed for 200, 400, and 600 day weights and the top 5% of ribeye area. He is definitely growthier than we are used to.
320 Heifer- This was our lightest birthweight calf of the year, born on 3/26 at 66 lbs. She is sired by General and out of a BB Uncle Tony daughter.
330 Heifer- Born on 4/3 at 82 lbs. She is sired by General and is out of a 13 year old cow who is a great female producer. We have kept two full siblings to this heifer in recent years and are excited to see what this one turns into.
These next two are 5 and 4 year old 75% Murray Grey x 25% Angus females with their General heifers. Both of these cows are sired by BB Uncle Tony. The dams of these cows were both born in 2009 and are the oldest cows that we have producing in the herd currently.
