A Pretty sight today

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SRBeef

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I know you more experienced folks have seen lots of calves on cows. For a beginner like me out in the pasture today however I thought this was a particularly pretty sight this time of year for cow/calf people.

IMG_1689_Cow66_and_spring_calf_100309.jpg


This is one of my 1200 lb cows nursing her near 600 lb heifer calf. This calf should have an unadjusted 205 day weaning weight of about 630 lb when weaned in about 30 days. No creep, no implants. Cow condition is holding up pretty well so I thought I would follow Knersie's and others suggestions and leave the calves on the cows.

#66 did a good job this year. Jim
 
i dont care how meny pairs y0ou look at over your lifetime.you never tire of seeing fine looking pairs like that.
 
HerefordSire":2gm2x9cj said:
I was thinking T21 would throw her to over 700 with your resources and green thumb.

Well heck yes....I was planning on culling any calves that didn't wean at 800 lb!

700 lb calves from 1200 lb cows such as #66 pictured would be weaning a calf at over 58% of the dam's weight! That would burn her out. I want them to hit 50-53% no more. If the heifer pictured has a 205 weaning wt of 630 as I project that would be right around 52% of the dam's wt which is right where I want to be.

With some of my larger, 1500-1600 cows 700 may be possible. 52% of 1500 lb = 780 lb but the bigger cows tend to be more in the 43-45% ww/dam wt range. 1600 lb dam @ 44% = 704 lb.

I am not going to hit 700 from a 1200 lb cow nor do I want to.

We'll see in the next few weeks when my vet and I run them all thru the chute for preg check, fall shots and wt check. I haven't weighed them since they've been on new pasture for the past couple weeks.

Jim
 
bigbull338":284aol4f said:
i dont care how meny pairs y0ou look at over your lifetime.you never tire of seeing fine looking pairs like that.

That's exactly how I feel! Posting pictures of our cattle, it sometimes looks like we are fishing for compliments, as maybe HS is responding to.

I saw this pair out in the pasture today and just thought it was a beautiful sight - maybe the essence of a cow calf cattle operation. This picture made me very happy and the work involved worthwhile. I wanted to share it.

Bigbull, I'm glad it makes you feel the same way. Jim
 
Great looking heifer calf, JIm!

But I'm betting on just a little frustration on your part when she turns out to be not as moderate as her dam is in mature size. :p

George
 
Herefords.US":yju78iji said:
Great looking heifer calf, JIm!

But I'm betting on just a little frustration on your part when she turns out to be not as moderate as her dam is in mature size. :p

George

Thanks for kind words, George.

It will be interesting. This cows previous two bull calves however, from much larger bulls (one a Hereford rent a bull, one a friend's registered Angus), both came out fairly moderate so I'm hopeful.

Are you saying that frame size is not very inheritable?

I noticed Jerry Huth is starting to publish dam weight information - in his bull sale catalog from last spring. At the moment I don't know what T-21's dam weight was.

My goal is to develop a herd of cows like this one. I have a couple now and was planning on keeping all heifers out of both of them. I was hoping frame size is pretty heritable! Let's see, at this rate it should only take how may years to develop 30 of these cows???!

Thanks again.

Jim
 
SRBeef":31qcv1tc said:
bigbull338":31qcv1tc said:
i dont care how meny pairs y0ou look at over your lifetime.you never tire of seeing fine looking pairs like that.

That's exactly how I feel! Posting pictures of our cattle, it sometimes looks like we are fishing for compliments, as maybe HS is responding to.

I saw this pair out in the pasture today and just thought it was a beautiful sight - maybe the essence of a cow calf cattle operation. This picture made me very happy and the work involved worthwhile. I wanted to share it.

Bigbull, I'm glad it makes you feel the same way. Jim

You can add me to the list as well.

Pity the photo quality isn't better, it would look good on the office wall!

George, Jim's cows are pretty fat and for them to weigh 1200lbs would make them very very moderate so although there may be a little frame creep I doubt it will upset the apple cart.
 
Knersie,

Thank you for the kind words. Sorry about the photo quality - taken from a distance with a pocket camera on zoom then trimmed...

I hope you are right about the frame size. And thanks for the advice to not wean earlier.

Do you look at 205 day weaning weight as a percent of dam weight?

Jim
 
Well heck yes....I was planning on culling any calves that didn't wean at 800 lb!

You may have to if T21 performs like I think he could.

700 lb calves from 1200 lb cows such as #66 pictured would be weaning a calf at over 58% of the dam's weight! That would burn her out. I want them to hit 50-53% no more. If the heifer pictured has a 205 weaning wt of 630 as I project that would be right around 52% of the dam's wt which is right where I want to be.

Maybe you should get rid of T21 then or maybe get bigger cows?

With some of my larger, 1500-1600 cows 700 may be possible. 52% of 1500 lb = 780 lb but the bigger cows tend to be more in the 43-45% ww/dam wt range. 1600 lb dam @ 44% = 704 lb.

Most of the T21 growth should come after weaning up to month 24.

I am not going to hit 700 from a 1200 lb cow nor do I want to.

Want to sell T21? Another option would be to put the calves on a diet.

We'll see in the next few weeks when my vet and I run them all thru the chute for preg check, fall shots and wt check. I haven't weighed them since they've been on new pasture for the past couple weeks.

Jim

vet = resource; next year, you should be able to do everything the vet did for you.
 
SRBeef":2cy9nqpv said:
Knersie,

Thank you for the kind words. Sorry about the photo quality - taken from a distance with a pocket camera on zoom then trimmed...

I hope you are right about the frame size. And thanks for the advice to not wean earlier.

Do you look at 205 day weaning weight as a percent of dam weight?

Jim

yes, I avoid going over 50%.
 
HerefordSire":3fg6n6ax said:
...vet = resource; next year, you should be able to do everything the vet did for you.

I have a vet that is much more of a cattle man than I will ever be. I will never have his experience.

My budget for vet care and the supplies he provides in two scheduled visits (including preg checking), his bills divided by the total head = $28 per year per head. I can't prove the return on that investment but I think it is VERY good. What is the cost of losing even one head? Or of holding over an open cow a year and in essence "losing" a calf because of not preg checking or an incorrect preg check?? My vet seems to be able to correctly predict the month of pregnancy. This is very useful information.

He keeps up with everything in vaccines etc, he knows what is needed for our particular area and he provides it. Every time when we work cattle together I learn from him. He also looks each head over as we work them and he points out things to me. He is worth every penny. To me, preventive vet medicine is a part of being in the cattle business and so far has prevented any significant problems. I don't see any reason at all to try to do it myself. I can't anyway.

And no, thank you, I am not interested in selling my bull. It is unlikely I could find or afford a similar bull. I would suggest you talk to Jerry Huth about a similar bull.

Jim
 

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