Advise needed on implanting calves!

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Anonymous

:?: I am thinking about implanting my calves this year and I have a few questions. I plan on selling them at 8 or 9 months old.

At what age should I implant them?
What product should I use?
Should I do delayed castration, castrate early or not at all?
Thanks for your help
Homer B.
 
HomerbinNC":3capafzi said:
:?: I am thinking about implanting my calves this year and I have a few questions. I plan on selling them at 8 or 9 months old.

At what age should I implant them?
What product should I use?
Should I do delayed castration, castrate early or not at all?
Thanks for your help
Homer B.

castrate early whether you implant or not.
implant at 4-5 months.
product will depend on whether you're implanting just steers or heifers too. we use synovex but don't implant any heifers.
 
i band my steers at 2-3 days old and implant then. when iwean my calves i implant again. i also do not implant heifers. just remeber everyone has an opinion you have to look at facilities for handling calves, i don't have them at all of my places,and i can wrestle them at 2 days :? 8)
 
I realize that calves that are implanted put on weight faster. What I'm curious about is if you have to feed hay or grain to get that extra grain if it's more economical then a non-implanted lighter calf on just pasture and mom.

dun
 
dun":1rrpb6ed said:
I realize that calves that are implanted put on weight faster. What I'm curious about is if you have to feed hay or grain to get that extra grain if it's more economical then a non-implanted lighter calf on just pasture and mom.

dun

we implant but don't feed extra hay or grain.
 
Just because you aren't feeding it, if they're on pasture they're getting it anyway. Maybe not enough to take advantage of the cost of the implant though.
A neigbor implanted half of his calves 5-6 weights. The half he implanted did gain more weight and did muscle somewhat better, but the went through hay significantly faster then the non-implanted ones.
He finally decided that implanting wasn't worth the extra feed required. In theory they should metabolize the feed more efficiently (that's what the dealers claim), but they still would need mmore feed. Why not try increasing the ration to a bunch of calves , some omplanted and some not and see how it works out.
A local dairy used to implant his Holsteins butcher calves but quit, he didn't feel it was worth while. I would be curious in the overall picture of things if the feed to take advantage of the implant would be that much more of an offset.
Around here, some folks will implant one year and not the next so it's hardto really see from year to year if there is truly a financial advantage.

dun
 
Leaving my bull calves intact for a longer period works well for me. Take advantage of God's hormones rather than synthetic. FYI- most of my calves at current are sold through markets rather than direct. I don't get a penny less for intact bull calves than I do for castrated calves.
 
D.R. Cattle":ox19gmmp said:
Leaving my bull calves intact for a longer period works well for me. Take advantage of God's hormones rather than synthetic. FYI- most of my calves at current are sold through markets rather than direct. I don't get a penny less for intact bull calves than I do for castrated calves.

That's great if you can get away with it. I've seen intact bulls docked hard on a consistent basis over many years. Around here it will cost you $30 to $60 a head. The more calves selling on any given day, the harder they dock. At that rate castrating is fast easy money.

Craig-TX
 
We band at spring workup, calves range from about a month and a half to a couple of weeks. Our marketing group will kick out anything that looks staggy, one nutters, late cuts etc.. Just part of the rules. The last loads of calves we sold all went to one feedlot at darn near high market. Our "gomer" that we're going to use for the second year, usaully we butcher the one we used and use a yearling each year, was cut at 5 days and he does the job for us. I have enough problems with the neighbors bulls, don't want any of our own. Persoanl preference. We did implant one year and they all lost 40 pounds the first week at the backgrounders and took a month to gain it back. But that had nothing to do with the implant, but I would have expected them to have gained it back faster being implanted.
I frequently try different things to see how they work, but in this case I want somebody else to do it.
Getting old I guess.

dun
 
Dun you raise a very interesting question that I've pondered often. We've never implanted. I know there are a gazillion studies out there that make lots of claims, but it all comes back to a couple of basic things for me. First, I'd prefer not to eat beef from an implanted animal. I know, I know. But that's my personal preference. Second, the whole thing sounds too much like a "something for nothing" deal. Ain't no such thing. As we all know, we're in the business of selling grass on the hoof. More meat and mass = more converted grass. You can't get something for nothing.

Craig-TX
 
Craig-TX":2sd412lh said:
Dun you raise a very interesting question that I've pondered often. We've never implanted. I know there are a gazillion studies out there that make lots of claims, but it all comes back to a couple of basic things for me. First, I'd prefer not to eat beef from an implanted animal. I know, I know. But that's my personal preference. Second, the whole thing sounds too much like a "something for nothing" deal. Ain't no such thing. As we all know, we're in the business of selling grass on the hoof. More meat and mass = more converted grass. You can't get something for nothing.

Craig-TX


Craig- I agree with you guys- If it was so great everyone would be doing it. I'm no tree-hugger, but I like to eat as pure and natural fed beef as possible- my own- fed on good old green grass and grain without all the added things.

Also with implanting if you don't know what you're doing or aren't careful you can end up with problems- infected ears, broken cartilage. I have neighbors that implant and I haven't seen that big a difference in calf weights.
 
:lol: implants help to put the feed into muscle rather than fat. feeding will make the calves fat, like creep feeding. if you band at two days and implant it just as good as letting them go till 400 pounds and banding or cutting. i have a friend that swears by the banders for bigger animals but i like it when they are little. and the hormones are gone by the time they are butchered. :| just my opinion :shock:
 
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