Angus Heifer Weaning Weights

[Angus Cattle Shower]

We weaned my heifer lastnight, and her weaning weight is 550. That is also her 255 day wt. She was born on Feb. 27, and has been fed on only grass and good hay. What does everyone think?
Her bloodlines are Ranchers choice on her Dam's side, and her sire is Woodhill's Triple threat.

Also, what angus bull does everyone think i should a.i. her to? I think she could use a little more depth, and possibly more milk. also the bull has to have good calving ease and a low bw.

Thanks

 

[aggie03]

Woodhill Triple Threat Thats a blast from the Past!! We had few of his daughters, they did a good job. As far as A.I. sire I would go with either New Design 878 or New Design 1407. Both are sure bet calving easy sires with good growth and maternal abilities. Both can be purchased through ABS. Good Luck with her.

 

[aggie03]

Woodhill Triple Threat Thats a blast from the Past!! We had few of his daughters, they did a good job. As far as A.I. sire I would go with either New Design 878 or New Design 1407. Both are sure bet calving easy sires with good growth and maternal abilities. Both can be purchased through ABS. Good Luck with her.

 

[ollie']

550 is way light out of a mature cow in most parts of Canada.

 

[purecountry]

550 is way light out of a mature cow in most parts of Canada.

Says you. It all depends on what you want. 550 lbs translates into a 12-1400 lb mature cow. Practical, economical, big enough to get the job done. Depending on your situation and the dam, I wouldn't see anything wrong with it. If the dam weighs 1800 lbs though, that's another story. My benchmark for my cowherd, is that they should raise 50% of their own bodyweight. A 1200 lb momma weaning off a 550 lb heifer on an average year could be OK, and there should be no reason why she won't develop into a highly productive cow. If the momma is 1800 lbs and only weaned 550 lbs on an average year, yeah it's not too good.

In all, I'd say use your best judgement. A cow who never comes in open, has a good temperament, and weans a healthy quality calf year in year out, is the type we always keep heifers from. Don't keep heifers from cows with poor traits so they can pump them back into your gene pool.

 

[ollie']

550 is way light out of a mature cow in most parts of Canada.

Says you. It all depends on what you want. 550 lbs translates into a 12-1400 lb mature cow. Practical, economical, big enough to get the job done. Depending on your situation and the dam, I wouldn't see anything wrong with it. If the dam weighs 1800 lbs though, that's another story. My benchmark for my cowherd, is that they should raise 50% of their own bodyweight. A 1200 lb momma weaning off a 550 lb heifer on an average year could be OK, and there should be no reason why she won't develop into a highly productive cow. If the momma is 1800 lbs and only weaned 550 lbs on an average year, yeah it's not too good.

In all, I'd say use your best judgement. A cow who never comes in open, has a good temperament, and weans a healthy quality calf year in year out, is the type we always keep heifers from. Don't keep heifers from cows with poor traits so they can pump them back into your gene pool.

Well I have never been very good at math but here in the states 50% of 1100 lbs is 550. Not 50% of 1400. That would be 700.
Most cows I am familiar with weigh around 1300. It may just be the area I am in but I rarely see any 1100 pounders. I have a couple heifers . 9N for example this year probably weighs around 1050. She is one of the smaller more sucked down heifers I have this year . She did a good job raising a calf considering the conditions though. Her calf weighed 615 on 10/4. He was born 2/9 out of a heifer bull and a heifer cow. It was a sorry summer or her calf would have weighed more. I have always believed that the Canadian plains were some of the more productive realestate in the world. I am certain that Canada is a better environment for raising cattle than fescue. So ...Yes, 550 is light for a mature cow. Says me!

 

[Farmgirl]

I have a couple heifers . 9N for example this year probably weighs around 1050. She is one of the smaller more sucked down heifers I have this year . She did a good job raising a calf considering the conditions though. Her calf weighed 615 on 10/4. He was born 2/9 out of a heifer bull and a heifer cow.

Ollie,

What heifer bull is the calf from.

Farmgirl

 

[ollie']

Paradox. They are running a hundred pounds light on the heavy end from my other bulls .

 

[Brandonm2]

I got no problem at all with a Heifer weaning at 550 pounds. That is probably close to ideal. I get real scared of big heifers that wean over 650 pounds. A lot of people like the guy in the cover article of the last 'Angus Beef Bulltein' (the 2005 CAB award winner) are shipping the top 10% of their heifers because they get too many too heavy mature cows.

 

[J&T Farm]

If I figured that right thats on the light side considering that calf is 8 1/2 months old.

 

[joe]

Dun had some "magic" numbers that he uses, that I can't seem to find the post from. But I thought he saud the calf should weigh 3% (more?) of what the cow weighs? and wean at 60% of her body weight? Dun?

 

[dun]

Dun had some "magic" numbers that he uses, that I can't seem to find the post from. But I thought he saud the calf should weigh 3% (more?) of what the cow weighs? and wean at 60% of her body weight? Dun?

Must be another dun, the only magic number I know if is "911"

dun

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

A cow should easily calve 8% of her body weight, and wean 50% of her body weight. That means a 1300# cow should easily have a 104# calf and it should weigh 650# at 205 days old.
Using your figures, your calf has a 442# 205 weight. So if she is out of a 900# cow, guess that's an OK weight.
We're not trying to be nasty, but you asked, and those are the facts. A 442# calf is not good in my book.

 

[Farmgirl]

A cow should easily calve 8% of her body weight

Jeanne,

By a cow, do you mean not a first-calf heifer? Is there a different rule of thumb for first-calf heifers?

Thanks,
Farmgirl

 

[DD RANCH]

Iweighed my registered calves yeasterday the heaviest heifer was a BCC Bushwacker daughter from a 1st calf heifer 650 #s the cow weighs around a 1000#s the calf was born Feb 6th

Here she is

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I believe those percentages are true for cows & heifers. A heifer will weigh a lot less than a cow. Therefore, a heifer weighing 1000# should be able to calf an 80# calf without assistance. That 1000# heifer should grow up to a 1300# cow and should be able to have a 104# calf.

DD RAnch - that would make your calf (by my calculations) 260 days old = 513# 205 day weight. That's making the calf about 50% of dams weight.

 

[Angus Cattle Shower]

Yes, but she diddnt have any creep, or grain. Just an unlimited amount of fresh hay and a bit of grass.

P.S. This is the cows 2nd calf, and shes 1150 lbs

 

[El_Putzo]

This discussion is the very reason why I don't put much weight on the WW of a calf, unless it is reported at exactly 205 days, or close, and adjusted to 205. Sometimes it's easy to let numbers escape us. And on an animal that is gaining 2.5-3lbs per day, a couple of forgotten weeks of age could make a big difference.

I hear too many old farmers around here (my home) say "Yeah, I weaned my calves and sold them the same week, and most of them weighed over 800 pounds!" I say that's great, but you left out the part of the story where you didn't wean till November and most of your calves were born in January! Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we get every calf weaned at exactly 205 days, by any means, but I also don't go around telling people that we wean 800 lb calves all the time either. I may get scolded for this one, but I'm sure most of you have encountered the same thing. It's gottent to the point when I hear these old guys talking, I just take what they say and cut it in half, which is probably closer to the truth. I'll admit though, it is funny to hear just how much BS they think they can get you to believe.

We don't usually figure adjusted 205 day weights when picking out replacements. We do however take into consideration actualy BW and WDA( weight per day of age) and compare them in their contemporary group. I think WDA paints a more accurate picture of how well a calf gains weight. JMO.

 

[Susie David]

IMO it depends on the condition of the calf. We have one baldy calf out of our o'l boss cow (~1250) that weaned at 645 and a steer calf out of a early bred angus heifer that weaned at 525 both look good but the steer will never be a large animal but is about one half of the dam's weight and is expected to have a longer introduction into the production cycle (finishing).
DMc

 

[Angus Cattle Shower]

We don't usually figure adjusted 205 day weights when picking out replacements. We do however take into consideration actualy BW and WDA( weight per day of age) and compare them in their contemporary group. I think WDA paints a more accurate picture of how well a calf gains weight.

is this like average daily weight gain?