Are my cows too fat ?

[MurraysMutts]

Here's my Bertha. When I bought her, she was by far my biggest cow. Gave about 700 for her. That's less than 50 cents a pound I guess. Had to buy 4 to get her at that price. Then get her bred... lol


Not the most flattering picture here....



Part of the reason she was so large then, was she was carrying twins. Seven is hers.

Here she is after calving. I'm not sure who looks more proud. Mama or baby.

 

[Dubcharo]

We send 16 cows for slaughter this summer, average weight 1800lbs with 3 over 2000lbs!

 

[MurraysMutts]

We send 16 cows for slaughter this summer, average weight 1800lbs with 3 over 2000lbs!

Charolais cows??

 

[Dubcharo]

We send 16 cows for slaughter this summer, average weight 1800lbs with 3 over 2000lbs!

Charolais cows??

Yes, we have 120 charolais purebred cows. Each year we send 15-20 cows to town.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I didnt realize the cows got that big.
I bet they make a heck of a steak.

 

[Dubcharo]

I didnt realize the cows got that big.
I bet they make a heck of a steak.

We are eating one right now, a 2017 cow with a mouth problem (swelling) she gave us over 900lbs of ground meat. I don't have the live weight on her, she went to a local butcher but she must have been around 1800lbs too.

 

[TCRanch]

Here's my Bertha. When I bought her, she was by far my biggest cow. Gave about 700 for her. That's less than 50 cents a pound I guess. Had to buy 4 to get her at that price. Then get her bred... lol


Not the most flattering picture here....



Part of the reason she was so large then, was she was carrying twins. Seven is hers.

Here she is after calving. I'm not sure who looks more proud. Mama or baby.

I have a Big Bertha and her calf this year is Betty Boop

 

[farmerjan]

Nice to see Dubcharo posting. I like their pics of the chars....How was your year this year? Heard it was terrible dry in parts of Mass, aren't you in the eastern part of Canada? Did you get enough rain and make decent hay this year? You have some nice looking cattle.

 

[Dubcharo]

Nice to see Dubcharo posting. I like their pics of the chars....How was your year this year? Heard it was terrible dry in parts of Mass, aren't you in the eastern part of Canada? Did you get enough rain and make decent hay this year? You have some nice looking cattle.

Thanks for the comments!
Yes it was dry here until June 22, after that it was hot an humid so we caught up a normal summer. First hay cut was less than half a normal year.
We export a charolais cow to Virginia a first for us. (Dubuc Bella to Jmar genetics) It's a bit due to that dry period, we were not sure if we'll have enough pasture and hay. We send some heavy cows to town also.

 

[Stickney94]

What should I do?

Ignore them.

That extra condition may come in handy this winter. The spigot here stopped 8 weeks ago. Since then my formerly pasture fat cows have probably trimmed off close to a full BCS score (from say a 7 to a 6) as the pasture has slowly gone dormant. I'm on the verge of having to yard them up and start feeding hay (due to zero regrowth in pastures).

In short, easier to lean them up than to get them in better condition.

 

[Dave]

Send all them over weight fat cows here. I will turn them out on pasture on the hill. It will be a better diet plan than Jenny Craig.

 

[Hpacres440p]

What should I do?

Ignore them.

That extra condition may come in handy this winter. The spigot here stopped 8 weeks ago. Since then my formerly pasture fat cows have probably trimmed off close to a full BCS score (from say a 7 to a 6) as the pasture has slowly gone dormant. I'm on the verge of having to yard them up and start feeding hay (due to zero regrowth in pastures).

In short, easier to lean them up than to get them in better condition.

We're doing hay and about 3 lbs of cubes every 3 days for our (very) small herd-we haven't had rain in 2 mo either, and don't want to destroy what little grass there is. These are both not quite 3 years old, chocolate is the size that we're aiming for, both are 7 mo bred to Aberdeen bulls to get a smaller next generation. Big girl holds condition so easily, she aborted at 7 mo as a heifer, if she loses this one she should have hellaciously good marbling! She is too wide for the chute at this point...the cows across the street look thin compared to our chunky butts.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Send all them over weight fat cows here. I will turn them out on pasture on the hill. It will be a better diet plan than Jenny Craig.

Are the cowboys thin there too?

 

[Dave]

Send all them over weight fat cows here. I will turn them out on pasture on the hill. It will be a better diet plan than Jenny Craig.

Are the cowboys thin there too?

The actual working cowboys? Yep, they are a pretty thin bunch. Some of us over the hill retired cowboys could stand to lose a pound or two.