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<blockquote data-quote="Nesikep" data-source="post: 1108082" data-attributes="member: 9096"><p>I would cull her if she was UNABLE to have a calf bigger than that... She can have low birthweights all she wants all long as they grow well. Remember too that the shape of the calf plays a large role too... if you have a blockheaded stubby bull calf at 80 lbs he might be more trouble than a long slender 100lb'er. One of my better cows had an 85 lb bull calf last year (my average BW is 100lbs), but I know that she'd be fine with anything up to 130 or so. I left that bull calf intact and he weaned the heaviest of them all. I like having cows I can trust with higher birthweights because that opens up the field in the bull market and you can probably get a much better price on a bull that was a couple lbs heavier than the norm, just because there's less demand for them.</p><p></p><p>Edit.. didn't see page 2 and Randi's post, which I completely agree with..</p><p></p><p>There is a "good" range, and 80-110 should be worry-free for any decent cow, and 70-90 for heifers should be about right.. going too far either way <em>deliberately</em> is pointless, but I don't see a reason to cull for small birthweights if the weaning weights are good.</p><p></p><p>I had one cow who was a small cow by my standards, 4 years old, probably frame 5, who'd throw 110 lb calves and wean them at 450.. I wanted to ship her badly, but I waited until she calved again, then I gave her calf to another cow who lost hers and she got shipped. The cow who adopted died of heatstroke in july, and once again the calf was orphaned... but he was 600 at shipping time nevertheless and fit in well with the other average steers</p><p></p><p>I found that calves that are born heavier sometimes have a harder time standing up, but they start to eat hay MUCH earlier than lighter calves... I found that typically they'll start eating around 120-140 lbs, and I found that the really big guys (130 lb BW's) start eating hay within a week, and be chewing cud by 3 weeks. The lighter calves will be a couple weeks behind them. Also, a heavier BW calf will need a better milking mother to give him a good start, while a small calf can do better on less until the cow "gets going" with milk production, which is especially true in first calfers.</p><p></p><p>While a graph of Randi's numbers clearly show increased weaning weights with increased birthweights, is it a reasonable assumption that the bigger cows typically had the bigger calves, and that they also had more milk?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nesikep, post: 1108082, member: 9096"] I would cull her if she was UNABLE to have a calf bigger than that... She can have low birthweights all she wants all long as they grow well. Remember too that the shape of the calf plays a large role too... if you have a blockheaded stubby bull calf at 80 lbs he might be more trouble than a long slender 100lb'er. One of my better cows had an 85 lb bull calf last year (my average BW is 100lbs), but I know that she'd be fine with anything up to 130 or so. I left that bull calf intact and he weaned the heaviest of them all. I like having cows I can trust with higher birthweights because that opens up the field in the bull market and you can probably get a much better price on a bull that was a couple lbs heavier than the norm, just because there's less demand for them. Edit.. didn't see page 2 and Randi's post, which I completely agree with.. There is a "good" range, and 80-110 should be worry-free for any decent cow, and 70-90 for heifers should be about right.. going too far either way [i]deliberately[/i] is pointless, but I don't see a reason to cull for small birthweights if the weaning weights are good. I had one cow who was a small cow by my standards, 4 years old, probably frame 5, who'd throw 110 lb calves and wean them at 450.. I wanted to ship her badly, but I waited until she calved again, then I gave her calf to another cow who lost hers and she got shipped. The cow who adopted died of heatstroke in july, and once again the calf was orphaned... but he was 600 at shipping time nevertheless and fit in well with the other average steers I found that calves that are born heavier sometimes have a harder time standing up, but they start to eat hay MUCH earlier than lighter calves... I found that typically they'll start eating around 120-140 lbs, and I found that the really big guys (130 lb BW's) start eating hay within a week, and be chewing cud by 3 weeks. The lighter calves will be a couple weeks behind them. Also, a heavier BW calf will need a better milking mother to give him a good start, while a small calf can do better on less until the cow "gets going" with milk production, which is especially true in first calfers. While a graph of Randi's numbers clearly show increased weaning weights with increased birthweights, is it a reasonable assumption that the bigger cows typically had the bigger calves, and that they also had more milk? [/QUOTE]
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