Big calves this year??

[got_cows?]

Has anyone else been having big calves this year? We knew we were in trouble when the first calf out of our bull was sideways and had to be pulled by the vet. 110 lbs worth. Our last four calves have been:

102 lbs. - first calf heifer
117 lbs. - 4th calf cow
119 lbs. 3rd calf cow
115 lbs. - 2nd calf cow.

Needless to say the bull is already gone. Only the first one had to be pulled, the rest had them on their own. Although the cow that had the 115 lb. one yesterday did have a pinched nerve or something because her rear left leg didn't work for awhile.
The AI calves only averaged 82 lbs. while the ones from our bull are over 101 pound average. Yikes! That's too big for our girls.
One thing that has impressed me is their vigor. Usually when we have big calves they are dumb. Everyone of these calves have been up and nursing right away.

 

[wyoming_cowboy]

I had some big calfs but they were out of bieviugh bulls.
went back to aungus bulls some were a little big for mu likeing
93 to 101 but most right in the 80 range

 

[glover36]

135 pound hereford/shorrthorn 12 year old cow

 

[Ryan]

We don't weigh them, but I did notice that our calves this year were a little larger than they have been. And now that they are getting a little age to them they are looking better than last year.

 

[Roadapple]

My Braunvieh's are running 70 to 74 lbs. and Angus are 80 to 92 lbs. All are little spitfires in matter of mins. Like them Braunvieh's. Last yrs. Braunvieh's flat out blew the Angus away.

 

[cfpinz]

got-cows? - If you don't mind me asking, what breed are the cows/bull? What are your normal bw's? And what is the breeding of the bull? Just for my curiosity.

cfpinz

 

[got_cows?]

They are all Limousin cows except for our two Charolais. The bull is a fullblood Limousin. He does have a 3.6 BW but we have used that BW before and never had calves the size of these. Even the one Charolais that has had three 75 lb. calves had a heifer that was over 100 lbs. this year. The only two smaller calves out of this bull are out of our two fullblood cows. Both in the low 80's. :roll:
Our usual birthweights have been in the 70s and 80s with the guaranteed 100 lb. calf that we always get out of #9. (She had her calf yesterday and it was a 104 lb. heifer, so not unusual for her).
The bull is out of Jupiter Online KTWO, which we had used before as an AI sire, with good results. His dam was an ET cow that my husband swears was the best cow we will ever own. Well, we bought her with her calf at side and she died four months later. Isn't that the way of it? Bloated up and died after laying on the haybale the wrong way.
My FIL, who has Charolais, has had some big calves this year too. Thought maybe the weather influenced the BWs somewhat.

 

[cfpinz]

Wow, those are some big calves. We had a very mild winter here and our calves were very average weightwise. But we're a long ways from Wisconsin! :lol:

It's probably wrong but here's a random thought: Do you think the gestation length could have been influenced by your new bull? I know gelbvieh's have an epd for this, but know absolutely nothing about limi's. If you pick up a couple of pounds from a bull that throws a slightly heavier calf and a few pounds from a longer gest, add a couple pounds from a good food source late in pregnancy, etc., next thing you know you've got a bunch of 100 lb calves. Just thinking out loud, take it as you will.

cfpinz

 

[TheBullLady]

We've been seeing larger calves this year so far. Have eight on the ground, and the last one was a 100 lb bull calf out of an 8 year old Simmental that's never had one over 70 lbs. Out of a Brahman bull. I've got my fingers crossed on the second calf heifer that is fixin' to calf now.

I think it must be the quality of the forage this winter / spring.

 

[got_cows?]

cfpinz - The Limousin epds used to contain a gestation length but they replaced it with a calving ease epd.
I went back and looked at my notes and I don't think the gestation was any longer than any other year. Had a few go 5-6 days late but most were either 1-2 days late, on time or even early. Although I do have one 1700 lb. cow that was due 4-27 and she still hasn't calved. Think of the size of that calf. Ugh.
Our bred cows are fed hay from the time they come off pasture in the fall until they calve. Maybe our hay was really good last year?? We did hay a couple of new fields last summer.
The bull had been used the year before on cross bred cows and those people didn't have overly large calves. The mystery continues. ;-)

 

[mnmtranching]

Got_cows, We had a nice mild winter up here in NC MN. Our calves been going mid 70's for Angus and mid 80's for Carolais.
No problems at all :shock:

mnmt