Big cow, small calves!

[Ellie May]

Howdy ya'll! I have another question that that I've yet get answered. We have a real nice cow. We raised her off of our own cow and bull (that we sold). We kept her b/c we thought she would be a good breeder. She's gotta be at least 900 to 1100 pounds and as tall if not taller then our bulls. Real nice large cow. Well the first time she was bred her own father jumped the fence and bred her, it was bad but a nice calf, didn't make it though(that's when we looked into woven wire fencing w/ electric lines on top to seperate our heifers). Then on her second calf real nice calf (black baldie) but later as it grew it well actually it wouldn't grow, put on the weight, its eyes were weird kinda went wall eyed after a while, stayed small, it's ears were weird looking like they lost their hair or i dunno couldn't tell what was wrong, and was just pott bellied. We gave it shots and dewormer and everything (I suspect) it needed, and by weaning time was half the size of all the other calves. Her last one she threw was small to start out and died. All her calves were bull calves if that means anything?? Go figure, my dad says she doesn't put out enough milk, I say it's not that she doesn't put out enough but that the milk doesn't have the nutrients that the calf needs and she sucks it up all for herself. She's got good bloodlines, we thought that it was because she was too fat but she lost alot of weight before she had the last calf. So I dunno anyone ever hear of this?
Thank you!
Ellie May

:cboy:

 

[cattle_gal]

Yikes Ellie looks like your cow isn't a mom cow at all. She's a small to medium size cow if she only wieghs 900-1100 lbs. How tall is she? If you've done all the precautionary things like worming and the calf and cow are poor or dead then she's got no milk and/or she just got bad genes even though she may come out of a good looking cow. That happens. Was the poor producing cow really fat when she was a calf?

I'm affaid that this cow would be the first canadate for going to town. You have to look at her for what she has done(dead calves and almost could have been dead calf) not how her mother produced. Tough sometimes, but she's got 3 strikes already against her.

 

[docgraybull]

Sell her and leave it a mystery.

 

[TheBullLady]

In my opinion, a good cow is one that can have a calf as nice or nicer than the dam. Unfortunately, some cows just don't have good offspring.

She doesn't sound like a cow worth keeping to me. Even good bloodlines don't necessarily mean a good calf. I've had to sell a few myself that I had high expectations for, and they didn't come through.

 

[dun]

Even good bloodlines don't necessarily mean a good calf.

We shipped a cow this year that is out of one of our best cows and a sister to some top cows. Her calves just bever performed, she had plenty of milk but the genetics just didn't come through.
In the beagle field trialing game we had a saying, "Pedigrees don't tun rabbits". It;s just as accuarte with dogs, cattle, horses, and even people

dun

 

[sidney411]

I think you have given her enough chances, she should grow wheels. Prices are still good. Cut your losses now before she cost you even more money with dead and inferior calves. Sounds to me like she has not done her part in keeping the bills paid.

 

[Anonymous]

Howdy ya'll! I have another question that that I've yet get answered. We have a real nice cow. We raised her off of our own cow and bull (that we sold). We kept her b/c we thought she would be a good breeder. She's gotta be at least 900 to 1100 pounds and as tall if not taller then our bulls. Real nice large cow. Well the first time she was bred her own father jumped the fence and bred her, it was bad but a nice calf, didn't make it though(that's when we looked into woven wire fencing w/ electric lines on top to seperate our heifers). Then on her second calf real nice calf (black baldie) but later as it grew it well actually it wouldn't grow, put on the weight, its eyes were weird kinda went wall eyed after a while, stayed small, it's ears were weird looking like they lost their hair or i dunno couldn't tell what was wrong, and was just pott bellied. We gave it shots and dewormer and everything (I suspect) it needed, and by weaning time was half the size of all the other calves. Her last one she threw was small to start out and died. All her calves were bull calves if that means anything?? Go figure, my dad says she doesn't put out enough milk, I say it's not that she doesn't put out enough but that the milk doesn't have the nutrients that the calf needs and she sucks it up all for herself. She's got good bloodlines, we thought that it was because she was too fat but she lost alot of weight before she had the last calf. So I dunno anyone ever hear of this?
Thank you!
Ellie May

:cboy:

You wouldn't know a good cow if your life depended on it. Please post some pictures of these beauties. Your dad must have a heck of a good job if you can afford to run a herd like this!

 

[ollie]

Good to hear from you BP . Where you been?

 

[greenwillowherefords]

Howdy ya'll! I have another question that that I've yet get answered. We have a real nice cow. We raised her off of our own cow and bull (that we sold). We kept her b/c we thought she would be a good breeder. She's gotta be at least 900 to 1100 pounds and as tall if not taller then our bulls. Real nice large cow. Well the first time she was bred her own father jumped the fence and bred her, it was bad but a nice calf, didn't make it though(that's when we looked into woven wire fencing w/ electric lines on top to seperate our heifers). Then on her second calf real nice calf (black baldie) but later as it grew it well actually it wouldn't grow, put on the weight, its eyes were weird kinda went wall eyed after a while, stayed small, it's ears were weird looking like they lost their hair or i dunno couldn't tell what was wrong, and was just pott bellied. We gave it shots and dewormer and everything (I suspect) it needed, and by weaning time was half the size of all the other calves. Her last one she threw was small to start out and died. All her calves were bull calves if that means anything?? Go figure, my dad says she doesn't put out enough milk, I say it's not that she doesn't put out enough but that the milk doesn't have the nutrients that the calf needs and she sucks it up all for herself. She's got good bloodlines, we thought that it was because she was too fat but she lost alot of weight before she had the last calf. So I dunno anyone ever hear of this?
Thank you!
Ellie May

:cboy:

You wouldn't know a good cow if your life depended on it. Please post some pictures of these beauties. Your dad must have a heck of a good job if you can afford to run a herd like this!

I think it is pretty evident from the sum total of Ellie's posts that their whole herd is not like this. If you wish to see pictures of their cattle, they have a website where you may do so.

 

[buckaroo_bif]

I agree with the rest >sell her. Just a couple points I'd like to make just for the future. Do the calves nurse? Does the cow bag up well as iffen she is producing milk? Does the cow Let the calves nurse and for how long? Some cows are just bad mothers so some things to look for. Also iffen your running a closed herd it's important to not let the heifers get too fat up to 9 months of age or so or their udders will not develop well> too much fatty tissue. Observervation produces the best answers. > watch the herd everyday if possible and as much as possible.

 

[Ellie May]

HOwdy,
Sorry I don't know where my head was she weighs 1800 at least I'm still not good with telling weight yet. Just to be on the safe side she is a monster and yea I reckon we are gonna sell her. -----THE ONE-I'm sorry if I come off wrong I only ask questions that I need answered, so I may ask alot of bad questions. Sorry I'm not a bragger. And I don't appreciate the comment you made on our website, but that's the way it goes. I can't help steaks/hamburgers prob. sell easier then milk but that's the way it goes when your a dairy farmer, I don't mean to stirr up anything. B/c you need milk for calcium and meat for protien so both are needed just as much.
Ellie May


;-)