Birth Weight Averages - Area or Herd

[CattleAnnie]

So far it's been a slow night for births. Reading the comments from the wide variety of people that post on here has piqued my curiousity, so here goes:

In your experience, what is an average birthweight within your area / herd? Either or combined.


(Trying to make this a poll...here goes nothing)

Take care.

ps. Didn't know if which section was most appropriate to post this under, so stuck in the Everything Else category.

 

[certherfbeef]

Cattle Annie, you have my vote in the 80+ catagory. That is with in my herd of herefords and cross breds. I can't tell you anything about the herds in the area.

 

[Beefy]

i'm going to go with (IN GENERAL and knock on wood) 70-85.

 

[sidney411]

I don't see how anyone could fit into the "other" category unless they are raising minatures. We don't weigh our calves but I am estimating in the 70's

 

[Frankie]

I voted 70, but our calves are more likely in the 75-85 range. We try to keep the heifers in the low 70s. Bull buyers seem to shy away from bulls with extreme birthweights, so we use bulls with moderate BW EPDs and don't have many calves over 85 lbs born here.

 

[CowCop]

The Herf/Angus and the Simmentals averaged 80 lbs last season.
I use the hoof tape to get the weights. Its alot lighter, quieter & faster than the scales and MUCH easier on my old back. :)

Had one bull calf that was 110, sired by the same sire as the rest of the herd, however the mom was 2 weeks late calving.

 

[bwranch]

... we use bulls with moderate BW EPDs and don't have many calves over 85 lbs born here.

Must be coincidence ;-) since we all know you can't trust those danged 'ol EPD's. In general we don't use bulls (angus) with BW EPD's over 3.0 and our BW's average 70 - 80, knock on wood. I almost didn't reply because we've got a dozen heifers calving this spring, hope I didn't jinx things.

 

[shorty]

70 -80 lbs

 

[Campground Cattle]

Same here 70 to 80 lbs.

 

[fellersbarnoneranch]

herd averages 72lbs--interesting topic

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Our Longhorn calves are usually in the 50 to 60# range. A few in the 40 to 50#. If by chance a bull calf ends up 70 to 75# we either steer or eat him unless he has a fantastic pedigree...

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Within my herd its 70 to 80lbs. Where I work their average is 75 to 85lbs.


Katherine

 

[certherfbeef]

Cattle Annie, how bout you? What is your average? Are they all as big as the oxen twins you had a while back???



JMO here but, if you consistantly breed for tiny calves, 70 lbs give or take, then at some point down the road you are going to have heifers that are unable to have a 60 lb calf. Either because of pelvic size or the fact that they are genetically unable. I breed my heifers so they have, on average, an 80lb calf. Then my cows have no problem having a 90 or 110 lb calf. Now, that is not what I shoot for but, sometimes the hybrid vigor gets the best of me. Again, just my opinion.

 

[la4angus]

JMO here but, if you consistantly breed for tiny calves, 70 lbs give or take, then at some point down the road you are going to have heifers that are unable to have a 60 lb calf. Either because of pelvic size or the fact that they are genetically unable. I breed my heifers so they have, on average, an 80lb calf. Then my cows have no problem having a 90 or 110 lb calf. Now, that is not what I shoot for but, sometimes the hybrid vigor gets the best of me. Again, just my opinion.

Certherfbeef
I have to agree with your opinion on these light weight calves.

 

[Bez]

Actual numbers from cow and heifer herds - weighed with mobile scale mounted on 4-wheeler - or quad - depending on where you come from:

2003:

cow herd - 101 pounds
heifers - 83 pounds

2004:

cow herd - 98 pounds
heifers - 81 pounds

Cow herd both years - all unassisted
Heifers - 2003 - all unassisted
Heifers - 2004 - one assist - breach birth

Cow herd 80 animals.

Heifer herd - 20 animals on average

There you go,

Bez

 

[frenchie]

Averages birth weighs

80 lbs for heifers

90lb for cows

1 assist last yr on a cow calf was huge...I won,t post a weight as no-one would believe me I ,m 6ft 2 and could not straddle the calf to start him on the cow.

 

[catl]

Averages birth weighs

80 lbs for heifers

90lb for cows

1 assist last yr on a cow calf was huge...I won,t post a weight as no-one would believe me I ,m 6ft 2 and could not straddle the calf to start him on the cow.

Monster ? Come on Frenchie,let us know the weight. We know your calves are bigger in Canada because of the climate. :)

 

[CattleAnnie]

Thanks for all the replies! It's been very interesting to see the variation and similarities in different regions.

Our calving weights (we weighed a few the first year to give us a base to compare size of the calves born) tend to average around the 100 - 105 lb mark. Lows as light as 70 lbs in some red angus first calvers that I bought, and a high two years ago of 138lbs (weighed on a neighbour's scale when he was a couple hours old).

They are a typical commercial herd for this area - Britisher/Continental mixed cows. Some more straight bred than others and crossed with Sim and Char bulls.

Seeing Frenchie's post about monster calves brought to mind one I made here a year ago, so I took the liberty of reposting it to make him feel better about his Jumbo Calf.

~
The post about the downer cow brought an incident from last year to mind.
Got called down to one of the neighbours to help rig up a sling due to a downed cow. When I saw the calf that caused that cow so much damage, I made sure I took some pictures with the camera, because I figured nobody would believe it otherwise.

The cow "Freddie" was a big old beast, probably close to 1700lbs, and had given birth to successively larger calves each year. Last March she outdid herself, literally, as I finally was asked to put her down for them some weeks later. She had been the farm favorite I guess, and after all the blood, sweat, and tears they had poured into trying to get the old gal up, I couldn't blame them for not wanting to be around at her end.

The picture (sure hope this works, as I'm following the posting instructions given by our great guru) is of the calf at three (3) days of age.

A modest guess at his weight would be 160+ lbs (estimation based on the heaviest calf born here that year, which we borrowed a scale to weigh, and he was 138lbs - too big to fit under the top dividing bar in the maternity pen).

My neighbour Annette is standing beside this monster, and she is about 5'6", so that might give an idea of how immense that calf was... if he had been born blue, Paul Bunyon might have come looking for his ox.

This is an example of a genetic wreck in crossbreeding - cow was Sim and the bull Char. Thank God this doesn't happen often.
~

Take care.

 

[frenchie]

Cattle-Annie...that calf has the samecrunched up look to his legs as the one here did.Calf was about 3 months old before it looked normal..legwise.Cow here was a Simmental/Charolais cross bred to Gelbvieh bull.

 

[Bez]

That is a giant! Biggest ever born here weighed in at 125 pounds.

Catl - your comment about larger calves was interesting. I believe that while there are exceptions, in general it is true we have larger calves. And they tend to do very well when born in the cold. In fact I much prefer it to be cold for calving - far less problems with flies and sickness.

CattleAnnie - our cows average right around the 1600 pound mark. Had a buyer over today and he wants every calf left on the place from last year. I have a feeling wife is going to give them the toss and do the usual sniffling show as they leave on the truck. Then she is going to demand we go to dinner. So much for waiting for the hold back cheque - time is up.

I do not want to hijack this thread, but I need opinions - the next item is a stunner for us. It also will not completely clear up the bills - in fact it leaves another 40K to go - BUT ......

He also wants every bred cow on the place. And the price is in the 900 buck range. What to do, what to do. Said he'd never seen commercial HH that looked as good overall. Damn - now I have to make a decision and it is about 6 months before I really thought I would have to. Lots of years of work went into these girls. For those of you out there who do not keep records, it was our records and what they showed about the herd that made him give us a serious offer.

He really wants our newest bull - we bred him by fluke and once again - now what?

Man oh man oh man - NOW WHAT?

I think I will let wife make this decision - I honestly do not think I can.

Bez

PS - frenchie - post the weight. I have seen them in the 150 pound range and heard of them bigger - so I promise to not challenge you.