Brandy

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Just got done hauling her.
Now I gotta get 2 of her 3 kids caught and get em on feed.
Lil 'Nuf robs from everyone. I'll just leave her be and let her 3 other mamas raise her up. The other 2 don't seem to steal tho. May just go ahead and sell em soon. We will see.

Aside from a bullet, best outcome possible I think. Least she got to raise a few babies in her short lifetime.

O! She appeared to have an overbite...
Strange enough. Only 5 years old roughly
I am very sorry about Brandy. She was a really good mother. Thanks for telling about the overbite. I never saw an overbite on a cow or a bison here in Montana. Overbite seems to be more common in eastern states - type Dork Deer Images on Google and lots of photos will come up. For some reason, people who kill or see deer with an overbite call them Dork Deer. Personally, I am not so sure the deer are the Dorks.

We did have a male white-tailed deer here on our land that had an overbite - see photo. The overbite prevalence on 292 Montana hunter-killed male WTD examined by a biologist friend between 2006 and 2021 averaged 14%, but the underbite prevalence was almost twice as high at 27%. There were 59% with a normal bite. Any birth defect at over 5% is supposed to raise a red flag, but for some reason, here in western states, no one cares that the wildlife or the domestic animals are born with obvious birth defects.

I attached a photo of the buck deer with an overbite (the overbite is very obvious, right?) that lived here in our area, until a blood vessel burst in his lung cavity and he drown in his own blood at 4 years old. We found his carcass on the neighbor's land a few feet off of our land. There was no trauma of any kind on his body, but the thoracic cavity where the heart and lungs are was filled with blood. He also had an enlarged right heart ventricle. He was kind of a friendly little buck, so I was really sad when he died. Besides quite a few wild ungulates that had a blood vessel break suddenly so they drown in the blood in their thoracic cavity between 2000 and 2018, I necropsied quite a few domestic animals that neighbors brought to me to necropsy that died for the same reason. I never saw anything like that until around 2000. Apparently, something was making the blood vessels thin in that area, so they would suddenly rupture. The only good thing about this is they don't take long to die and don't appear to suffer.

I almost observed it happen to an elk calf that I was rehabbing with a skinned leg from barbwire. I checked to see if she had green foliage to eat and she was nearly out so I went out into the field and cut an arm load. She looked fine and was lying down chewing her cud. Getting the fresh grass and alfalfa only took about 10 minutes, if that long. When I got back to her, she was dead and looked like she had been dead for several minutes. She had drown in blood because of a ruptured blood vessel, just like the buck deer did.
 

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They certainly can still live that long, but it's not common. Modern dairy cows are highly productive, but that production comes at a cost.
The dairy cows I milked as a kid gave almost 3 and some slightly more gallons of milk twice a day. They were several breeds, mostly those that produced lots of cream. I don't know how that compares with dairy cattle today. The Holsteins of course gave the most milk, but the Jersey and Guernsey milk had a lot more cream.
 
The dairy cows I milked as a kid gave almost 3 and some slightly more gallons of milk twice a day. They were several breeds, mostly those that produced lots of cream. I don't know how that compares with dairy cattle today. The Holsteins of course gave the most milk, but the Jersey and Guernsey milk had a lot more cream.
The production on well-managed dairies is roughly double that volume today. Holstein butterfat content has improved quite a bit, too.
 
Ok that's enough dorky deer talk. On to the next one ol son!!

Got all 3 of Brandys calves caught finally. Got extremely lucky this morning and those 3 came up for a drink with Brown Cow( the one with the hat). They've really been pounding down the hay with the cows. The 2 baldies especially. I'm gonna limit their hay for a bit and get em going on some feed. These bellies ain't gonna work for me! Gonna have to get em some nutrition aside from my crummy ol year old hay. I've got nice squares of Bermuda and plenty of creep feed. Just too bad Lil 'Nuf is most likely a free Martin. She's a really cool lil heifer. She's been stealing from anyone who will allow it. But I've decided I can't have her stealing the newest ones' milk. She is plenty big enough to eat feed. 20220723_074648.jpg20220723_074700.jpg
 
Really liking the way 180 or whatever the hell is on her tag.... is turning out. She was bought right and Brandy got her this far. I remember @TCRanch saying something about making her a future breeding project. With this drought, I'm considering selling a bunch of cows. And retaining some heifers to raise up. Cheaper to feed em than the cows.
But I want to be very very particular about what I keep. I want a good uniform set.
But it kinda puts a kink in Raising Geronimo for a herd bull. He most likely ain't heifer safe...
20220726_183031.jpg20220726_183213.jpg
20220726_183224.jpg
 
Really liking the way 180 or whatever the hell is on her tag.... is turning out. She was bought right and Brandy got her this far. I remember @TCRanch saying something about making her a future breeding project. With this drought, I'm considering selling a bunch of cows. And retaining some heifers to raise up. Cheaper to feed em than the cows.
But I want to be very very particular about what I keep. I want a good uniform set.
But it kinda puts a kink in Raising Geronimo for a herd bull. He most likely ain't heifer safe...
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Pictures of Geronimo???

And what did you end up getting for Brandy?
 
I still like her!
I don't know anything about her background. But I agree. She seems like the "kind" to me.
I hope she can overcome the week or two of potbelliedness. I think she will, now that I'm getting some nourishment in her.
Pictures of Geronimo???

And what did you end up getting for Brandy?
Geronimo is in my Bottle calf thread here. He still has a dry umbilical and weighed 100 lbs! Out a big ol cow and I'm assuming angus bull that sold that day too. We will have to see how things play out. Everything is up in the air right now with drought issues.20220725_070459.jpg20220725_070459.jpg Last couple pages I think. Under health and nutrition section. Bottle calf, some say I'm crazy thread
But here's a pic anyway!
I'm at a loss as to whether or not I'm gonna bottle raise him or pull Ford off of Bessie and let her raise him. If the opportunity arises I may catch Ford and wean him with these other 3.
20220725_070458.jpg
 
Lil 'Nuf sold today. 😔
Very sad day and a good day at the same time.

She weighed 250lbs flat, born mid March. Hard to overcome her tiny tiny twin birth weight.

BUT she brought 9 times what I gave for her!!!!


I'll get the lil red baldy/hereford caught soon. At this point I'm ahead of the game. I'll have whatever red brings and a free Black baldy heifer.
 
Lil 'Nuf sold today. 😔
Very sad day and a good day at the same time.

She weighed 250lbs flat, born mid March. Hard to overcome her tiny tiny twin birth weight.

BUT she brought 9 times what I gave for her!!!!


I'll get the lil red baldy/hereford caught soon. At this point I'm ahead of the game. I'll have whatever red brings and a free Black baldy heifer.
and pay for Brandy? If yes, that's impressive
 
and pay for Brandy? If yes, that's impressive
Extremely lucky.
Calf prices are phenomenal. By the time I figure feed and what not tho, I'll probly be about break even.
The red heifer ain't a great calf. She looked much better as a baby. For whatever reason, she's a dud.
She will be 300 lbs tops. Has a lil arch to her back too.

One thing I've learned.
It's better to buy the best quality bottle calf you can to start with.
And black calves seem to do best.
 
O.
If I ever get a chance at another good nurse cow, I may do a thread similar to the experimental shorthorns...

BUT the next nurse cow I buy will be of good quality. She will most likely be a bit more money.
 
I,m sorry about Brandy, I really liked her and all the calves she fed. Was she able to get up and walk onto the trailer when you took her to auction?
 
I,m sorry about Brandy, I really liked her and all the calves she fed. Was she able to get up and walk onto the trailer when you took her to auction?
Hey I missed you post somehow!

Walking was not a problem. It was getting up from a down position. But once she was up all was good. Til she laid down again. 😆

Kinda miss that gal...
 

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