How much do your cows weigh and what do your weining weights look like?randiliana":1p91dmsa said:We like our cows to have 90-105 lb calves and the heifers to have 75-90 lb calves. Don't like to see them much smaller and sure prefer not to have them a whole lot larger. It is not unusual for us to have a couple calves in the 115-125 lb range, and we rarely have a problem with them.
As for our herd sires, we look for bulls that have a BW that falls into the ranges that we expect from the cows or heifers. But if we really like the look of a bull we are not afraid to go a bit higher.
Dusty Britches":208hciu9 said:I think I heard on here that a good goal is 8% of mature cow weight. Heifers are a little less.
denoginnizer":1xvwfuvf said:How much do your cows weigh and what do your weining weights look like?randiliana":1xvwfuvf said:We like our cows to have 90-105 lb calves and the heifers to have 75-90 lb calves. Don't like to see them much smaller and sure prefer not to have them a whole lot larger. It is not unusual for us to have a couple calves in the 115-125 lb range, and we rarely have a problem with them.
As for our herd sires, we look for bulls that have a BW that falls into the ranges that we expect from the cows or heifers. But if we really like the look of a bull we are not afraid to go a bit higher.
S.R.R.":xtksuu4d said:What kind of birth weights do you all aim for?
Do you want your breeding bulls BW to be just a bit higher then you want your calves to be?
S.R.R.":1b0cks35 said:What kind of birth weights do you all aim for?
Do you want your breeding bulls BW to be just a bit higher then you want your calves to be?
MikeC":19wtj3ft said:I believe that if a small percentage of cows are not assisted, we are leaving a lot of weaning weight left on the table.
dun":3j6j27qw said:MikeC":3j6j27qw said:I believe that if a small percentage of cows are not assisted, we are leaving a lot of weaning weight left on the table.
Interesting. A neighbor claimed that unless you're pulling 10% of your calves you're not challenging the cow. He went broke, too many ded calves and cows that wouldn;t breed back.
Our heifers run around 60-70 pounds, cows around 76-85 pounds. I challange the cows to raise a big calf not birth a big calf. The heifers wean on average a low 500 and the cows a mid 600. No supplement, just minerals, water and poisonous high endophyte fescue diluted with clover.
dun
S.R.R.":2f692y1w said:What kind of birth weights do you all aim for?
Do you want your breeding bulls BW to be just a bit higher then you want your calves to be?
S.R.R.":1qja7oy1 said:One of my WB bulls has a BW of 98lb but has not thrown a calf over 85lb. His calves grow like gang busters and I am sure glad his 98lb BW did not stop me from using him. (hense the ?)
Chris H":lhykskm9 said:S.R.R.":lhykskm9 said:One of my WB bulls has a BW of 98lb but has not thrown a calf over 85lb. His calves grow like gang busters and I am sure glad his 98lb BW did not stop me from using him. (hense the ?)
Almost the same here, bull had an actual birthweight of 100, we had only one calf over 80 lbs from him, average less than 75. They're also coming about a week early. Unfortunately he has a huge bw EPD and even though his calves are lighter than the average in the herd, the EPD is not dropping. One other bull has slightly larger calves but his EPD is lower, how do you figure that?
handydandy":1bkudw24 said:Chris H":1bkudw24 said:S.R.R.":1bkudw24 said:One of my WB bulls has a BW of 98lb but has not thrown a calf over 85lb. His calves grow like gang busters and I am sure glad his 98lb BW did not stop me from using him. (hense the ?)
Almost the same here, bull had an actual birthweight of 100, we had only one calf over 80 lbs from him, average less than 75. They're also coming about a week early. Unfortunately he has a huge bw EPD and even though his calves are lighter than the average in the herd, the EPD is not dropping. One other bull has slightly larger calves but his EPD is lower, how do you figure that?
Maybe thats why EPD should be re-lettered to BS?
preston39":6qzom0tb said:Look at genetics of a low BW in your breeding program with rapid growth and WW. Thats what you sell.
Our average BW this season was 66 lbs. The 205 day (adj)WW this year averaged 626 lbs.
Why give mom more potential problems with a 95-100 lb calf which will most likely not exceed the above WW and most often will not match it.
Big calves at birth can create problems.