Calf comparisons

[Ky hills]

Sold a couple odd late born heifers this morning.
Born same day, both cows similar size, one a registered Angus, one a commercial black. Calves were by two different bulls the commercial cow had a calf by our BWF bull, the registered Angus cow had a calf by our Angus bull that is shorter than the other bull.
The calf by the smaller framed bull was small at birth and was noticeably shorter than the BWF heifer. Today at around 7 1/2 months old the. BWF heifer weighed 590 and the black heifer weighed 495
590 - $808, 495 - $717
The smaller frame calves just have a low ceiling as far as performance and it comes with a cost even though it brought more per pound the weight just wasn't there.

 

[RDFF]

Just remember to factor it that when you have smaller framed (and then weight) cattle, they will consume less feed. Your smaller framed bull is breeding that smaller frame into the calves (assuming the cows have similar frame genetics... i.e.: both cows similar size). That "feed bill" won't matter so much on the calves as it will on the cows that are mothering them. The point then is, if you run the same AU's, but then more cows with smaller frames, your COW feed bill will be about the same... however, you'll end up with a few more calves out of the deal, which will sell at a lower weight but a higher price per pound. More calves = the same number of pounds raised, but sold at a higher price per pound = more $$$ returned to your pocket per season.

You can overdo the small frame thing though pretty easily too, so you want to be careful about that, IMO. Not many guys wanting feeders that can't get up over 1000#... once they learn that's what you've got, your animals will no longer command a premium... unless you've got a lock on a specific buyer that's looking for what you're selling.

KNOW... and SUPPLY what the market is asking for where you will be delivering your product. It's always easier to sell them what they want, than to try to convince them that they really want something else!

 

[Ky hills]

Just remember to factor it that when you have smaller framed (and then weight) cattle, they will consume less feed. Your smaller framed bull is breeding that smaller frame into the calves (assuming the cows have similar frame genetics... i.e.: both cows similar size). That "feed bill" won't matter so much on the calves as it will on the cows that are mothering them. The point then is, if you run the same AU's, but then more cows with smaller frames, your COW feed bill will be about the same... however, you'll end up with a few more calves out of the deal, which will sell at a lower weight but a higher price per pound. More calves = the same number of pounds raised, but sold at a higher price per pound = more $$$ returned to your pocket per season.

You can overdo the small frame thing though pretty easily too, so you want to be careful about that, IMO. Not many guys wanting feeders that can't get up over 1000#... once they learn that's what you've got, your animals will no longer command a premium... unless you've got a lock on a specific buyer that's looking for what you're selling.

KNOW... and SUPPLY what the market is asking for where you will be delivering your product. It's always easier to sell them what they want, than to try to convince them that they really want something else!

That's the thing, it's logical that a smaller cow would be less expensive to maintain, but it's certainly hard to quantify with any certain hard numbers. I've always believed that the folks that take the small frame thing too the extreme or even just the low end of the mainstream are loosing more on calf performance than they save on inputs.
Definitely the smaller framed calves are not in sync with what the feeders want because they will finish out too small they hit a ceiling pretty quick all the way around.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

But....the two cows were the SAME SIZE. The BULLS were different size. The commercial cow bred to the crossbreed (BWF) bull weighed more and made MORE MONEY. Who cares if he got more per # for the light weight? He put more money in his pocket with the BWF.