Calves in september

[Nesikep]

Well, I got a bunch of pictures of the cattle, but haven't uploaded all of them yet, I did get the videos up though, so here's some

The weaned calves, #99 is the 4H candidate steer, 5X is the only replacement in that bunch, Teddy is the bull calf that doesn't want to get up, figure I might keep him over winter and see if I have a market for him in the spring.. can always put him in the freezer, young bull meat is just fine, and they grow better. There's a big steer, faded tag and kinda buggy eyes, that's Buggy, probably the heaviest of the lot, and from a relatively small 4 year old cow (maternal brother to Teddy, Full brother to Marko that you'll see later)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrJ3ZOdvegg

Here's the 2 other replacement heifers, 1X (Tera) and 8X (Lava), both are really well behaved and I like their looks.. they're 7/8th sisters (different great-grandma, all the same sires). I think 8X's mother "Hekla" and grandma "Alma" are in the picture too, she's 11 now. Tera's mother Mega (with the bell) is going on 6 years old already!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302gPBc6qoQ

Here's Caddy (Teddy's mother), and full siblings Chroma (daughter), and Marko (son)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib6i2d5mb1Y

I'll try and get pictures up too

 

[creekdrive]

I love how quiet your calves are. You can reach out and touch most of ours but so far none of the calves are scratchers. Come spring there will be at least 2 or 3 bulls that are total pains for getting in the way and wanting a scratch though.

Have a heifer that could be a sister to your 5X heifer

not the best pictures of her, but they look a lot like IMO

this heifer of ours would also fit in with yours too I think. Her birthweight would fit right in too ;-) - we didn't weigh her but 130 lbs would be a low guess of what she weighed at birth.

 

[Nesikep]

The second one looks like the mother of the #99 steer when she was young, and yes, the first does look a bit like the #5, though isn't as slick furred. I like the build of 5X, though I think she will end up being a very large framed cow... and I'm keeping her cautiously because she is very hard headed.. everything's gotta be her way, so she might be the one that decides to NOT go through the gate at the last second every time.. which drives me bananas.

The calves have gotten quieter since I took the video too.. and you should see them attack a bale of hay! Before I feed them I spend 15 minutes with them, and I get mobbed.. There's that big blonde steer "Buggy" that used to be pretty wild, he's calmed right down... Teddy the bull calf will just stand beside you, and the rest of them eat your shirt.

You got a little steer there on the right side of the first pic.. I got one of them too born in july.. really growing good, I'll sell him in spring and make a buck on him

How do you like the vid with the first two heifers 1X and 8X? I think you see that little steer in there

 

[creekdrive]

There's two little guys in that first picture - I didn't even notice till I looked closer. the black steer on the left & the red heifer on the right. There's a couple others in a different pasture as well. We will most likely keep them over the winter - my husbands family has always bought a bunch of 'scrubs' (200-400 lbs) in the fall and wintered them and turned them on grass in the spring. Any late calves we have just get thrown in with them. They always like to keep a few of the scrub heifers that grow well over the winter & breed them - have gotten some really good, CHEAP, cows that way - and some that don't turn out worth a crap, but usually you are still money ahead when you sell them).

1X and 8X look good to me. Always interesting to me come spring and we have bull customers here and they are so amazed at how quiet the bulls are. Have even had a couple people complain that they are too tame. I'll take too tame over high headed any day.

 

[Nesikep]

There's all sorts of different kinds of "tame".. some cows will do anything to get treats, and care less about you the rest of the time.. I don't like them, and don't trust them... Then there's ones like 1X (Tera) and that bull calf that wouldn't get up, Teddy.. For as much as they care, I'm their best friend, I get the itches, I feed them and they are never on edge when I'm around them, and that is what I like.. if they hurt me it's just because they're big, not because they were trying to. the Limo bull and Teddy's brother (last vid) are behaved exactly the same way. When we went to Hi Valley Limousin to pick out a bull, there were 3 we had short-listed.. We leaned over the pen, 2 of them snorted and shook their heads, and "Timo" came up and licked us.. so he's the guy that got loaded up in the trailer. 2 hours later we gothome, he had laid down in the trailer (he looked comfy, not like he fell).. we opened the doors, he slowly got up, stretched, and ambled out to go say hi to a new cow

 

[bball]

Beautiful calfs Nesi. Congratulations. Job well done.

 

[Nesikep]

Grass in front and the bull behind.. the rest is the cow's doin'

 

[Nesikep]

Well, they're all ready to get loaded up tomorrow, they'll get a good breakfast and I'll be off after lunch.. it's going to be quite a load.. a 1000something pound yearling (Lazyboy) and 16 calves,.. and a bunch like the 4H steer, Buggy, and others are well into the 600 lb range... I'm estimating about a 9000 lb load... and the roads around here aren't flat! It will take me just about an hour to drive the 16 miles into town, our dirt road is in miserable condition with potholes and washboard.. REALLY no fun with a load of cattle

 

[branguscowgirl]

They look good Nesi! (For red cattle!) :lol:
Good luck on your drive and I hope the sale goes well. I sure like how gentle and calm they are also!

 

[Nesikep]

My last trip I had a flat on the trailer, and it was no fun changing it out.. yes.. crawling under the trailer, and you know what the cows are doing above you!
I bought a full set of 14 ply trailer tires now and am a bit more confident.. the last ones were just total garbage

 

[branguscowgirl]

Nesi I had good tires on my 26ft trailer, and that just happened to me. In July. In 105 degrees!
My problem with tires is not the quality or wear, it's the sun exposure sitting. I need to cover them.