farmwriter
Well-known member
How many of you actually consider the time between calves when looking at retainers vs culls?
calving interval
- Thread starter farmwriter
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bigbull338
Well-known member
i just look at if they breed back an calf.an if they miss calving then they are culled.
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
I want a calf ever year only 12 months in a year.
SRBeef
Well-known member
farmwriter":20qqnl5i said:
I think this goes back to the thread somewhere here about "why have a calving season".
Rather than "time between calves" I would look at breed-back. Is a cow, even first calf heifer, in heat and ready to breed (bull-in) no more than 60 days or so after having a calf.
283 days gestation + 60 days = 343 days + about 22 days in case we just miss a heat = a calf 365 days after having this year's calf. Any less and your calving slides back every year. I want the option to advance my calving if I want to and as I did this year.
Summary: she better be ready to go in 60 days after having a calf or she goes on the trailer at some point.
jmho. Jim
cypressfarms
Well-known member
farmwriter":30vzfven said:
I look at it hard. I 'd much prefer the cow that "moves up" every year. It allows me to adjust their calving, over time, to suit my needs. I have a beefmaster that I believe would get pregnant just by looking at the bull :lol2: , When I first got her she was calving in April, now she's calving in January - which is exactly where I want her.
I look at it, over time its still you best indication of fertility. If you are running your bulls with the cows year round I don't know how else you are going to know who is cycling back in a timely manner.
Do anyone know what the national average ICP is in the USA? In SA the national average for herefords is 392 days, the best of all the major breeds and has been for some time.
Do anyone know what the national average ICP is in the USA? In SA the national average for herefords is 392 days, the best of all the major breeds and has been for some time.
OP
OP
farmwriter
Well-known member
Thanks for the feed back ya'll. We don't run a bull year round, but typically keep a clean-up bull an extra month or so. We had 3 cows that took more than 365 days to put the next calf on the ground.
One calf is scrubby looking, so that cow will go. Non-issue.
The other two were first-calf heifers that didn't breed back as quickly, both of whom had great calves 08 and 09, so I'm having a little more trouble with that decision.
One calf is scrubby looking, so that cow will go. Non-issue.
The other two were first-calf heifers that didn't breed back as quickly, both of whom had great calves 08 and 09, so I'm having a little more trouble with that decision.
SRBeef
Well-known member
KNERSIE":1vntqenb said:
Knersie is "ICP" the time between calves? I am not familiar with that term.
If it is that means that the average cow in South Africa is sliding backwards about 30 days in calving date every year??? How can you have that? How can that be the best of all breeds?
Maybe that is the same in the US but I can't imagine that. But what do I know, I'm just a beginner. Jim
You really can;t look at just a coupel fo years and evaluate a cow for calving interval. One year they may calve last in the calving season and the next first, then in the middle. a week or 2 doesn;t really hurt at weaning time all that much as long as it isn;t one of those slip a couple of weeks each year.
SRBeef
Well-known member
farmwriter":r4q30yfm said:
Didn't breed back quickly or not at all?
I had a first calf heifer last year that had a great calf in the spring of 2008 but turned up open at preg check in Nov 2008 even though she'd been with the bull for several months. She was a really good looking cow related to the one in my avatar.
In the end a great calf over 2 years is not such a great calf - more like half a calf per year. As difficult a decision as it was, she went to the processor in Dec. She switched places with a not-so-good-looking cow that was scheduled for the processor but did preg check positive. The smaller, less impressive, switched cow had a very nice calf this spring and was ultimately the right decision to keep vs feeding the other one for a year open. jmho.
Jim
OP
OP
farmwriter
Well-known member
No, they've got 09 calves on the ground or they'd be ground up. In fact the only cow that didn't catch last breeeding season is in the freezer now...what hasn't been eaten anyway.
Dun's comments were along the lines of my gut feeling - since they've only had one 'interval' my first inclination was to give them another shot. I've heard the biggest challenge in breeding heifers is getting them bred back after that first calf arrives, but that could be nonsense for all I know. I like both the cows, but I try to remember what a friend of mine tells her husband about cattle:
"We're not married to 'em, honey." :nod:
Dun's comments were along the lines of my gut feeling - since they've only had one 'interval' my first inclination was to give them another shot. I've heard the biggest challenge in breeding heifers is getting them bred back after that first calf arrives, but that could be nonsense for all I know. I like both the cows, but I try to remember what a friend of mine tells her husband about cattle:
"We're not married to 'em, honey." :nod:
dyates
Well-known member
I was talking to a guy the other day who said he leaves his bull in year round because it looks better on paper. Claims most cows would gain an extra calf every 5 or 6 years. I said even if that were true, what about the extra calves that you lose because of mud, dust, flies, 100 degree sun and short grass. He really couldn't answer.
SRBeef":2xky2hud said:
ICP - intercalving period
That is the national average for herefords, and in our system every calf has to be reported, from the very best to the very worst, the same goes for cows under every variable when it comes to environment and management style. We cannot decide that I'll rather not register that calf, if a cow goes over a set amount of days between calves the cow simply gets blacklisted and canceled.
392 days as a national average for an entire breed is outstanding and something we as hereford breeders are very proud of.
