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Nesikep
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I've got 3 of the little heifers really well tamed and boy are they ever playful, all three of them come hopping around me grunting and attacking my legs. That's one of my favourite parts of calving time..
Calving season 2012 for me
- Thread starter Nesikep
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Jeanne - Simme Valley
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Nesi - I posted a thread "Twins - information" and it explains that the hormones from the male calf affect the development of the heifer calf, giving her too much male hormones, so she does not develop all her "parts & pieces" properly. Some freemartin heifers are VERY easily identified at birth. They will have very strange looking vulva, some with a small penis looking part (actually I believe it is an elongated clitoris) showing.
This was a crude explaination, but it is explained in the article I posted.
This was a crude explaination, but it is explained in the article I posted.
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Nesikep
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Thanks I'll look it up
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Nesikep
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Grr,.. I thought I had posted something.. it disappeared
Well since monday we had 2 more calves, one just as I pulled into the yard that evening, a nice all-brown heifer, and the other yesterday evening, Caddy is the mother, and she's a fullblood sister to #8T (Chroma) of last year. She's 80-90 lbs, and it was one of the quickest births I've ever seen. I saw from my window that she was seriously thinking of calving, so I went and check, she had laid down and I just saw the feet, She got up and the feet slipped back in, I went for a walk about 100 yards away, told my mother that she was getting to business, and walked back, the calf was there getting licked. Like Mega's calf, this heifer has a very slender head (They've got the same great-grandmother, and it's a trait from that line), which probably helps the quick birth. A few of the other calves we've had this year have had really blocky heads.
This is "Prada", at about 18 hours old
Mega, leaking milk
Excluding one cow due in august, we've got 2 left, and in about a week they should both be done. It's been a pretty tight season, 75% in first cycle, and 4 of the 6 of the second cycle were in the first week of it. There's just Tizia who's way out of whack with August. I'll have to watch that guy for heat stroke when it's 104 in the shade
Well since monday we had 2 more calves, one just as I pulled into the yard that evening, a nice all-brown heifer, and the other yesterday evening, Caddy is the mother, and she's a fullblood sister to #8T (Chroma) of last year. She's 80-90 lbs, and it was one of the quickest births I've ever seen. I saw from my window that she was seriously thinking of calving, so I went and check, she had laid down and I just saw the feet, She got up and the feet slipped back in, I went for a walk about 100 yards away, told my mother that she was getting to business, and walked back, the calf was there getting licked. Like Mega's calf, this heifer has a very slender head (They've got the same great-grandmother, and it's a trait from that line), which probably helps the quick birth. A few of the other calves we've had this year have had really blocky heads.
This is "Prada", at about 18 hours old
Mega, leaking milk
Excluding one cow due in august, we've got 2 left, and in about a week they should both be done. It's been a pretty tight season, 75% in first cycle, and 4 of the 6 of the second cycle were in the first week of it. There's just Tizia who's way out of whack with August. I'll have to watch that guy for heat stroke when it's 104 in the shade
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Nesikep
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Well, We still have 2 to go, they're taking their time about it. All the others are doing well. I have never seen a year with SO MANY MILK THIEVES!!! As the cows are around the manger, it's just a smorgasborg for the calves, and the playful little heifer 3T makes her rounds, though, on the 16 cows that are there, I've seen up to 4 calves stealing at once, and in some cases there were 2 side by side stealing from each other.
Mega's calf is finally drinking all the milk, and her udder has wrinkles in it now, I bet she's really happy about that, her calf is growing really well
Here are some of the heifer calves shortlisted as replacements, though the ones with white or brocklefaces probably won't be kept
Volga, Full sister to #6T from last year, Stocky build, meaty, but a heck of a blockhead. I might be able to sell her to a good home as we're not keen on the brockleface.
Roma, Full sister to #11T from last year, doesn't look like she'll be as meaty. The white face doesn't fit in with the rest of the herd, I might find her a good home, she'd make a great and productive pet. Mother is now 16 years old.
Kenya, Full sister to #4T from last year, Identical, though may turn out a bit stouter in the fall, which is good, great looking calf but I know the history well and probably won't keep this one either. Sister LOVED people, but was a witch with other calves, far too pushy, this one looks like she's not going to be any different. Also, despite great milk, poor teats and udder form as well as bad hooves.
Durga, Full sister to #1T from last year, pretty much identical, seriously consider this one if she's not a complete meathead and wild as hell. Her sister turned out to be really friendly after weaning, Fairly pushy with other cows, acceptable udders, very good milk, good hooves. MEAN A$$ED MOTHER
Saga, she has no maternal sisters, 5 year old mother has great milk, OK udder, decent hooves, nice temperament. Her brothers were all pushing 675+ lbs at weaning, she should look nice in the fall, I hope she puts some meat on though. Most likely keeping.
Prada, Full sister to #8T from last year, Sister is a doll to work with and was CT's favourite pick to keep. Excellent udder, hooves, milk and temperament. Most likely keeping. Once she's eating hay and playing I'll take a better pic, she's only 4 days old. Granddaughter to the 16 year old cow.
Mega's calf is finally drinking all the milk, and her udder has wrinkles in it now, I bet she's really happy about that, her calf is growing really well
Here are some of the heifer calves shortlisted as replacements, though the ones with white or brocklefaces probably won't be kept
Volga, Full sister to #6T from last year, Stocky build, meaty, but a heck of a blockhead. I might be able to sell her to a good home as we're not keen on the brockleface.
Roma, Full sister to #11T from last year, doesn't look like she'll be as meaty. The white face doesn't fit in with the rest of the herd, I might find her a good home, she'd make a great and productive pet. Mother is now 16 years old.
Kenya, Full sister to #4T from last year, Identical, though may turn out a bit stouter in the fall, which is good, great looking calf but I know the history well and probably won't keep this one either. Sister LOVED people, but was a witch with other calves, far too pushy, this one looks like she's not going to be any different. Also, despite great milk, poor teats and udder form as well as bad hooves.
Durga, Full sister to #1T from last year, pretty much identical, seriously consider this one if she's not a complete meathead and wild as hell. Her sister turned out to be really friendly after weaning, Fairly pushy with other cows, acceptable udders, very good milk, good hooves. MEAN A$$ED MOTHER
Saga, she has no maternal sisters, 5 year old mother has great milk, OK udder, decent hooves, nice temperament. Her brothers were all pushing 675+ lbs at weaning, she should look nice in the fall, I hope she puts some meat on though. Most likely keeping.
Prada, Full sister to #8T from last year, Sister is a doll to work with and was CT's favourite pick to keep. Excellent udder, hooves, milk and temperament. Most likely keeping. Once she's eating hay and playing I'll take a better pic, she's only 4 days old. Granddaughter to the 16 year old cow.
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Nesikep
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Well, one more calf to go, the big beast of a cow "Bucky" (1900 lbs and frame 9) had a 115 lb heifer calf, really lively, really thirsty, and once the thirst was quenched, she was all happy and playful. So the current calf count is 10 heifers and 9 steers.
A weigh tape says Mega's calf has put on 57 lbs in 14 days... all in height. I got the weigh tape on a bunch of the calves, the heaviest, 4U (Kenya) is apparently at 188 lbs (3 weeks old).
Maddy seems to really be getting the idea that her adopted calf is "hers", I saw her licking it for the first time today... Means I can get rid of the useless hayburner of a biological mother that calf has.
Also got my 3/4 shorthorn bull up for sale, seems someone's interested in him for $1400. Sounds pretty good to me.
A weigh tape says Mega's calf has put on 57 lbs in 14 days... all in height. I got the weigh tape on a bunch of the calves, the heaviest, 4U (Kenya) is apparently at 188 lbs (3 weeks old).
Maddy seems to really be getting the idea that her adopted calf is "hers", I saw her licking it for the first time today... Means I can get rid of the useless hayburner of a biological mother that calf has.
Also got my 3/4 shorthorn bull up for sale, seems someone's interested in him for $1400. Sounds pretty good to me.
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Nesikep
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Well, all done calving except for the august calf... was a really tight year, all done in 35 days... looking at the cows and calves, I think I might only have 2 or 3 calves under 600 lbs at the end of the year.. they're all looking pretty good... I'll post up some pics friday 
Kathie in Thorp
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Take a deep breath, buddy! Congrats.
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Nesikep
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Yep, I don't have to sleep with one ear and one eye open anymore.. It'll be nice to be able to know I can get a full nights sleep. I think it's one of the quickest calving seasons we have on record. The old girl Rosie was in the 3rd cycle last year, and this year in the first... I'm giving her a pound of two of grain a day, it seemed to make a big difference for her last year, and if I can still get a couple nice calves from her, it would be nice... she's earned her grain by now
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Nesikep
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OK, got a couple more pics...
Mega and her calf enjoying the first T-shirt day of spring... He's growing in height a lot.. I'm waiting for some width on him...
3/4 sister to Mega's calf (Both linebred GV).. She's growing in width only, I'm waiting for some height... She's also the master milk thief of the herd, and an absolute suck for attention
This is Saga, a candidate to keep, Very bright eyed and keen, playful and growing well
And this is another one to watch out for in the fall time, I think she's 2 1/2 weeks old here, really like her as well
Mega and her calf enjoying the first T-shirt day of spring... He's growing in height a lot.. I'm waiting for some width on him...
3/4 sister to Mega's calf (Both linebred GV).. She's growing in width only, I'm waiting for some height... She's also the master milk thief of the herd, and an absolute suck for attention
This is Saga, a candidate to keep, Very bright eyed and keen, playful and growing well
And this is another one to watch out for in the fall time, I think she's 2 1/2 weeks old here, really like her as well
Kathie in Thorp
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Nice, Nesi! They all look content.
angusdave63
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hey nesi how did your linebred gv calves turn out, sounds like you have got long pretty good this year, have you ever bred a mother back to her son and if so how did it turn out for you thanks David
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Nesikep
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We've linebred many times before, and sometimes even kept the heifers (though I don't recommend it), and we've never had any trouble whatsoever... If you take a look at the 2 linebred calves there, you'll see they're polar opposites, the heifer is a typical GV, really wide through the back, and fairly short, while the steer calf is a long legged skinny looking guy. I wouldn't recommend keeping linebred heifers because of hybrid vigour... or lack thereof. We've done it with a couple shorthorns, and they really didn't turn out.. they both had great mothers (both full blooded sisters actually), and at 5 years old they're hard keepers and don't raise very good calves. I would actually be more inclined to keep a linebred bull calf as his hybrid vigour isn't as important as his genetics, and he should produce fairly uniform calves... I will say that every person on the board here will have a different opinion on linebreeding, or inbreeding as some will call it too, and each has merits. I have never bred a mother back to her son, as I've only kept 1 bull calf to date, and he didn't get any riding time with the big bull around.
I will say that I don't see any problem at all in keeping a bull for 8 years if he's good, and breeding his daughters back to him for terminal offspring.
If anyone didn't notice, the above pictures are clickable thumbnails to go to the full size version of them
I will say that I don't see any problem at all in keeping a bull for 8 years if he's good, and breeding his daughters back to him for terminal offspring.
If anyone didn't notice, the above pictures are clickable thumbnails to go to the full size version of them
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Nesikep
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Anazazi, I totally agree, she has a great back, however she's not growing all that well, and being linebred she'll be going this fall... someone at the sale barn can oogle her and give me a good price for her. I haven't posted a good picture of him recently, the first calf of the year (#55) who looks great. I think the calf with the best all around features is the #9U heifer... The fact she was born in about 4 minutes speaks well for her as well.. I'll post some pictures later this evening.. time to play darts
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Nesikep
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doublepost...
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Nesikep
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Here's a couple better pics of #9 (Prada) and #6 (Roma)... I probably don't keep #6
Full blood sister to #9U
full blood sister to #6U
Full blood sister to #9U
full blood sister to #6U
Jeanne - Simme Valley
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I really like your 9U calf - but I think the 6U's yearling sister looks like the better yearling.
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Nesikep
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I agree, 11T (sister to 6U), the fat-butt is really what I like, though 8T (sister to 9U) will have the better udder of the two (4 teats vs 7) I think that 9U will be a great combination of the two of them, taking the strengths of both. My only gripe about 11T is she could be longer (though she knows how to pose to make up for it), which is where 8T does better. The 9U heifer is currently about 25 days old, and has been growing at an astonishing rate... she's over 200 lb (>110 lb gain)... I hope that continues for the rest of the year.
I have 3 other heifers that are good replacement candidates, #1U, 4Uand 7U (sisters to 1T, 4T and 6T respectively), and I'm not sure about them, 1U is a spitting image of her sister, so that's OK, it's the attitude thats the problem... 4U, we didn't keep her sister last year because of her historic problems with hooves and udders, as well as despite being a wonderful pet and docile with humans, is a witch with other cows. That leaves 7U, sister to 6T, who is a good looking heifer, nice and wide, fatty, but she's got a brockleface, and since we're trying to get our herd more uniform, I'm a bit wary of her... Awesome replacement for someone who has whitefaces though (as well as 6U)
Meanwhile, Mega, which is very related to 11T (Shorthorn grandfather rather than Saler) is TRULY a cow-and-a half... she has 6 working teats. Now what's really funny is her calf is linebred 3/4 GV, and he's one of the longest legged skinny things we've ever had, even though is father (and thus grandfather) is a pretty stubby legged guy. At 30 days old he's 37" at the hip, he grows like a weed, just only in the vertical axis... he's about 210 lbs at 30 days, which I think is respectable for being from a heifer.. The other heifer cow this year had the wide-backed heifer (3U) who steals milk all day, is 2 weeks older, and isn't gaining nearly as well as I had hoped, though I don't consider her mother a writeoff by any means, I think given a year or two she'll be having some real scale-tipping steers as well, her mother certainly can make them. The freemartin heifer of ours this year is being raised by her mother, and she looks pretty well..., she should be well in the 650lb range by fall
I have 3 other heifers that are good replacement candidates, #1U, 4Uand 7U (sisters to 1T, 4T and 6T respectively), and I'm not sure about them, 1U is a spitting image of her sister, so that's OK, it's the attitude thats the problem... 4U, we didn't keep her sister last year because of her historic problems with hooves and udders, as well as despite being a wonderful pet and docile with humans, is a witch with other cows. That leaves 7U, sister to 6T, who is a good looking heifer, nice and wide, fatty, but she's got a brockleface, and since we're trying to get our herd more uniform, I'm a bit wary of her... Awesome replacement for someone who has whitefaces though (as well as 6U)
Meanwhile, Mega, which is very related to 11T (Shorthorn grandfather rather than Saler) is TRULY a cow-and-a half... she has 6 working teats. Now what's really funny is her calf is linebred 3/4 GV, and he's one of the longest legged skinny things we've ever had, even though is father (and thus grandfather) is a pretty stubby legged guy. At 30 days old he's 37" at the hip, he grows like a weed, just only in the vertical axis... he's about 210 lbs at 30 days, which I think is respectable for being from a heifer.. The other heifer cow this year had the wide-backed heifer (3U) who steals milk all day, is 2 weeks older, and isn't gaining nearly as well as I had hoped, though I don't consider her mother a writeoff by any means, I think given a year or two she'll be having some real scale-tipping steers as well, her mother certainly can make them. The freemartin heifer of ours this year is being raised by her mother, and she looks pretty well..., she should be well in the 650lb range by fall
