Nesikep
Well-known member
I have shorthorn X Gelbvieh heifers, and they're a good size, usually 1200 lbs or better the day after calving, and I found they usually only needed help if the calf was over 100 lbs... The bull we have now (GV) wasn't a high BW bull until he met our herd.. the last 5 years our BW's have shot up, and that's with 2 different bulls... don't know what happened to our herd...
I think that if your heifers are a good size and have decent hips, you could do with a low birthweight char, provided he has good conformation for calving as well as low BW... no blockheads, no portruding eyebrows, etc... With the GV, and probably the Char as well, you can get hiplocked as they have fat asses... the only saving grace is that with hiplock, often the calf can already breath, which buys you some time to get it out... might just take a bit of turning.
For years I've been selecting my heifers to have wide hips, and it's paying off in maternal calving ease
I think that if your heifers are a good size and have decent hips, you could do with a low birthweight char, provided he has good conformation for calving as well as low BW... no blockheads, no portruding eyebrows, etc... With the GV, and probably the Char as well, you can get hiplocked as they have fat asses... the only saving grace is that with hiplock, often the calf can already breath, which buys you some time to get it out... might just take a bit of turning.
For years I've been selecting my heifers to have wide hips, and it's paying off in maternal calving ease
