Consistent Maternal Attitudes ?

[cow pollinater]

Think I used the term "temperament". My 50 years of experience indicates temperament impacts mothering ability directly. Although I have seen mean or flighty cows perform/produce well enough to stay in the herd, their disposition is often passed on to their offspring where it impacts feed lot performance.

If it effects their MATERNAL performance directly, then how can they perform well enough to stay in your herd? I understand how it effects the feedlot performance of the calf, but that is not the same as maternal performance. It is a giant leap from gentle calves perform better in a feedlot to gentle cows are better mothers.

I culled my worst cows this year because I was tired of not being able to walk away from my truck or horse on my own property but it had nothing to do with their ability to raise a calf as they were dang good at it! In fact that's why they stayed as long as they did and if cull prices weren't so good and I wasn't dealing with a historic drought they'd still be up there. There was not one cow in that bunch that ever missed but they were absolute head-hunters. :shock: I ran out of failures to cull and dipped into dispositions.

I like gentle cows as much as everyone else... I'm just saying that I see no evidence that they're better mothers. Some of them are and some of them aren't and the same holds true for the wild ones.

 

[NWMoAngus]

I try to keep heifers out of successful dam lines and use bulls known for positive dispositions. That means growthy heifers often get culled and less impressive heifers sometimes are retained. However, best laid plans do not always come to fruition. I have seen heifers walk away from their calves and not clean or claim them. They get culled. I have seen heifers kick at their calves, not letting them suck. They get culled. I have seen heifers so flighty and fretting over the calf they can't stand still, turning continuously with their noses to the calf not letting it get close enough to their bag to suck. They might get culled, particularly if the calves don't overcome momma's nervousness. Those are disposition issues that impact productivity. I don't know what the research says, but if they don't take care of the calf they don't stay here. We can usually weld the abandoned calf to another mother that lost theirs. It doesn't happen often, but we respond when it does. I have cows pushing 20 years old, because they are good mothers who raise and wean off good calves. Some cows get culled in middle age, because they failed to wean off a calf once. I thought everyone did it this way. Maybe not. I have no use for the cow who when I come in the pasture raises her head up and runs off with her calf leading much of the herd with her. Someone else can raise those, not me.

 

[dun]

The problem with "consistant maternal attitudes" is that a cow may change from year to year. We've had some that wanted you to mess with her claf and after a couple of years she would go nts if you even got close. Then the next year go back to the previous attitude. Some are goofy for a ocuple of days then become a pest wanting to hang aorudn with you whenever you go into the pasture. The biggest PITA (wanted to be a pet) cow we ever had was out of a cow that would try to kill you if you got anywhere near ANY calf. Actually she was like that with everyone but me but was still pretty snorty and standoffish with me but she never charged me like she did the vet and my wife.

 

[NWMoAngus]

I have experienced this, as well. Sometimes coyotes or deer running through the pasture will get a herd excited for the day. Once a few years back a mountain lion got in and chased the cows in our home pasture. I assume the ML was a young stray male, because one is rarely spotted in NWMo. He didn't catch any of them, but the cows here and at my Mother's pasture a half mile away were too spooked to get in with for several days. It was spring calving season and for three days I couldn't get close enough to a calf to tag it. However, all the cows eventually calmed down and things went back to normal.