Cow Longevity

[simme]

How much emphasis do you place on cow longevity? It costs a lot to get a replacement heifer to production age. Then, some cows only last a few years before they are culled. Bad feet, bad udders, low production, bad disposition and other issues can send them to the pound pen early in their career.

Here is my oldest cow. She is a February 2005 model simmental that has been very productive. Still maintains good condition for her age. Still has a good udder. Will calve in October.



Here she is as a two year old with her first calf.



First calf at 5 weeks old.


First calf at weaning. We kept him for a herd bull.


A four year old daughter.


I think she has always settled on first service when bred AI. She has been bred to simmental, red angus and black angus.
She is the boss cow in the herd. We have never taken birth weights on any of her calves. Not brave enough. She is very protective of her calves for about three months and then is calm until she sees the trailer at weaning time.

Tell us about your oldest cows. Do you tend to keep them as long as they are productive or tend to replace them early with better/newer genetics? Anyone have any still in production at 20? Share a photo.

 

[Stocker Steve]

There are several theories on how to reduce the cost of replacements:

1) raise cows last a long time to spread out the development cost
2) sell middle aged cows at their peak price to avoid depreciation
3) buy cheap old cows that have already depreciated
4) rough heifers thru on leased pasture to keep development costs low

 

[Stocker Steve]

We cull on two strikes. Old age is one strike. So all my old cows are faultless. :cowboy:

 

[MurraysMutts]

I certainly hope the first cow we ever got makes it to 20 or 25 years old. I'll do all I can to help her.
I think shes 7 or so. I'll have to check.

Got a couple bought cows a few years older. Still producing. They stay for now.
Sold my second ever cow when she decided not to breed in a timely manner 2 years in a row. I dont know her actual age. But more than 8 yrs
Here's the ol girl... w her last calf I got out of her.
She never made a spectacular calf.

 

[BFE]

How much emphasis do you place on cow longevity? It costs a lot to get a replacement heifer to production age. Then, some cows only last a few years before they are culled. Bad feet, bad udders, low production, bad disposition and other issues can send them to the pound pen early in their career.

Here is my oldest cow. She is a February 2005 model simmental that has been very productive. Still maintains good condition for her age. Still has a good udder. Will calve in October.



Here she is as a two year old with her first calf.



First calf at 5 weeks old.


First calf at weaning. We kept him for a herd bull.


A four year old daughter.


I think she has always settled on first service when bred AI. She has been bred to simmental, red angus and black angus.
She is the boss cow in the herd. We have never taken birth weights on any of her calves. Not brave enough. She is very protective of her calves for about three months and then is calm until she sees the trailer at weaning time.

Tell us about your oldest cows. Do you tend to keep them as long as they are productive or tend to replace them early with better/newer genetics? Anyone have any still in production at 20? Share a photo.

What's the breeding on your old girl?

 

[Rafter S]

Last winter I lost the last cow that had been my father's. He was a great cattle man in many ways, but record-keeping wasn't one of his strengths, so I don't know how old she was, but she wasn't young when he passed away in 2007. My current oldest was was born March 23, 2005, and she's still going strong. I have one 2008 model and two 2009's left.

I cull for many reasons, but age isn't one of them as long as they're raising a decent calf every year.

 

[simme]

What's the breeding on your old girl?

She is purebred simmental out of the Creek's SVF program in Kentucky. Sired by the Gateway Black Destiny bull they owned and out of a Silvertown STF cow sired by Aces High. The bull calf is sired by Built Right.

 

[Ebenezer]

Longevity search depends on your end game. Pure commercial- sell before the final decline as bred cows, fat opens or on an age to increase income and avoid tax issues. Purebred or a commercial operation that raises the replacement heifers - a no-brainer. Here, I had a list for something else: 25% of current cows are over 10 YO and go up to 14+. All are trouble free and the older they get the more valuable the heifers and the sons are to me to trial.

As you mentioned - longevity is more than years. That is something you can count on. They were a total package that worked. The stupidest thing is the AAA Foundation heifer sale - you never hear about them again that I know of. They would be more practical to sell a proven cow. But that is not pie in the sky, hopes and dreams and warm and fuzzy feelings. Vane expectations sell heifers and unproven bulls - every time.

 

[Redgully]

Red polls are very long lived cattle. A stud on the other side of the country had a couple of 24 year old cows when they dispersed the herd.

For me my current oldest cow is only 5, i had a good clean out last year and only have a tiny herd. She just dropped her 4th calf. I've never kept cows until late teens, i always moved them on while they still held good condition so had some value.

 

[Dave]

Environment plays a huge role in longevity. Nice flat green pastures with a short walk to water or forage is a lot easier on a cow than steep terrain with spare forage and several miles between water holes. The result is cows simply last longer. In this country it is very rare to find a cow well into her teen years.

 

[greggy]

Jeez....I just bumped some ewes at 7....the last drops were all twins and got more for them than 12 mth olds a few months earlier....

I freak out at any metal or plastics around as I do not want any calves chowing down the wrong stuff, in other words, I treat them better than many parents treat children.

That is a good looking animal in that shot, I would keep her around even if not producing if she could set a good example and healthy overall. Maybe company for weaners....

I suppose, my foolish thinking may be after age x an easy retirement may have been earned

 

[Rafter S]

Environment plays a huge role in longevity. Nice flat green pastures with a short walk to water or forage is a lot easier on a cow than steep terrain with spare forage and several miles between water holes. The result is cows simply last longer. In this country it is very rare to find a cow well into her teen years.

Bahia grass is rough on them too. It will wear their teeth down quicker than any other grass I know of (with the possible exception of smutgrass, but they have to be pretty hungry to eat that).

 

[simme]

Environment plays a huge role in longevity. Nice flat green pastures with a short walk to water or forage is a lot easier on a cow than steep terrain with spare forage and several miles between water holes. The result is cows simply last longer. In this country it is very rare to find a cow well into her teen years.

Good point. We all tend to think and reason based on our own experience at home. As I have traveled to various locations, I realize that I would not have a clue how to farm/ranch in some of those locations. Working and moving cattle, selection, and decision making are very dependent on the environment/terrain. Forages, hay, calving, water, pens, wind breaks, fertilizer - all very different. In the west, I see all those wooden pens. Would only last a few years in our wet environment. I see hay/straw stacked uncovered with snow providing the cover in the winter. Here that would rot before it was fed.

I traveled to France a few times with my work. Saw those Limousin, Charolais, and Simmental cattle. Did not see any pickup trucks or gooseneck trailers. They hauled their cattle in a large truck/van type enclosed vehicle. Those could only haul a few head. Seemed strange to me, but I guess normal for them.

Everybody has to live with the environment they have and figure out how to make it work for them. Seems like some of those cows out west can come off the mountains/hills in the fall with calves with heavier weaning weights than our southeast calves on the green pastures.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Our current oldest was born 4/28/2005. She's a purebred red Limi daughter of Wulf's Fanfare. She just had another fantastic heifer on 8/15 (that makes 14 calves total, including a set of twins). She is the backbone of my daughter's ever growing red Limi/ Lim-Flex herd. She's big, correct, docile and a fantastic mother. She does have one knee showing some arthritis and one teat that gets a bit big pre-calving due to frostbite, but in our program, she has been a rock star. Last year, she weaned over 75% of her own weight with no extra feed and no creep for the calves. I agree, thought, that on a bigger, more rugged set-up, she wouldn't have probably made it this long....

 

[MLFuller]

Oldest cow we have on our place is an '07 model. When we see dispersal sales, we spend a lot of time sorting through their old cows. An old cow with a solid production record, keeps condition and has a good bag is priceless in our eyes.

When we first started buying cows, we usually bought bred heifers. Now, we almost have exclusively stopped buying young cows and focus on buying anything 5+. A lot more predictability and proven genetics. We think of it sort of like buying a bull. Rather have a herd bull out of an old proven cow rather than a first calf heifer.

 

[Nesikep]

So far the oldest I've kept cows to is 18, the last one that got there could have been babied a little further, she always bred back, but a bad hip made it a bad idea to keep her over winter on icy surfaces we always get

16 years old here


14 here


Granddaughter sneaking in


Some daughters








grandsons and granddaughters


the following 4 are all full siblings








Grandson


Other grandson and 7/8th sibling granddaughter



great grand daughter


great great grand daughter



On exceptional cows, I have no issues burying them here and getting every calf I can out of them, if they've made it to 10 years old and I like them (meaning I haven't been just waiting for an excuse or opportunity to cull), I probably have a good idea how their calves are going to perform by then, and the value of getting another couple good calves far exceeds the few hundred bucks of cull price I'd get

Environment plays a huge role in longevity. Nice flat green pastures with a short walk to water or forage is a lot easier on a cow than steep terrain with spare forage and several miles between water holes. The result is cows simply last longer. In this country it is very rare to find a cow well into her teen years.

a sedentary life comes with its own set of problems though, and don't underestimate the seriousness of it!

Bahia grass is rough on them too. It will wear their teeth down quicker than any other grass I know of (with the possible exception of smutgrass, but they have to be pretty hungry to eat that).

I live next to a pretty busy dirt road.. every time a vehicle passes, a CLOUD of dust goes over the field.. I'm certain that day after day, it contributes significantly to tooth wear

 

[Muddy]

Got a 2002 Galloway cross cow here. She is enjoying her retirement day currently before wean her last calf off and butchering her this fall. It's a shame that she keeps giving me bull calves.

 

[crossbredcalves]

I have two Longhorn crossed cows that have entered their teens. Both still have good mouths, but this is probably going to be the year they grow wheels. I have kept a heifer out of each of them to replace them in the herd. There isn't really a hard reason that I am going to sale them, but I would rather sell while they will still bring something than hold them til they are not doing as well.

 

[elkwc]

We sold 19 14-18 y/o cows. All were still raising good calves. We still have 3 cows in the 17-18 y/o range. With the killer cow market they make morw money raising calves.

 

[Stickney94]

Environment plays a huge role in longevity.

One of the unexpected challenges I've encountered in my Managed Grazing operation is the lack of walking necessary for the cows. This is a man-made environmental challenge obviously. We've had some good cows break down due to hip and leg issues. And we've had to manage hooves due to lack of wear.

The plus side to the drought we've been in has been having the cows walk to the yard to find water.

When I first started MIG I spent a lot of time bringing water to the cows. I've stopped doing that just to force them into what is still fairly minimal walking for a cow (compared to western US range cows).