DCA farm
Well-known member
Well I know where there are 16-17 year old corriente cows right now with beef calf's at their side and beef calves in their belly's
Cow Longevity
- Thread starter simme
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simme
Old Dumb Guy
Post some pictures of those girls with their calves.
I have seen a lot of Criollo....LH , Corriente, etc....into their 20s. Brahmans, too. There's a guy around here that has reindeer (he does Santa pictures ), camels...all kinds of stuff. He has a Longhorn steer with about an 8' horn span that he gives rides to kids on, and lets people take pictures on, that is well past 25, probably close to 30 now. I took all of my Corriente cows to my friend in south GA in 2006. I think there are 2 or 3 of the ones that were 2 yr olds, still in the "Kudzu herd". so they'd be 17.
simme
Old Dumb Guy
My oldest cow retired at 17 years old after this calf was weaned last spring. I sent him off to college and he graduated the bull test last month. His graduation video is below. She was the most productive cow we ever owned. Produced several herd bulls and is the great grandam of Kenny's 600U bull calf.
WFfarm
Well-known member
That's one nice looking bull!
Ditto! And he's got the strut.
Rancher
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my 2005 angus cow never missed a breed cycle. has poor feet now so last calf this spring
These are my 2 oldest girls. Pic was last summer, and they'll be 13 next month. Both still calve within the first couple weeks of calving season and raise whoppers - I've kept every heifer from them, so the lineage continues. They just stand there and generally don't even watch while I tag/work their newborns; they know the drill. Baldie on the left (33A) had early-stage cancer eye in 2017. Vet removed both 3rd eyelids and zero problems since, haven't treated her for anything else. Black, purebred Angus (4A) is the head cow, a total diva, and worth it. Treated her for an abscess in 2018. That's it. We didn't start raising cattle until 2009, so these girls were in the first group of heifers we retained.
TwoByrdsMG
Well-known member
Sold our oldest- a 2010 model to a seedstock producer in Idaho the end of last summer. Sent her bred and she calved twin bull calves last month. That gives her a total of 12 natural calves + she had an ET calf Jan 2022 (I have one embryo calf coming next week+ more in the tank) New owner plans to flush her also.
Next oldest are three 2015 models:
WWA Cleo's Romance- has given me 2 PB daughters that we've retained and she's carried an embryo the last 2 years (her dam had 15 calves)
SSR Classie- just purchased this gal (her 2010 dam is still in production)
LGR Crystal Blu- have owned all but one of her progeny (her 2011 dam is still in production)
Next oldest are three 2015 models:
WWA Cleo's Romance- has given me 2 PB daughters that we've retained and she's carried an embryo the last 2 years (her dam had 15 calves)
SSR Classie- just purchased this gal (her 2010 dam is still in production)
LGR Crystal Blu- have owned all but one of her progeny (her 2011 dam is still in production)
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Jeanne - Simme Valley
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The cow I mentioned back in 2020 was 3T. I just shipped her at 15 years old. Her daughter born end of 2020, 3TH just calved tonight. A little bull calf. 3T was a direct daughter of 3K, one of my donor cows. At least 1/3 of my herd goes back to the donor cow (produced thru the age of 15). Another direct daughter 03S (a twin at birth) never had twins until she was 15. Raised her twins thru the winter and came up open at 16. So, at that age, I shipped her.
To me, the "factory" is the most valuable asset. I sell off the daughters and never think twice about it as long as I have the factory.
@simme great looking bull.
wbvs58
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Thanks. And perfect bags!
Mark Reynolds
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Looking at your question and what the answer might be (I do not personally own any livestock, unless a 'petting zoo' consisting of 4 cats, a rabbit and 2 guinea pigs counts) literally none. However, you put the answer right in your question, with the answer being keep the cows as long as they are productive. This means keep the cow until they lose a calf or fail to breed. For some cows that will be less than 5 years. For some, it may be 20 years. You hear both stories. Just keep good records. I worked with a producer once (nice guy, raised cows pretty much as a hobby) who calved year round. Didn't keep records. At my urging, and a fellow retired grazing specialist (my mentor/trainer) we got him to cull some of his older animals. He didn't know when they had their last calf (could have been literally years) and he was sure that they had to be pregnant. He culled 6 animals. All 6 were open. He started paying closer attention and keeping records at that point. He actually was an accountant.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.
My Mom used to say often, "The cobbler's children shall have no shoes." When I was in lawncare, my grass would get huge before I cut it. Lol.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
For me - the COW is the most important part of my program. She is my FACTORY. I have culled ruthlessly for structure, fertility and temperament. People think I price our heifers high - they choke if they ask for a price on a cow! LOL When you sell a great heifer, it is not hurting your "program", because you have the factory. If she's that good, you can affordably IVF flush her.
In the fall of 1997 I went to the Wehrmann Angus female sale. I don't know that I'd ever seen a cow sell for more than $1000. First lot sold for $80k, second over $100k. My eyes were as wide as I was naive.
Charbrangus
Well-known member
I have a cow that is 16. Thinking about selling her because or her age. She still has good calves just longer times in between. Use to she had a calf every 11 to 12 months. Right now she is at 15 months. I have kept several of her calves, best mommas I have. Think I am going to give her one more shot and hope she has a heifer.
Longtivity is very important to us. Some of the current popular genetics has reduced some of ours. Three years ago we sold sound 20 14-18 year old cows. Weaned big calves off them and sold them 45 days later . All but 2 averaged just over 1 500 lbs. One weighed over 1,600. All were bred and still sound. As long as a cow has a calf early in every calving season and stays sound they stay. They have to be docile also. It costs so much to develop heifer that it returns us more dollars to retain the cow and sell the heifer. Using AI genetics has brought several issues to our herd that has reduced longtivity. When I decide to use new genetics the first thing we want to know are what is dam like. Does she have good teats and a good udder along with feet, legs and structure. We have still encountered issues with teats and udders. Culled 2 nice heifers this year. The heifers mothers have good udders and teats. Both are 8-20 y/o cows. So no doubt in my mind it came from the sires. We will calve our best set of replacements at this stage next spring. 2/3 by an AI sire. Hope he works better. I feel with the rapid turn over in genetics some practice along with raising calves on recips an owner has no real idea about a cows teats and udder. Hopefully we are getting the issues culled out.
Lucky_P
Well-known member
Had an old 'grandma' SimAngus that I bred - a daughter of the 1980s Simmental sire Generation III, that calved on time every year, until she slipped her last calf (probably a Neospora abortion) at 17. It was time for her to go... so she made a big pile of ground beef for the local Salvation Army soup kitchen.
