djinwa
Well-known member
Let me throw in a few thoughts and observations before this topic dies.
One problem with efficiency is the buyers want uniformity. To be efficient, you want a smaller more feminine cow, bred to a larger, high growth bull. Essentially two different types that leads to variation in the offspring. If your marketing allows less uniformity, you could be more efficient. Would have two different breeding operations - one to produce cows, and the other to produce bulls.
Having said this, efficiency is not all about size. It is also about type. Muscle is more metabolically active and requires more energy to maintain. So more muscular cows eat more.
Cows also vary in appetite and metabolism. With just a few cows that I know well, I see big differences. One is a pig, the other, I struggle to get her to eat. I've noticed that cows that look like my piggy are often praised as "easy keepers", when in fact they just eat a lot more. We don't think the same about big people.
Fascinating that little interest has been shown in studying cow efficiency and feed intake. Kind of like a trucking company not caring how much fuel they burn.
As I've posted before, here they are researching efficiency - pounds of calf produced per pound of feed intake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6hSQMz8hyo
One problem with efficiency is the buyers want uniformity. To be efficient, you want a smaller more feminine cow, bred to a larger, high growth bull. Essentially two different types that leads to variation in the offspring. If your marketing allows less uniformity, you could be more efficient. Would have two different breeding operations - one to produce cows, and the other to produce bulls.
Having said this, efficiency is not all about size. It is also about type. Muscle is more metabolically active and requires more energy to maintain. So more muscular cows eat more.
Cows also vary in appetite and metabolism. With just a few cows that I know well, I see big differences. One is a pig, the other, I struggle to get her to eat. I've noticed that cows that look like my piggy are often praised as "easy keepers", when in fact they just eat a lot more. We don't think the same about big people.
Fascinating that little interest has been shown in studying cow efficiency and feed intake. Kind of like a trucking company not caring how much fuel they burn.
As I've posted before, here they are researching efficiency - pounds of calf produced per pound of feed intake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6hSQMz8hyo