Culling cow heard

[OwnedByTheCow]

what do you call a bad bag? I've had a lot of old timers tell me to look at the calf not the bag.

In my opinion bags are a big part of my cow culling decision if I HAVE to cull. If the bag is too close to the ground/to high up or the teats are to large/small or least importantly but still a thought, are the quarters extremely uneven. All can have an impact on early calf development. If a new calf has to work to hard for colostrum then they might not drink enough. If the bag is to low to the ground or has to be worked to find at all it will hinder the calf's ability to drink. He might drink when he's hungry but he won't be encouraged to drink more then enough. If the teat is too large the calf can't put it into their mouth.

 

[1982vett]

So no one wakes up one day and realizes they still have 20 or so cows that were 4 to 6 year old when they came through the 2011 drought...... :shock: .....Yeah, time has gotten away from me. Culling a bunch due to age.

 

[Nesikep]

If they're problem free and performing, I think age is irrelevant.. If they're doing well, they are at their most profitable when they get older

 

[Nesikep]

Good bag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhc4UacsIGo

Bad bag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mhECCMxi1w

 

[lithuanian farmer]

Bad character (applies to the calves too)
Repeatable hard calvings ( usually give a second chance for heifers, from three recent heifers which lost their 1st calves, one lost her 2nd calf and was culled, while other two are calving without problems)
Not good enough calves, lack of meat or growth ( this can relate to lack of milk or just bad genetics)
Age related issues ( if see that calves quality is going down, udder's ligaments can't hold it anymore and it is near the ground)
Health issues: bad feet, mastitis( had a couple calves not nursing their dams all teats, which led to open wounds or just one teat left working, had to sell those cows after weaning)

 

[Dave]

I generally cull because it is August. Sometimes September. I do this because I can buy cows this time of year for the same dollars as I sold cows for late summer / early fall. Doing this saves me the expense of feeding for 5/6 months. It takes a mighty good cow to get kept over the winter here.

 

[farmerjan]

If they're problem free and performing, I think age is irrelevant.. If they're doing well, they are at their most profitable when they get older

I'm with you on age not being a primary factor. We have a couple of cows that have no teeth, are in good flesh, preg again due to calve in spring like, mar/april. One is an obstinate old witch, doesn't like to come in unless she is good and ready, but raises a NICE calf every year. So, she's still here. We look at condition/weight when they go through the chute to preg ck, and check on what kind of calf they had (good, bad ,avg) then will check teeth to see if they need a little extra groceries if they are thinner. If they are old, then they go with the grandma group. If they do okay with the calf, they will go back with the bull, if the situation is iffy, then they go with the "raise this calf and they get sold when weaning time comes" group. We also watch how they get around and anyone with anything more than an overgrown toe or something simple, will go high on the cull list. Glad I am not a cow, with my joint problems, I would've been shipped 2 years ago!!!! :hide: :hide:

 

[Nesikep]

If they're problem free and performing, I think age is irrelevant.. If they're doing well, they are at their most profitable when they get older

I'm with you on age not being a primary factor. We have a couple of cows that have no teeth, are in good flesh, preg again due to calve in spring like, mar/april. One is an obstinate old witch, doesn't like to come in unless she is good and ready, but raises a NICE calf every year. So, she's still here. We look at condition/weight when they go through the chute to preg ck, and check on what kind of calf they had (good, bad ,avg) then will check teeth to see if they need a little extra groceries if they are thinner. If they are old, then they go with the grandma group. If they do okay with the calf, they will go back with the bull, if the situation is iffy, then they go with the "raise this calf and they get sold when weaning time comes" group. We also watch how they get around and anyone with anything more than an overgrown toe or something simple, will go high on the cull list. Glad I am not a cow, with my joint problems, I would've been shipped 2 years ago!!!! :hide: :hide:

Have you been having a calf every year?

One good thing about old cows is they know the routine... I could swear that when september/october comes around they're bawling at me not for better food, but for me to wean the suckers off them.. sure, they aren't happy for a few days after that, they have to keep up the appearances that they miss their calf, but I think they are a little relieved after!

 

[farmerjan]

Nesikep no I would've been culled for non-production A LONG TIME AGO!!!!!! Have one son just turned 44 .. :shock: :shock: . Yeah, the old cows seem to be glad to get rid of the "kids" and might bawl for a day or so. The red polls are the worst, they will carry on for a week....but they are very concerned and intense mothers. The younger cows will be more upset for a couple days but the old ones seem to say ....AAAHHHH, peace and quiet....and no more demands on me.... :roll: :lol:

 

[TCRanch]

Maybe this should be another tread but what do you call a bad bag? I've had a lot of old timers tell me to look at the calf not the bag. My two cows that you'd tell me have the two worst bags weaned the biggest calves.

This is an old thread (pics aren't even there any more) but has a lot of advise & opinions on bad bags. I did let her raise the calf & sold her; doing the same thing this year with another cow although with MUCH less drama.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=99623&hilit=holy+rump+roast

 

[Lazy M]

One good thing about old cows is they know the routine... I could swear that when september/october comes around they're bawling at me not for better food, but for me to wean the suckers off them.. sure, they aren't happy for a few days after that, they have to keep up the appearances that they miss their calf, but I think they are a little relieved after!

Here's one with twins that was BEGGING me to wean

 

[Nesikep]

Looks like she did a good job on them..
I gotta laugh at the cows with twins.. after a while they figure out the only way to stop them from sucking is to just lay down and hide the teats!.. I've seen them lay down in the middle of it just to get rid of those pests

 

[tdc_cattle]

I guess I'm aware of what a bad bag is. Just that my two biggest calves were weaned off of cows with bad bags so I'm not curling them for it. I keep an eye on them but I'm not culling them because it's not creating a problem yet.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Agressive
easily spooked
open
calving late
those that needed any kind of help or doctoring
and last we cull the worst performers

 

[SRBeef]

I am building my herd numbers up internally by retaining all heifers for now. The only way I cull any cow or heifer is if she is open. Even then I want to see a blood test confirmation on ones that my vet calls as open or can not determine at preg check time in the fall.

After I get to my target herd size, then I will start culling for the other reasons listed in earlier replies.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Agressive
easily spooked
open
calving late
those that needed any kind of help or doctoring
and last we cull the worst performers

Hopefully there are not many cows in the first four categories. Culling for performance in a down market can get interesting. There has been a Trump bump in cattle prices too - - but history says we have several down years left in this cattle cycle, and lower performing cows are currently losing money while heifer retention costs are reduced. I think we should flip the cow question - - and ask why should you be retained :?:

 

[riquezada]

For me it all boils down to that calf to sell at weaning...however I have sold some for being too big (1600-1700 lbs), some that have had poor calves a year or two, when prices were good, and wild ines, and a few years ago some for no good reason other than price at the time.

For me age isn't too important. I have some 11-12 years old that have a calf every 11-13 months. I'm leary of replacing known good producers with something else...