Depth of Rib?
- Thread starter angus9259
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Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
More room for guts and calves, I don't think it has much to do with converison, more to do with how much you can get in them.
shortstuff
Active member
A larger heart girth & overall depth does help with conversion, IMHO. Conversion & rate of gain are 2 different things.
lakading
Well-known member
More meat.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Depth of Rib, capacity, spring of rib, whatever you want to call it - it means ROOM for roughage & calf. I always tell people they should be able to picture a 50 gal drum inside their cow. If not, she probably does not have enough capacity to carry a 70# calf and be able to consume enough roughage (hay or grass) to be able to maintain her pregnancy & body weight.
A gutless wonder usually needs suppliment to breed back every year. Of course, there are always EXCEPTIONS. But, this is the "norm".
A gutless wonder usually needs suppliment to breed back every year. Of course, there are always EXCEPTIONS. But, this is the "norm".
bigbull338
Well-known member
a short ribbed cow doesnt have the capicity to eat alot of forage.because she hasnt got a big enough stomach to hold the forage she needs.a long bodied cow can support herself an her calf better.because she can consume more foage.if you have a short ribbed heavy milking cow.she will pull way down.because she hasnt got the room to convert alot of forage.
Depth of rib is overrated at this point in time.
Ask your dad or grandpa if they worried about it as much as we do. They didn't. It only became such a hot topic after the pencil guts didn't work.
Now, we select for too much depth and guts for no real purpose. Some of these cattle are more potty that even the runts of the 50's.
Guts are high energy tissue, no need to make extra just to use energy and cut out on the packing room floor.
We need cattle with good rib shape and hearth girth, but not extreme. It's one of those things you can't explain. You have to know it when you see it. Mostly what I see is wasteful excess.
If more was better, all these deep-bodied cattle would be pregnant. They aren't.
Badlands
Ask your dad or grandpa if they worried about it as much as we do. They didn't. It only became such a hot topic after the pencil guts didn't work.
Now, we select for too much depth and guts for no real purpose. Some of these cattle are more potty that even the runts of the 50's.
Guts are high energy tissue, no need to make extra just to use energy and cut out on the packing room floor.
We need cattle with good rib shape and hearth girth, but not extreme. It's one of those things you can't explain. You have to know it when you see it. Mostly what I see is wasteful excess.
If more was better, all these deep-bodied cattle would be pregnant. They aren't.
Badlands
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
ok badlands i always thought you and mtnman are the same person, and now the signature was that a slip ;-) upmtnman":3shognv3 said:
lakading
Well-known member
ALACOWMAN":vz7nwz1d said:
Oops! :lol2:
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
hey the only thing that seperated you two in my mind. was mtnman seemed a little more hard nosed :lol: but both followed the same route.Badlands":2alshva3 said:
Exactly. If capacity translates to the ability to a greater place to put more forage, that doesn't mean the cow will convert better. If she got hungry, she'd just eat more often (on lower capacity) or less often (higher capacity). Even if she were bred and the calf were taking up stomach room, she'd just eat more seems to me.
angus9259":3a3nt50k said:
It still takes time for them to ruminate and process the feed. There's also that sleep problem. If they can hold more at one sitting it seems to me they would spend less time grazing or traveling to graze.
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
The better they convert feed the less they have to eat.
