Did she do a good job?

[WisRose]

Here is a first calf Hereford heifer and her steer calf out of World Class. Calf; BW 95# WW 622# ADG 2.64 (no creep just ate round bales with cows)

She was beat out by one of my older cows, a Keynote with a Reload heifer calf. Calf: BW 97# WW 657# ADG. 2.68

 

[WisRose]

Our lightest was 64#, heaviest 120#, only pulled one and it was this steer calf.(We only have 7 cows) I used World Class for calving ease, guess it didn't work.

 

[Arkieman]

We dont have scales, but we had a hoss out of World Class in Sept! We were hoping she would have a bull calf and we wanted to use the calf on our Angus cows, but he was so big I'm afraid to now..

 

[dun]

And yet with those BW the weaning weights aren't all that high.

 

[WisRose]

With the cost of registering and all the other "fees" involved with the AHA, I've been seriously considering using another breed on the girls. See how they do with the "hybrid vigor" thing. I really like the herefords. Tried Shorthorns but they were very protective at calving and they had BW of 100# and over. With limited land we can only have 10 cows.

 

[WisRose]

What gets me is when trying to sell herefords you get the ones that tell you that they're priced too high and I know people with the same genetics as ours can ask 5x's as much and get it!!! Was offered a real nice bred heifer once for a "deal" ....only $4000!!! Wish I could sell mine for that! Don't have the time or resources to go that route.

 

[Alan]

Around here a 70 pound calf equals a 90 pound calf up there because yall have to feed your cattle more in winter than we do. Thus, the bigger birthweights. I think in all the years I raised herefords I never had to pull one.

????? Huh, if you keep your bred cows in good shape, does that means one region feeds enough more to cause a 20lb bigger BW? As WisRose stated only one needed help. I used a clean up bull last year (Polled Hereford) that dropped some heavy calves, biggest was a 106 lb heifer. Hope I don't jinx myself, but all where simple quick deliveries, no help. I don't feed grain to bred cattle, only hay, but they are in good shape going into spring. I guess I don't understand your comment.... please explain.

Alan

 

[Alan]

And yet with those BW the weaning weights aren't all that high.

Could be better, but ditto, not that bad.

JMO,
Alan

 

[Alan]

We dont have scales, but we had a hoss out of World Class in Sept! We were hoping she would have a bull calf and we wanted to use the calf on our Angus cows, but he was so big I'm afraid to now..

I have a World Class calf (steer) this year, easy calving. It was 80lbs, no problems, good gain and I'll use him again. My best calf was Huth class act son (World Class son) that I'm wishing I would have waited to steer and see how he finished developing..... but as I usually have it.... toooooo late. The cow has to much to do with the BW to go against the bulls acc. BW.

JMO,
Alan

 

[dun]

And yet with those BW the weaning weights aren't all that high.

Could be better, but ditto, not that bad.

JMO,
Alan

I agree. not bad. But with the head start those calves had from those kinds of BW I would sure expect them to wean heavier then calves that are born a lot smaller.

 

[hillsdown]

A calving ease bull does not necessarily mean low birth weight bull. We average over 85 lb birth weight calves and do not assist any , except for the odd malpresentation and it is usually only in twins..

SECOND you do not even know the age they were weened to comment on whether or not it is good or bad.

I want a moderately framed cow and heifer that will pop out a good size calf on it's own and the calf will be up and drinking in 10-15 mins..

Guess what, I have that..Plus very good ween weights ;all on hay and then grass as soon as they can be kicked out to pasture..

WiRose she did well.

 

[bigbull338]

thats 1 heck of a pair.you can tell she has the breeding behind her.to sell those high dollar calves cows an bulls you have to have the name an rep.an once you have that then you can command those prices.

 

[novaman]

And yet with those BW the weaning weights aren't all that high.

Could be better, but ditto, not that bad.

JMO,
Alan

I agree. not bad. But with the head start those calves had from those kinds of BW I would sure expect them to wean heavier then calves that are born a lot smaller.

He hit over 2.6 ADG. I think that's pretty darn good regardless of what the calf started out at.

 

[WisRose]

Thanks for the comments. I bred her to Ozzie for next year. Her BW was 78# and her dam (H 8E) always has a High 70-low 80# calf. Was hoping this girl would keep that BW. Her Grandma a Keynote always throws a high 90 #er no matter who she's bred to. She never has a problem delivering them and she usually goes a few days over just to make sure they're big. She's that dam of the Reload heifer I pictured.

 

[alacattleman]

Around here a 70 pound calf equals a 90 pound calf up there because yall have to feed your cattle more in winter than we do. Thus, the bigger birthweights. I think in all the years I raised herefords I never had to pull one.

????? Huh, if you keep your bred cows in good shape, does that means one region feeds enough more to cause a 20lb bigger BW? As WisRose stated only one needed help. I used a clean up bull last year (Polled Hereford) that dropped some heavy calves, biggest was a 106 lb heifer. Hope I don't jinx myself, but all where simple quick deliveries, no help. I don't feed grain to bred cattle, only hay, but they are in good shape going into spring. I guess I don't understand your comment.... please explain.

Alan

It is a proven fact that cattle in northern climates have bigger calves. The reason is instead of just supplementing with hay like we do here they have to supplement with sileage, or grain, and the like. Thus the more they eat when they are preggo the bigger the calf grows. THis should be true for kansas, montana, and the like.

i dont think their feed has as much too do with it as the enviroment

 

[angie1]

It is a proven fact that cattle in northern climates have bigger calves. The reason is instead of just supplementing with hay like we do here they have to supplement with sileage, or grain, and the like. Thus the more they eat when they are preggo the bigger the calf grows. THis should be true for kansas, montana, and the like.

As far as I have ever seen it done, only weanlings get grained through the winter ~ some people not even that. Cows and bred heifers get hay only, and come through winter fine. Those birth weights are plenty big by our standards. I think there is much less of a discrepancy than you imagine, if at all.

 

[angie1]

I am not imagining things. There are bulls I have used ai here that put calves in the 75-80 pound range consistanly. Yet the people I know in North Dakota and other areas used the same bull. Since the weather was below zero there in the winters they had to feed their cows more than just hay. Therefore the calves out of that same bull weighed 90-95 pounds at birth out of similar type cows. You will feed quiet a bit when it gets 40 below zero.

Sheath your claws ~ I am not accusing you of something. I am saying that I have lived here all my life, I spend more than some time in below zero. I am saying that I know (not that I "'heard") that cattle where I live are not typically grained AT ALL after weaning, with the exception of some people choosing to grain weanlings through their first winter. I am also saying, as a resident of a state that gets plenty cold, that a 90-95 lb calf is a big calf ~ not typical.

 

[angie1]

My claws arent out and I know this to be true. Saw it with my own eyes when I visited these places during a tour of the western states.

I apologize then ~ you have "toured".
Who am I to disagree?

 

[alacattleman]

My claws arent out and I know this to be true. Saw it with my own eyes when I visited these places during a tour of the western states.

I apologize then ~ you have "toured".
Who am I to disagree?

that a girl , you know when you be beat

 

[WisRose]

My cows do not get anything but round bales all year long. It's first cutting alfalfa/grass mixed, better than most get fed around here but it's what we have growing in our hay fields so that's what we feed. We get three cuttings and let 2nd and 3rd flower completely out before cutting and feed the better stuff to the young stock. It's pure alfalfa, but again we have limited acrage and have to get what we can.