Do We Need 1000 LB Weaning Weights?

[Ann Bledsoe]

......you can keep adding inputs but eventually yield increases will plateau to a point where all your gaining is bragging at the coffee shop.

Great point, BP! That bragging seems to be more important than profit to some people.

Bragging rights do seem to outweight what I would consider more important components.
I know a fellow who brags about his high birthweights (Angus and Angus cross). He considers anything under 100 lbs to be too small.
Couple (2 or 3) years ago he pulled a 127 lb calf out of a first-calf heifer. He bragged about that calf, and how it was a great bull prospect, all summer.
At sale time the calf wasn't any better than any of his other calves and went along with the rest of them. Sad thing was (IMO) the heifer went too because she didn't breed back. Real nice heifer, but a calf that big was obviously more than she could handle. But then a lot of his heifers don't breed back.

Ann B

 

[txshowmom]

Sad thing was (IMO) the heifer went too because she didn't breed back. Real nice heifer, but a calf that big was obviously more than she could handle. But then a lot of his heifers don't breed back.

How long do you give your heifer to breed back before they grow wheels?

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Sad thing was (IMO) the heifer went too because she didn't breed back. Real nice heifer, but a calf that big was obviously more than she could handle. But then a lot of his heifers don't breed back.

How long do you give your heifer to breed back before they grow wheels?

Not my cattle -- but with this guy, if they're not bred when calves are weaned, they grow wheels.

Personally, I tend to be more lenient, but then I only keep a handful of mostly registered Mini Jerseys and like any Jersey, the good producers take longer to breed back.

Ann B

 

[txshowmom]

Ann,
I am not being critical but what in the world do you do with a miniature Jersey. Are the just for fun or are they used for milk production too?

 

[ollie]

As weaning weights get heavier and heavier I personally don't think we are too many years from killing cattle that never went into a feedlot. Hot creepfed on the farm weaned in the creepfeeder by moving the cows and in this remital bulls case dead 60 days later. No stress of new environments . No discounts for fat calves . Less health issues. Most importantly less owners of the individual animals therefore less people making a living off the same animal. It would also make traceability easy.
You could even kill them on the small side of the box without weaning them.

 

[dun]

Sad thing was (IMO) the heifer went too because she didn't breed back. Real nice heifer, but a calf that big was obviously more than she could handle. But then a lot of his heifers don't breed back.

How long do you give your heifer to breed back before they grow wheels?

Heifers calve as 23-25 month olds in the same calving season as the cows. End of Feburary to maybe early April. We start breeding the end of May through June, may be a day or two in July. The cows and heifers get two breedings, period. They don't settle, they grow wheels at weaning time.

dun

 

[txshowmom]

Thats generally what we do but every once in a while we have a really good cow that takes a little longer so we have to turn our head and overlook sometimes. We gave one good cow that we payed a lot of money for about 5 months and she still didn't breed back so she was gone. Still keep thinking "what if she had one more try..."

 

[dun]

Thats generally what we do but every once in a while we have a really good cow that takes a little longer so we have to turn our head and overlook sometimes. We gave one good cow that we payed a lot of money for about 5 months and she still didn't breed back so she was gone. Still keep thinking "what if she had one more try..."

We did give one expensive cow a third try this year. She missed a heat after she was bred, then came in on schedule. I bred her, she came in again and bred her again. She'll still fall into the first couple of days of April calving schedule. If she would have missed she would have hit the road like a cow that we didn't even bother breeding this year and a heifer that didn't cycle in our breeding window.

dun

 

[PATB]

As weaning weights get heavier and heavier I personally don't think we are too many years from killing cattle that never went into a feedlot. Hot creepfed on the farm weaned in the creepfeeder by moving the cows and in this remital bulls case dead 60 days later. No stress of new environments . No discounts for fat calves . Less health issues. Most importantly less owners of the individual animals therefore less people making a living off the same animal. It would also make traceability easy.
You could even kill them on the small side of the box without weaning them.

With the right management and a early winter calving season you might be able to do this. It would take some superior genetics to get that kind of growth and still grade. I am not sure if you would even need to creep if you have good clover grass pastures and practice MIG.

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Ann,
I am not being critical but what in the world do you do with a miniature Jersey. Are the just for fun or are they used for milk production too?

The name Mini Jersey is misleading -- these guys are the ORIGINAL Jerseys. They are quite a bit smaller than these huge American Jerseys, but they're not as small as some of the Miniature breeds.
I think they can be registered up to 46" at the hip (with measurement taken at 3 years of age), but most are in the 38" - 44" range.

Their primary purpose is, and always has been, as a family milk cow or "house cow".
The American Jersey will easily produce 7-8 gallons of milk daily. The Mini Jerseys give 3-4 gallons daily, which is much better suited to family use, and they're much more likely to be able to do it on grass. A good portion of the Mini Jerseys are polled, and the bulls have a calm and gentle temperment.

Personally, I like to keep a milk cow around and I don't like milking cows that are 6ft tall and give so much milk that you really could take daily milk baths! I prefer these smaller, very docile cows that give an ample amount of very rich milk. Just about any of the Mini Jersey cows can feed her own plus a standard calf (bottle or bucket), as well as supply the house with plenty of milk for drinking, and butter & cheese making.


The following links give a bit more information

http://miniaturejerseys.com/hist.html

http://pages.ivillage.com/amjcr/

Ann B

 

[ollie]

If we could wean calves that were ready to kill , our opinion of efficient size might change. Interesting thought . I wonder also if the all talked about vertical integration wouldn't become more viable.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

Thats generally what we do but every once in a while we have a really good cow that takes a little longer so we have to turn our head and overlook sometimes. We gave one good cow that we payed a lot of money for about 5 months and she still didn't breed back so she was gone. Still keep thinking "what if she had one more try..."

Last fall, I sold one of my good cows to a friend for his freezer because she wouldn't breed back. I got a whole $300.00 for her. The minute she jumped off the truck, his bull jumped her. She was there for 2 months getting fed for slaughter and she never came back into heat.

 

[greenwillowherefords]

If I'm not mistaken the familys last name was or is Latimer which is Remital spelled backwards.

you're right.

Yes, except they added another L on the end of Remitall.

Ollie answered one of my questions before I asked it, which was if the calves didn't fit the box when they finished, would there not come a time that the monsters would be discounted. If they were able to slaughter at a year old that would solve it, IF they would finish that quickly with all the marbling etc. that they need. I have no doubt the powers that be in the feedlot industry would fight such a trend if it eliminated them.

 

[greenwillowherefords]

How do you edit a post? 60 days from weaning would be nearly nine months not a year.
Another thought, if you feed steers and sell the beef directly to your customers, it doesn't really matter what the size of the calf is as far as the box is concerned.