do you

[Dixieangus]

do you cull a cow that takes over a year to calve again from the time the calf hites the ground

 

[1982vett]

Depends on the cow. Depends on how much expense I have in her. Depends on how much I can get back out of her. Depends on why she is late. Depends on the quality of her last calf. Depends if this will be her second calf. Depends if it happened before. Depends on a lot of things.

 

[EAT BEEF]

Depends if they hit the 60 day window,I have some cows that will bounce around and last for years others will settle the first time every year and some just can't and get to leave.If a commercial cow can hit your window and raises a good calf I see no reason to cull her unless your looking for reasons to cull cows.

 

[randiliana]

No, as long as she is bred in our calving window, which is about 60 days, it doesn't matter if she calves at 330 days or 390 day from when she last calved. She may get culled out for other reasons, and if she's on the list anyways, that may be a contributing factor. But in and of itself, it isn't a reason that we cull.

 

[bigbull338]

my bull runs with the cows year round.now if the cow goes longer than i think without calving she will be put on the cull list.i had 2 cows on the list for this fall.an they calved back real quick.so they will get to stay in the herd.

 

[Bez+]

No "depends" or second thoughts from me.

If it takes that long - even if she is bred she is a cost and she goes.

We give no second chances now

And we for sure do not want her genetics in the herd

Bez+

 

[Willow Springs]

I agree with Bez+. We run a 60 day calving period, with most calving in 40 days. Depending on how many cows I need to cull tha year I may even shorten the window to 45 days. If it is a year past the last time she calved she would not fit in those windows. She might be open in my herd or very late bred. Either way she will be sold. I can probably replace her with a cow calving in my time period for the same money. Time is money.

 

[TexasBred]

What if she's open because of something you did....or did not do???

 

[hillsdown]

TB if she is open because of something "you" screwed up we all know who should be culled..

Dixie the correct answer would be as long as she calves in your designated calving period you keep her. If that is the only reason for culling , next year she may gain a few weeks .

I think there are couple of you that need to re read your responses , and I would love to look through your calving records. From what you are saying if that a cow calved Feb 1 last year and Feb 2 this year you would cull her because she is over a year.. :roll:

 

[Willow Springs]

What if she's open because of something you did....or did not do???

If she is a commercial female you cannot afford to keep an open cow. The money you spend in the time to get her to calve again will most likely never be recovered. Better to sell her and replace with something bred.

With Purebreds it can be different. I have had bulls not work and kept the females, and once "lost" a CIDR in a cow and kept her. Economics are different though. Her cull value can be a long ways from her replacement value. But if it isn't a management problem she's got to go, a BEZ+ said you don't want those genetics in the herd. Mind you I didn't pay $10,000 for the cows in my herd.

 

[Willow Springs]

I think there are couple of you that need to re read your responses , and I would love to look through your calving records. From what you are saying if that a cow calved Feb 1 last year and Feb 2 this year you would cull her because she is over a year

Ya sorry, I was thinking a year from the end of our breeding period. :dunce:

TB if she is open because of something "you" screwed up we all know who should be culled..

Must be tough being so perfect. :roll:

 

[TexasBred]

What if she's open because of something you did....or did not do???

If she is a commercial female you cannot afford to keep an open cow. The money you spend in the time to get her to calve again will most likely never be recovered. Better to sell her and replace with something bred.

With Purebreds it can be different. I have had bulls not work and kept the females, and once "lost" a CIDR in a cow and kept her. Economics are different though. Her cull value can be a long ways from her replacement value. But if it isn't a management problem she's got to go, a BEZ+ said you don't want those genetics in the herd. Mind you I didn't pay $10,000 for the cows in my herd.

Guess I'm a little more forgiving. I don't insist that every cow calf within 12 months of the previous calf hitting the ground. Now I won't ride with her another months, but we watch for heats, if we don't see one we palpate... check for cystic ovaies and examine the reproductive tract. If this is all good and body condition is good then she should breed. If not then yes, she'll be leaving. We're still very close to 11 month calving interval for the herd and have several that breed every 11 months as well as a few at 10. Bred one cow twice last year...she still didn't stick so sold her. Got rid of one beautiful old 12 year old last week because she just didn't milk with this last calf so never tried to breed her...But you're right...if I screwed up with my management....I need to go...or at least get a scolding from the wife which I have gotten more than once. :lol2:

 

[backhoeboogie]

my bull runs with the cows year round.now if the cow goes longer than i think without calving she will be put on the cull list.i had 2 cows on the list for this fall.an they calved back real quick.so they will get to stay in the herd.

My bull runs with the cows year round too. If it wasn't that way, they'd get bred by a neighbor's bull that I don't want them bred to. I can only assume these folks with a 60 day window have no neighbors. Some of mine calve every 10 1/2 months give or take.

 

[TexasBred]

Look what this old gal has done. Today she's 14 years, 8 month and 14 days old. First calf was born in 1997, last one in 2009....12 calves and she's 5 months bred now. Overall calving interval is 394 days during this entire period. All A-I calves.

 

[hillsdown]

WS mistakes are made hopefully they are corrected before the cow is open for a whole season. I have one cow that had twins this year and I really wanted a certain AI bull out of her. I just could not get her to catch when she was AI'd, so I finally through her in with the bull, she is bred but she will be at the tail end of the calving interval instead of always the first to calve. If I would have just let the bull do a natural service to begin with or at least the second time ,she would be at the front where she usually always is. I kick myself everyday because I screwed up her interval and possibly a dam of distinction or merit award later. learnt my lesson, and if I was working for someone else I might have lost my job over it.

Perfect, hardly, but I am not going to punish her for my error in judgement.

 

[1982vett]

my bull runs with the cows year round.now if the cow goes longer than i think without calving she will be put on the cull list.i had 2 cows on the list for this fall.an they calved back real quick.so they will get to stay in the herd.

My bull runs with the cows year round too. If it wasn't that way, they'd get bred by a neighbor's bull that I don't want them bred to. I can only assume these folks with a 60 day window have no neighbors. Some of mine calve every 10 1/2 months give or take.

Thats the beauty of the south, doesn't cost near what it does to carry a cow over for a short time during the winter as it does up north so you don't have to get rid of a good cow because for some reason she didn't get bred for your timeline.

I'm holding several now because I feel I will get 10-15 cents a pound more after the first of the year. Already have a fixed cost on winter pasture and a few extra lbs won't hurt a thing. Wouldn't have though about keeping them last year.

No, it isn't bad management to keep her a while. I see it as a chance to make a better return on an investment. Tax consequences is another. So when you make a decision about what to do, it DEPENDS ( :tiphat: ) on more than one factor. At least it does for me. :nod:

 

[hillsdown]

Vette, because I calve so early in the year and it is winter , when I do throw the clean up bull in, they are in still a small winter pasture and we own the connecting land so we don't have to worry about intruders. By the time they go out to the big pasture they are all bred or they had should be. We also have a double wire of high tensile to make the fence 7 feet tall and run a strand of hot wire on our side and the neighbors run one on theirs. We all want to keep our cattle in their own pastures so it is just something we do, the one neighbor that was a real pita sold all of his cattle, so that helps as well.

 

[1982vett]

Vette, because I calve so early in the year and it is winter , when I do throw the clean up bull in, they are in still a small winter pasture and we own the connecting land so we don't have to worry about intruders. By the time they go out to the big pasture they are all bred or they had should be. We also have a double wire of high tensile to make the fence 7 feet tall and run a strand of hot wire on our side and the neighbors run one on theirs. We all want to keep our cattle in their own pastures so it is just something we do, the one neighbor that was a real pita sold all of his cattle, so that helps as well.

Darn, that just reminded me, I needed to pen a fence crawling bull up today and tell the owner where he was. Really should have been done yesterday afternoon but I forgot all about it. Wouldn't mind him visiting but he seems to be one of them bunk fed 14-month old bulls that matured into a pencil butt fence crawling 2 year old. :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[hillsdown]

Vette, because I calve so early in the year and it is winter , when I do throw the clean up bull in, they are in still a small winter pasture and we own the connecting land so we don't have to worry about intruders. By the time they go out to the big pasture they are all bred or they had should be. We also have a double wire of high tensile to make the fence 7 feet tall and run a strand of hot wire on our side and the neighbors run one on theirs. We all want to keep our cattle in their own pastures so it is just something we do, the one neighbor that was a real pita sold all of his cattle, so that helps as well.

Darn, that just reminded me, I needed to pen a fence crawling bull up today and tell the owner where he was. Really should have been done yesterday afternoon but I forgot all about it. Wouldn't mind him visiting but he seems to be one of them bunk fed 14-month old bulls that matured into a pencil butt fence crawling 2 year old. :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I am not touching that one at all... :lol2: :help: I thought it was funnel butt.. 8)

 

[1982vett]

Funnel butt would be a complement but that wouldn't be politically correct as that would be a form of racial profiling. :secret: Ohhhboy :lol: is this heading down the path of no return.