Dwarf Calf?

[coyotefur]

Hereferd/Angus cross. She is 10 months old. Fat, just not tall. If you look in the picture, I had a calf that was born around xmas 2015. 8 weeks ago. He is almost her size.

Does anyone think this cow is a dwarf or slow grower?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEGEQYQKeR1MmhBdFN1Wlhla2c/view?usp=docslist_api

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEGEQ ... cslist_api

 

[Muddy]

Where did you get her from? She looks like either a dink calf or a crappy lowline cross. Perhaps take more pics of her?

 

[coyotefur]

I have some more pictures.

Here is another shot.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEGEQ ... cslist_api


This one is from October. 5 moths old
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEGEQ ... cslist_api

 

[Muddy]

She appears to be dink calf, not dwarf.

 

[coyotefur]

Thanks for the reply. My wife and I are semi new to calving. We usually buy yearlings in the spring and sell in the fall.

What good is a dink heifer? How large do they usually get?

 

[Bigfoot]

They never get very big, and are really of no use to the industry. A true dwarf calf will be obvious to spot. It will also have breathing issues. I was at a birthday party once, and a gentleman had 3 or 4. His gimmick was bringing them to kids parties. He'd just turn them loose in somebody's yard. They were gentle, and kids would just come up and play with them and scratch and pet them. Kinda neat to me, that they found a place in life.

 

[Muddy]

In my case, I usually get rid of dinks but sometimes I kept them for freezer beef or feed them out and sell them next year as yearlings. I did ended up kept two dink heifers after they were weaned off and put them on feed, they did gain well on creep feed and good grass, bred them as 2 years old and calves them out as a 3 years old. These two dinks are still in the herd, always got bred on time and never had a dink calf. They just needs some TLC and good nutrition program.

 

[Muddy]

They never get very big

I guess you better tell that to one of my dinks, she ended up as a 1,600lbs cow.

 

[Bigfoot]

You caught me assuming. I never knew anybody silly enough to feed one

 

[Muddy]

You caught me assuming. I never knew anybody silly enough to feed one

There are many reasons why the dinks became dinks. In my situation, both heifers were out of very old cows with little milk so the calves were in rough shape and fending for themselves till the wean time.

 

[Bigfoot]

Are you calling a doughball a dink?

 

[coyotefur]

In my case, I usually get rid of dinks but sometimes I kept them for freezer beef or feed them out and sell them next year as yearlings. I did ended up kept two dink heifers after they were weaned off and put them on feed, they did gain well on creep feed and good grass, bred them as 2 years old and calves them out as a 3 years old. These two dinks are still in the herd, always got bred on time and never had a dink calf. They just needs some TLC and good nutrition program.

Did the dinks have any trouble calving?

 

[Muddy]

In my case, I usually get rid of dinks but sometimes I kept them for freezer beef or feed them out and sell them next year as yearlings. I did ended up kept two dink heifers after they were weaned off and put them on feed, they did gain well on creep feed and good grass, bred them as 2 years old and calves them out as a 3 years old. These two dinks are still in the herd, always got bred on time and never had a dink calf. They just needs some TLC and good nutrition program.

Did the dinks have any trouble calving?

I never witnessed the births of these particular dinks but they were bred to a proven low BW bull.

 

[coyotefur]

Makes sense

 

[Supa Dexta]

Yeah lack of milk usually the cause. So their mother hits the road around here.

 

[LLBUX]

I bet you could sell her to someone looking for miniature cattle.

A guy in my area is trying to breed miniature Panda cattle and is looking for the smallest females he can find that would contribute to the white face/Belted animal he is raising.

I get inquiries from time to time from folks looking for miniature Belties, which I do not have.

 

[Ky cowboy]

I've got one now she came down with scours at around month old gave her shots and pills it would clear up then come back in about 2 weeks she finally got over it but is stunted really bad. Can't wait to get her off of the place.

 

[TCRanch]

We had a 40 lb preemie in 2011. Her mama had hardware & she was orphaned at 2.5 months old. Independent little cuss refused the bottle or milk replacer in a bowl (and we never saw her rob off another cow) so we started her on cubes/brome/just grazing. The condensed version: she's due to have her 4th calf, possibly tonight, and while she still only clocks in at around 1200 lbs she raises great calves - I kept back her only heifer & she's due in April. Additionally, she has moved up from being the last heifer to calve to one of the first in our Spring calving. She may surprise you!

 

[Supa Dexta]

Those of you keeping the dinks - Did you give them an extra year to grow out before breeding them?

 

[Muddy]

Those of you keeping the dinks - Did you give them an extra year to grow out before breeding them?

Yup, I know it's not ideal practice for most folks but I have some time and patience with growing them out.