Evaluate her... (pics)

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milkmaid

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I've a half-angus heifer calf out of this cow (her first calf)... this picture is taken right after freshening with her 2nd calf. I'm looking for the opinions of y'all beef folks, because I don't generally deal with multiple generations like you do.

cow54may07.jpg


cow54udder.jpg


This cow looked really good her first lactation, but I don't like the look of her udder this go-around. She just has too much depth, and she's not going to hold up for many more years. So, if you had a half-angus calf out of this cow, what's the chance that the calf's udder would

1) look like this,
2) hold up for at least 3-4 lactations,
3) be one calves could nurse off without help?

I'd like to keep the calf as a nurse cow, but I want a low-maintanance, easy keeping, long-lasting nurse cow. :p After I saw this cow and remembered she was the dam to one of my heifers... I'm just having second thoughts about keeping the calf. On the positive side, this cow had an 11 month calving interval. What do y'all think? would you take a chance on her calf?
 
I think you're gonna halve problems with any calf out of this cow, but the next genenration should be ok. Way too much milk. But that's just an opinion
 
i dont know, ive seen some angus really tighten up the holstein udder. small tight bags that milk long after the cows come home. but this cow has something wrong with her back feet.
 
She is just fresh so you can't even tell through the edema. If this is her second lactation she has major udder issues.However if you are using her calf as a milk momma then even if the teats hung 2 inches from the ground they would still work.Also you have the genetics from the Angus to think of.Her fore udder attatchment is weak and her read udder attatchment is low but that is why she is just raising calves and not in someones parlor.I would give the heifer a chance and try to breed on feet and legs as well as udder attachment.
 
I'm kind of thinking along the same lines as y'all... just kind of hoping that maybe the angus influence will produce a better udder/smaller milk production...???

I haven't really any first hand experience when it comes to succeeding generations and how the calves compare with their mothers. And the only experience I've had with angus crosses is one that milked like a holstein her entire lactation, and the other who milked like a beef cow - a lot at first, then a sharp decrease after several months in milk. Boss didn't make a practice of running angus crosses in the milking herd. LOL.

Here's the dam to my other angus cross heifer...
cow26resized.jpg


But it's not really fair to compare the two cows... since the first is a fresh 2nd lactation cow, and the other is 6 months into her 1st lactation (she's dry now).
 
Beefy":q81uck2w said:
i dont know, ive seen some angus really tighten up the holstein udder. small tight bags that milk long after the cows come home. but this cow has something wrong with her back feet.

I think she was just standing weird. :p Here's another view... does this look better to you?

cow54otherview.jpg
 
I like the stylish ankle bracelets.
Years ago we had a herd of Angus or Herford X Holstein F1's. They all milked like Holsteins and had the udder to match. By the time they turned 5 all but one was gone and she only lasted one more calf.
 
hillsdown":2mzx5u2s said:
She is just fresh so you can't even tell through the edema. If this is her second lactation she has major udder issues.However if you are using her calf as a milk momma then even if the teats hung 2 inches from the ground they would still work.

It is her second lactation... I'm positive on that one. I'm sure I could put a calf on just about any udder if I tried hard enough, LOL, but a hassle-free nurse cow I could put on the back 40 and forget about would be wonderful. :p
 
the ankle bracelets are sorta hippyish. is this cow from california?
i like the black cows topline better. i think an angus could really knock the bag off of that cow. also a calf should have no problem on an udder like that. my holstein Molly lived to be 10 on pasture only. she just died one day, not sure exactly why. but i had an angus daughter out of her with a very tight bag. i just got rid of her last year, she was 13 and came up open.
 
hillsdown":11ujtuz7 said:
You can't jugde feet in the grass but the legs look kind of off do you have a rear pic of the legs?

That's the best one I have, but I can look for her in the field tomorrow and see if I can get a better picture.

Beefy-- nope, it's an Idaho cow. 'Course, us Idahoans are kind of strange in our own special way too; I know one old lady who cuts her grass with a butcher knife. :lol2: :p
 
MM keep the heifer and see how she is you really have nothing to lose she will give you a calf to sell at the least and maybe be able to raise a couple extras on the side.
 

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