Experimental Shorthorns

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MurraysMutts said:
She wouldn't come up yesterday.
Today she came for a bite. Looks empty. I don't see a calf in there. And what a nice udder for an old cow.
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She came long enough for a few bites then went right back from whence she came....
Went on a short walk. Too curious to not!
Found her!!
Other side of the creek. There's a dry spot, I'll mosey on over and hope I don't get killed.
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Ohhhhhhh! Shes a beauty!
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Big heifer calf! That's a good sized heinie ya'll!
Must be that shorthorn bred for show everyone talks about.....


Edited to add 2 more pics. The size of her rear legs just floors me!
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MurraysMutts said:
They called her old/6 months bred when I bought her. That can mean so many different things at this particular sale.
As was mentioned previously, I didn't talk to the vet or watch her being checked. (After a while I'm a gonna make a list for the experiment of do's and don't)
According to that, she should've calved in July!
Again, that'll be on the list. As these guys ain't very accurate on preg checking.
ALTHO as this calf is really large, he could've been fooled a bit I suppose.
Had I spoken to the vet I'd have asked if she had ANY teeth.

I much prefered the old vet....
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They don't seem to be too hard on the Snow on the mountain & the (is that rag weed?....I can handle Snow on the Mountain, Rag weed ,
not so much,,,
 
farmerjan said:
Old doesn't automatically cut them off at one and done... but I am getting better at shipping them before I bury them! I have A LOT better luck with old cows than I do with buying heifers or young cows...plus they got old for a reason on most farms...
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That is exactly my own experience with older cows. I've purposely bought cows being culled for age to get replacement heifers to raise and sell because they are proven producers.
 
Lee VanRoss said:
They don't seem to be too hard on the Snow on the mountain & the (is that rag weed?....I can handle Snow on the Mountain, Rag weed ,
not so much,,,
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Yeah. That place is rough down in the bottom. There is TONS of Bermuda under that mess. Can't get any equipment in there aside from a weedeater on foot. And that ain't happening! 🙂
Gonna have an airplane spray that place this spring. Tho, I don't know if it'll help with that particular stuff.
 
I will say, all of the hereford x shorthorn cows I have been around have been great calf raisers. You might end up with a couple nice heifers out of her that would be worth keeping around.
 
MurraysMutts
Ragweed has been a big problem for me. It seems anything that will kill it also kills any good forbs as well. I think if a ragweed seed was as
large as a pea I would have seed 3 feet deep on my place. If you are aware of a pre-emerge that is ragweed specific get back with me
on these pages. I have a restricted license so that is not an issue.. Time and loss of production, now that is another issue Thanks LVR
 
Lee VanRoss said:
MurraysMutts
Ragweed has been a big problem for me. It seems anything that will kill it also kills any good forbs as well. I think if a ragweed seed was as
large as a pea I would have seed 3 feet deep on my place. If you are aware of a pre-emerge that is ragweed specific get back with me
on these pages. I have a restricted license so that is not an issue.. Time and loss of production, now that is another issue Thanks LVR
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Thanks for the snow on the mountain. Didn't know for sure what that was.
We were worried twas poison hemlock.

The other appears to be "broomweed"
Tho I know there's ragweed as well. The broomweed is thick!
 
That calf is lookin pretty clubby... But very nice nonetheless. Very curious how she develops.
Waiting on my 2 fall calvers to calve, one n dones, maybe.lol one is black, the other a hereford. Might get rid of the hereford if she dont calve in next few weeks, sell as heavy bred.
 
MurraysMutts said:
What a BIG pretty gurl!!
I'd a liked to have seen this calf born. Curious how easily mama did it. The thickness and big bone to this calf just has me flabbergasted.
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The only thing I know for sure is I'm a fan of your experimenting...I freaking love it. If somebody wants to pay you something stupid for that calf...it leaves you options...options are good... Please keep doing what you're doing, I'm a fan
 
branxchar&charx said:
That calf is lookin pretty clubby... But very nice nonetheless. Very curious how she develops.
Waiting on my 2 fall calvers to calve, one n dones, maybe.lol one is black, the other a hereford. Might get rid of the hereford if she dont calve in next few weeks, sell as heavy bred.
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I was thinking the same thing about it being built like a club calf. @MurraysMutts might want to sell that calf to someone to show next fall.
 
To me that is the down side of buying those kind of cows. Nice stout calf but here that calf would be lucky to bring over $1.00 a pound. Even in a group coming into the ring the buyers would cut her out. Just a fact of life.
The last 4 cows I bought this spring came into the ring together. One solid red cow and 3 Hereford cows. Not straight Hereford looking but mostly Hereford. All good big stout cows. I took the gamble. Well the Hereford cows all had calves that look like straight bred Herefords. Now one Hereford will slide through with group of cross bred calves. But 3 of them will get sorted off before they hit the ring and come through as their own group. And sell for $0.40-0.50 less. The cows hung up real good so I will come out ahead on them but baldie or char calves would bring an extra $200 a head.
I do enjoy doing this. But making money at it makes it a lot more enjoyable.
 
MM hands down the BEST calf you have had. ALL your calves should have stout hind legs. Your calves have too much dairy in them for me. Very fine bone and no hind leg/rump muscling. THIS is a beef calf. I don't care what color it is (but I do love the color).
When people talk about HAIRY cattle for the showing, they are referring to CLUB CALVES. Mostly steers, but since you end up with half females, they have crossbreed clubby heifer jackpot classes. These are NOT your typical show breeding stock. They may show as registered heifers...1/8% Chi or Mainetainers or ShorthornPlus.
All clubby breeding. I hate competing against them. I wouldn't mind if we all had to go under a sprinkler first! Lol.
Someone referred to no muscled Shorthorns..they would be milking shorthorns most likely.
 
Shorthorns got out of favor with feedlots because of their poor carcass traits, NOT color.
They had very uneven fat disposition. Would have globby fat pockets, yet not enough over the rib.
Same with Herefords. They had to put too much fat on to get enough marbling. Color was discriminated against for a reason back in the 80's. Now it's a cheap excuse.
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
MM hands down the BEST calf you have had. ALL your calves should have stout hind legs. Your calves have too much dairy in them for me. Very fine bone and no hind leg/rump muscling. THIS is a beef calf. I don't care what color it is (but I do love the color).
When people talk about HAIRY cattle for the showing, they are referring to CLUB CALVES. Mostly steers, but since you end up with half females, they have crossbreed clubby heifer jackpot classes. These are NOT your typical show breeding stock. They may show as registered heifers...1/8% Chi or Mainetainers or ShorthornPlus.
All clubby breeding. I hate competing against them. I wouldn't mind if we all had to go under a sprinkler first! Lol.
Someone referred to no muscled Shorthorns..they would be milking shorthorns most likely.
Click to expand...
@Jeanne - Simme Valley , are milking shorthorns and shorthorns 2 different breeds? Or 2 different registries/ associations? Like Brown Swiss and Braunveih? Last year I was at one of those boutique dairies around here, and the man had milking shorthorns. He showed me his Shorthorn bull, and its body type was beef....nothing like the cows. I just assumed that maybe the bulls of the breed were more "beefier", but I guess he was doing what he dude that breeds his Brown Swiss to Braunveih bulls is doing, if shorthorn and milking shorthorn are 2 different breeds.
 

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