SRBeef
Well-known member
Finally got the fall weaning, workup (shots, pour, preg check) done yesterday (Monday 11/15) after being postponed a couple times due to weather etc. Looks like we had a 1-day break in the weather to get it done.
I make a little checklist ahead of time for my vet and I to use as to what is to be done to each animal coming through the alley and chute. It can be hard to keep track and easy to make a mistake in the heat of the moment in the corral. So Sunday afternoon I started my checklist.
It struck me that the checklist was getting longer and maybe I had better do some thinking. I took my last weights (from mid Oct) totalled them up x 3% x the number of days I am likely to be feeding hay and was surprised to find that even with all the hay I bought and wrapped this summer and allowing a factor for the steers grazing corn, I am likely to run short of hay by spring greenup!
It was obvious I need to cull. I also went out to the pasture to check on them and with the calves getting bigger (700-800 lb calves don't look as much like little calves any more!) and everybody in the smaller corral pasture ahead of workup, there even LOOKED like a LOT of beef in that small field. And a lot of hay consumption per day, just like the calculations showed.
It took a couple bags of sweet feed and a bit of extra work due to a couple new registered heifers I bought recently not understanding the corral drill, but I got them all in the corral about 10 minutes ahead of vet arrival.
So at the end of the day I was pleased. 100% pregnant (thanks to T21*), everybody weighed, new rfid eartags, with shots and pour-on and on the correct sides of the weaning fence. And my three largest cows still in the corral.
My vet is a master at getting the right animals in my sorting areas and tub with minimal fuss. He walks right through the herd without getting them riled up. I end up being mostly the sliding gate guy, tag hander and scale operator.
Vet said goodbye, I went and hooked up the trailer, backed up to the loadout ramp and to my great surprise the three large cows went right through the alley and chute again and right on the trailer. No hours long wait, lawn chair and beer (dang it I was thirsty!) like loading my bull a few months ago.
Took them down to Bloomington WI Livestock Exchange where they are having both a slaughter cow sale and a bred cow sale this week and felt a real relief coming back with the trailer empty, fall working done and hopefully everyone still on the correct side of the fence!
I was going to try to take some pictures through the day but somehow that gets lost in the work at hand. A good feeling to be done until spring, hopefully.
By the way I would strongly recommend the Bloomington Livestock Exchange as a place to do business for anyone within driving distance. I think this is the way the cattle business should be run both on the seller and the buyer side of the transactions. They seem to have the trust and respect of both sides.
Proof of that is the incredible number of trailers on the road coming and going from that place. I saw license plates from WI, MN & IA while I unloaded. They serve the guy like me with 3 head in the trailer just like they do the guy with the pot load trailer. They do some volume and I get the feeling they are very concerned about quality also.
The three cows culled totaled about 5200 lb x 3% x 150 days = 23,400 lb of hay saved or about 16 1500 lb bales! Culling them now also avoid the wrenching decisions in the spring on whether or not to keep their good looking heifers, who will also probably turn out to be mega sized cows.
A long day but a very good feeling at the end of it. Then it was time for that beer! FWIW.
Jim
* - On the 100% pregnant, I think there is a benefit to the SC measurement and EPD (ref other thread). But as a beginner I can't make a theoretical case for it, just experience.
I make a little checklist ahead of time for my vet and I to use as to what is to be done to each animal coming through the alley and chute. It can be hard to keep track and easy to make a mistake in the heat of the moment in the corral. So Sunday afternoon I started my checklist.
It struck me that the checklist was getting longer and maybe I had better do some thinking. I took my last weights (from mid Oct) totalled them up x 3% x the number of days I am likely to be feeding hay and was surprised to find that even with all the hay I bought and wrapped this summer and allowing a factor for the steers grazing corn, I am likely to run short of hay by spring greenup!
It was obvious I need to cull. I also went out to the pasture to check on them and with the calves getting bigger (700-800 lb calves don't look as much like little calves any more!) and everybody in the smaller corral pasture ahead of workup, there even LOOKED like a LOT of beef in that small field. And a lot of hay consumption per day, just like the calculations showed.
It took a couple bags of sweet feed and a bit of extra work due to a couple new registered heifers I bought recently not understanding the corral drill, but I got them all in the corral about 10 minutes ahead of vet arrival.
So at the end of the day I was pleased. 100% pregnant (thanks to T21*), everybody weighed, new rfid eartags, with shots and pour-on and on the correct sides of the weaning fence. And my three largest cows still in the corral.
My vet is a master at getting the right animals in my sorting areas and tub with minimal fuss. He walks right through the herd without getting them riled up. I end up being mostly the sliding gate guy, tag hander and scale operator.
Vet said goodbye, I went and hooked up the trailer, backed up to the loadout ramp and to my great surprise the three large cows went right through the alley and chute again and right on the trailer. No hours long wait, lawn chair and beer (dang it I was thirsty!) like loading my bull a few months ago.
Took them down to Bloomington WI Livestock Exchange where they are having both a slaughter cow sale and a bred cow sale this week and felt a real relief coming back with the trailer empty, fall working done and hopefully everyone still on the correct side of the fence!
I was going to try to take some pictures through the day but somehow that gets lost in the work at hand. A good feeling to be done until spring, hopefully.
By the way I would strongly recommend the Bloomington Livestock Exchange as a place to do business for anyone within driving distance. I think this is the way the cattle business should be run both on the seller and the buyer side of the transactions. They seem to have the trust and respect of both sides.
Proof of that is the incredible number of trailers on the road coming and going from that place. I saw license plates from WI, MN & IA while I unloaded. They serve the guy like me with 3 head in the trailer just like they do the guy with the pot load trailer. They do some volume and I get the feeling they are very concerned about quality also.
The three cows culled totaled about 5200 lb x 3% x 150 days = 23,400 lb of hay saved or about 16 1500 lb bales! Culling them now also avoid the wrenching decisions in the spring on whether or not to keep their good looking heifers, who will also probably turn out to be mega sized cows.
A long day but a very good feeling at the end of it. Then it was time for that beer! FWIW.
Jim
* - On the 100% pregnant, I think there is a benefit to the SC measurement and EPD (ref other thread). But as a beginner I can't make a theoretical case for it, just experience.
