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Breeding / Calving Issues
First calf spring 2011
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<blockquote data-quote="regolith" data-source="post: 852918" data-attributes="member: 9267"><p>85 of 187 calved - no still not halfway, but it looks like the heifers will be mostly in in another week or two, which is as it should be. 36 of 54 heifers calved so far (66%) and we're just a couple of days before the 3-week point for them.</p><p>I'm rapt at some of the udders my heifers have calved down with - couldn't ask for better. A few not so good. Culled the one with the wide teats yesterday, along with an older cow that I suspected has Johne's. The 3/4 2nd calver is on about her fourth chance - I put her in the milking herd on Sunday and she's doing fine, so as long as her production is up to speed she'll be able to keep herself off the cull list.</p><p></p><p>The BW index is mostly production with some weighting for type and temperament - I'd have to look it up to be certain what's in it. But when you look at the full proof, there's a breeding value called 'calving difficulty'. Sometimes it's not listed against Jerseys because they're always minus (the values are for all dairy breeds, not within a single breed). You have to check the BV against the current NZ cow average BV to get an idea what it means though, because the numbers get revised regularly. Friesian average calving difficulty used to be 6, then 4, this year it's 3.3.</p><p>Calving difficulty is one of the first things I look at in a proof, but I'll also look at the liveweight, stature and rump width BVs which have an influence. High liveweight and stature tells you the mature cow will be large - so the calf probably will be too. Rump width is a maternal calving ease factor, I like to see positive values, otherwise I could be mating my cows to easy calving sires and producing heifers that themselves can't calve readily.</p><p></p><p>The Simmental and Angus are from LIC & Ambreed so are 'dairy beef' - selected specifically for low birthweight. When you order the semen you're just ordering the breed, and don't find out the individual bulls until the straws arrive. Because the Simmental is left over from 2009, I think I've got Puketawa Polled Ludger and a Rissington bull in the bank, so I could probably look them up if I knew how.</p><p>The Simmental is used across low producers or cows that I don't want to breed from for other reasons. Just the larger cows; the Angus I use a bit more readily & I think I've got about 8 or 9 straws of short gestation Jersey in storage that I can use on any very small cows I don't want to breed from.</p><p>I'll find out what the bobbies are worth when I get paid for them (which should have happened already, but nothing's come through the mail). Usually I average about $10 a calf with the heaviest calves at $15 - 20.</p><p>There's a pure Friesian bull in the paddock now and I'd been wondering what to do with him, because I might get a few good calves this year a week or two weeks apart - I can't put together a group for a buyer. I've decided to tag him, starting with the higher tag numbers, and probably by the end of calving I'll have a fine-looking group that I can sell either as milk calves or as weaners. A good number of the heifers will be sold anyway, as there's some matings have been done last year I'm just not prepared to take the risk of carrying those calves through.</p><p></p><p>That bull calf is another story... he was born last night and I milked his mum this morning, she's an eight year old cow, udder is just fine but her teats were fat and dirty. A little concerned, I left the milking pit to go and look at the calf. However he got it without cleaning up her teats, I decided he'd had a good feed.</p><p>After milking, in the springer paddock there was a Jersey cow cleaning off her newborn heifer - and that Friesian bull attached to one of her quarters. So I'd say he got a feed alright, but it wasn't off his mum. Most likely one of the cows I just put in the milking herd that had been calved four days already.</p><p></p><p>There's so much this time of year conspires to teach you how little you know about anything! One of the calves that I was going to take into the calf shed today so her mum could go into the milking herd, I had to push every step of the way to the milking shed this morning. By half way there, I knew I was handling a very sick calf - and she'd been fine yesterday. I suspected scours but she wasn't scouring. She walked all the way into the calf shed, collapsed in the corner with her ears down and mouth drooling and has been playing a very convincing "I'm dying" act ever since. Still not scouring. I've tubed her twice with electrolytes because she can't/won't suck.</p><p>Now I'm wondering if it's pneumonia or if another cow trampled her and she's got internal injuries. Or if she hadn't been feeding right and I somehow missed it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="regolith, post: 852918, member: 9267"] 85 of 187 calved - no still not halfway, but it looks like the heifers will be mostly in in another week or two, which is as it should be. 36 of 54 heifers calved so far (66%) and we're just a couple of days before the 3-week point for them. I'm rapt at some of the udders my heifers have calved down with - couldn't ask for better. A few not so good. Culled the one with the wide teats yesterday, along with an older cow that I suspected has Johne's. The 3/4 2nd calver is on about her fourth chance - I put her in the milking herd on Sunday and she's doing fine, so as long as her production is up to speed she'll be able to keep herself off the cull list. The BW index is mostly production with some weighting for type and temperament - I'd have to look it up to be certain what's in it. But when you look at the full proof, there's a breeding value called 'calving difficulty'. Sometimes it's not listed against Jerseys because they're always minus (the values are for all dairy breeds, not within a single breed). You have to check the BV against the current NZ cow average BV to get an idea what it means though, because the numbers get revised regularly. Friesian average calving difficulty used to be 6, then 4, this year it's 3.3. Calving difficulty is one of the first things I look at in a proof, but I'll also look at the liveweight, stature and rump width BVs which have an influence. High liveweight and stature tells you the mature cow will be large - so the calf probably will be too. Rump width is a maternal calving ease factor, I like to see positive values, otherwise I could be mating my cows to easy calving sires and producing heifers that themselves can't calve readily. The Simmental and Angus are from LIC & Ambreed so are 'dairy beef' - selected specifically for low birthweight. When you order the semen you're just ordering the breed, and don't find out the individual bulls until the straws arrive. Because the Simmental is left over from 2009, I think I've got Puketawa Polled Ludger and a Rissington bull in the bank, so I could probably look them up if I knew how. The Simmental is used across low producers or cows that I don't want to breed from for other reasons. Just the larger cows; the Angus I use a bit more readily & I think I've got about 8 or 9 straws of short gestation Jersey in storage that I can use on any very small cows I don't want to breed from. I'll find out what the bobbies are worth when I get paid for them (which should have happened already, but nothing's come through the mail). Usually I average about $10 a calf with the heaviest calves at $15 - 20. There's a pure Friesian bull in the paddock now and I'd been wondering what to do with him, because I might get a few good calves this year a week or two weeks apart - I can't put together a group for a buyer. I've decided to tag him, starting with the higher tag numbers, and probably by the end of calving I'll have a fine-looking group that I can sell either as milk calves or as weaners. A good number of the heifers will be sold anyway, as there's some matings have been done last year I'm just not prepared to take the risk of carrying those calves through. That bull calf is another story... he was born last night and I milked his mum this morning, she's an eight year old cow, udder is just fine but her teats were fat and dirty. A little concerned, I left the milking pit to go and look at the calf. However he got it without cleaning up her teats, I decided he'd had a good feed. After milking, in the springer paddock there was a Jersey cow cleaning off her newborn heifer - and that Friesian bull attached to one of her quarters. So I'd say he got a feed alright, but it wasn't off his mum. Most likely one of the cows I just put in the milking herd that had been calved four days already. There's so much this time of year conspires to teach you how little you know about anything! One of the calves that I was going to take into the calf shed today so her mum could go into the milking herd, I had to push every step of the way to the milking shed this morning. By half way there, I knew I was handling a very sick calf - and she'd been fine yesterday. I suspected scours but she wasn't scouring. She walked all the way into the calf shed, collapsed in the corner with her ears down and mouth drooling and has been playing a very convincing "I'm dying" act ever since. Still not scouring. I've tubed her twice with electrolytes because she can't/won't suck. Now I'm wondering if it's pneumonia or if another cow trampled her and she's got internal injuries. Or if she hadn't been feeding right and I somehow missed it. [/QUOTE]
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