Heavy milking cows

[Frankie]

Do you think they wear out quicker?

 

[Crowderfarms]

No I dont not. I have heavy milking cows and they actually maintain their conditioning on grass than the ones that arent heavy milkers go figure. So in my case with the longevity i would say the heavier milkers are the best in my herd.

Let's see some pics of your "Heavy Milkers".

 

[Texan]

Frankie, in my experience, I would have to say yes. Bad udders, teats, etc. along with the breed-up problems with them in the tough, dry years makes a lot of them wash out way too soon. Not all of them, but on average, they don't last me as long.

 

[Frankie]

Frankie, in my experience, I would have to say yes. Bad udders, teats, etc. along with the breed-up problems with them in the tough, dry years makes a lot of them wash out way too soon. Not all of them, but on average, they don't last me as long.

Thanks for your response. I was just looking at a couple of nine year old cows. One is an EXT daughter, the other a granddaughter. The daughter (#71) could pass for a five year old cow. She maintains her condition all year around, but raises a so so calf. The other cow (#73) is a very heavy milker and usually weans one of the heaviest calves in the herd. It's not just her looks, though she's almost always thin, she breeds back every year. But she's really showing her age the last two years, lagging behind the other cows, she's lost some teeth, she just looks tired and worn out. This may well be the last calf she raises for us. But if we get rid of #71, it will be because her calves don't compete.

 

[Texan]

It's not just her looks, though she's almost always thin, she breeds back every year. But she's really showing her age the last two years, lagging behind the other cows, she's lost some teeth, she just looks tired and worn out.

Exactly! I don't have any registered cows, but in most ways cows are cows, and "tired and worn out" is a real good way to put it.

I don't know how to quantify it, or even if it's true, but I've always thought that those heavy milking cows just have to cover so much ground to meet the needs of their lactations that they just wear out.

 

[Frankie]

It's not just her looks, though she's almost always thin, she breeds back every year. But she's really showing her age the last two years, lagging behind the other cows, she's lost some teeth, she just looks tired and worn out.

Exactly! I don't have any registered cows, but in most ways cows are cows, and "tired and worn out" is a real good way to put it.

I don't know how to quantify it, or even if it's true, but I've always thought that those heavy milking cows just have to cover so much ground to meet the needs of their lactations that they just wear out.

That could be true. We've turned our cows into a bermuda pasture, but it's terrible. There's some bermuda there, it grew some, but it's almost totally brown and dry. We're probably going to have to supplement the cows to help them digest it. It's almost like hay. Our native grass is somewhat better, but we sure need a rain.

 

[Texan]

We've turned our cows into a bermuda pasture, but it's terrible. There's some bermuda there, it grew some, but it's almost totally brown and dry. We're probably going to have to supplement the cows to help them digest it. It's almost like hay. Our native grass is somewhat better, but we sure need a rain.

I know the feeling, Frankie. I'm sure Caustic will laugh, and I really hate to admit it, but I started cubing pairs last week. What little grass I had has dried up so bad in just the last couple of days that I probably need to switch to a 38% cube from the 20's. And it won't be long until I have to start putting out a little hay.

We used to try to make it as far into the Fall as we could before we started putting out hay. The last couple of years, we just try to make it as far into the Summer as we can. :lol:

 

[MikeC]

How do you know they are heavy milkers?

Milk EPD's?

I personally think that a cow who gives a "High Butterfat" milk raises a better calf than a "Heavy Milker".

Sometimes a smaller uddered cow will give more milk than a larger uddered cow.

 

[Frankie]

We've turned our cows into a bermuda pasture, but it's terrible. There's some bermuda there, it grew some, but it's almost totally brown and dry. We're probably going to have to supplement the cows to help them digest it. It's almost like hay. Our native grass is somewhat better, but we sure need a rain.

I know the feeling, Frankie. I'm sure Caustic will laugh, and I really hate to admit it, but I started cubing pairs last week. What little grass I had has dried up so bad in just the last couple of days that I probably need to switch to a 38% cube from the 20's. And it won't be long until I have to start putting out a little hay.

We used to try to make it as far into the Fall as we could before we started putting out hay. The last couple of years, we just try to make it as far into the Summer as we can. :lol:

That's the truth. But we all have to manage as best we can. Caustic has made so many changes lately, who knows, he may be feeding cubes, too!

 

[Beefy]

i agree with Texan. inevitably, i think they do.

 

[milkmaid]

Question with no simple answer. :lol: I think you can safely say that a heavy milker will probably wear out long before a low producer -- as evidenced by the fact that dairies are pushing cows for as much milk as possible (some running 90lbs/day herd average), and I was told the other day the national average life for a dairy cow is 1.6 lactations. Just a little over ONE lactation. :shock:

So yes, heavy milkers evidently wear out very quickly.

Looking at it from a dairy standpoint--

I read an article not long ago dealing with culling dairy cows -- and why cows were culled. It appeared from the charts that the cow's physical structure and conformation (depth, length, hoof angle, etc) weren't anywhere near as important as the udder conformation. Poor udders and related problems (stepped on teats, mastitis, etc) were the leading cause of culling dairy cows. Followed, of course, by reproductive issues.

I've come across some heavy milking holstiens that lasted six, seven, eight lactations -- simply because their udder was built right. The difference is WIDTH versus DEPTH. Wish I had some good pictures to illustrate that -- I don't at the moment. With an udder floor that stays above the hocks a cow lasts much, much longer than one that drops lower, and lower, and lower each lactation.

Also -- some cows maintain body condition better -- in other words, convert feed more efficiently than other cows. Guess a good example of that is a holstein versus a jersey. So I've been told. It's said that pound for pound, a jersey is much more efficient with her feed than a holstein. I've dealt with heavy milkers that don't take much feed to keep up and they stay fat and sassy throughout their lactation even with high production -- and then some that are such high maintenance animals that I maintain a love-hate relationship with them. LOL. Love the milk production but hate the feed bill. :lol:

My vet tells me a cow can be thin, even nearly skin and bones, and still breed back without problems. The only condition is she must be in a positive energy balance (no pun intended). For 40-60 days prior to breeding, at that.

So although I guess a good answer would be that heavy milkers usually fall apart long before low producers, there's a lot of variables there. A cow could be a heavy milker, keep a nice udder, drop body condition while raising a calf but breed back on time and gain her weight back with ease while dry, and do that year after year.

In a perfect world. :lol2:

 

[mnmtranching]

As we all know its real hard to get that just right milker, but with good gentics you can come close. Lots of good milking cows for that 1st week or two will have their calf only nursing one or two quarters. The other two or three will swell and often the teats get large and swollen, and it does make the utter go bad.

Thats why its so very important in replacement heifers or if your buying bred cows, good utters. For stock cows you want a small utter with small teats. in a heifer or young cow. Again if the gentics are there she will have plenty of milk and the utter will not likly go bad.

And on these heavy milking cows their milk supply adjusts to how much their calf is using. They will not say give a gallon a day to a week old calf then when the calf gets to be 400 lbs start giving it more.

mnmt