Hereford cow 2 months from calving needs wide load sign-pics

[SRBeef]

I was walking through my steer group grazing corn, then cows/heifers on hay only, then 2 bulls checking on how they're doing since I've been away for a week or so.

Seems like several of the spring calving cows have got very wide recently. Here is cow #62 from the rear. Hard to believe she is not due to calve until April 4th.

Also a picture of her 2011 steer calf 62Y who has been grazing corn.

Here's also a picture of my cow #2 who looks like she has a bit of Simmi somewhere in her background. I bought her dam as a bred cow several years ago.

She was a smaller, slower growing heifer but has been bred Hereford ever since and had a number of very good calves. A pleasant surprise. Here is her steer calf #2Y from last spring who has been grazing corn but was at the mineralyx barrel when I snapped his picture.

Heifer calf #10 seems to be coming along well.

Since I was going to be away last week, before I left I stacked an extra bale on top of about 1/2 of the previous one in a feed ring. Bull #22 is very playful and somehow between he and bull 70 they manged to topple it off the top and roll it down a slope until it stopped at a tree! They have been having fun with it but aren't getting any more until they this clean up quite a bit!

Here are a couple bull pics on a foggy cloudy early Feb afternoon -

fwiw - Jim

 

[haase]

Nice pics, looks like your #62 cow raised a nice calf.

 

[ABrauny]

Hat's off on some good looking and doing herefords. :tiphat: Who did you get the bulls from?

 

[3waycross]

where do you see the Sim in that cow. If she had goggles maybe? But the redneck is not necessarily a Sim trait.

 

[SRBeef]

Hat's off on some good looking and doing herefords. :tiphat: Who did you get the bulls from?

I buy bulls from Jerry Huth, Huth Polled Herefords, in Oakfield, WI. 70 is a registered Huth bull. My neighbor calls him "Shorty". He is the smaller frame size I am looking for as well as good calving ease and a grass based bull. He has some good breeding behind him. P43022886.

22 is a home raised bull out of my best cow and my previous Huth bull T21. P42808073. I'm using him to spread some of his dam's genetics through my herd as a cow maker.

Thanks for the kind words.

Jim

 

[SRBeef]

where do you see the Sim in that cow. If she had goggles maybe? But the redneck is not necessarily a Sim trait.

I see simmi more in the face but maybe I'm wrong. Just taking a guess. I bought her dam from a local cattle trader who runs as few himself. Her dam was definitely Hereford but her sire could be about anything. As I sell freezer beef it doesn't really matter. She always weans a calf over 50% of her weight at weaning and that is the most important thing for me. I do have a few registered females that I will make sure are bred by my registered bull. But I am not in the registered see stock business and don't plan to be. Just learning as I go.

Jim

 

[3waycross]

where do you see the Sim in that cow. If she had goggles maybe? But the redneck is not necessarily a Sim trait.

I see simmi more in the face but maybe I'm wrong. Just taking a guess. I bought her dam from a local cattle trader who runs as few himself. Her dam was definitely Hereford but her sire could be about anything. As I sell freezer beef it doesn't really matter. She always weans a calf over 50% of her weight at weaning and that is the most important thing for me. I do have a few registered females that I will make sure are bred by my registered bull. But I am not in the registered see stock business and don't plan to be. Just learning as I go.

Jim

I'd be more inclined to think she was out of a RA bull.

 

[Ned Jr.]

Do your smaller cows tramp less hay in the mud than your larger cows?

 

[SRBeef]

Do your smaller cows tramp less hay in the mud than your larger cows?

My mature cows now range from about 1150 lb (#2 shown above)to about 1450 lb with most of them right around 1200lb. Not a wide spread. I can't say I see any significant difference between them in "trampling" hay. Overall hay consumption over the winter is very close to 2.5% of body weight in a pasture per day. I can live with that.

One reason I like the cradle style bale feeders is that the hay that fall thru and under them is not soiled or trampled and gets eaten eventually or by the heifer calves. When I am around I have started to not refill the feeders when they first empty them. Let them scrounge and cleanup for a day or two.

The hay you see on the ground near the end of the feeder is mostly what I cut off the bottom on the non wrapped bales before loading the feeder from the end. Not a lot of waste considering how much hay runs through these feeders and in the same spot all winter. I had a cow go caste on me from lying in the spot where the feeder was right after I moved it a couple years ago so from now on I just leave the feeders in one spot all winter. This also minimizes the sacrifice area and makes it easier to cleanup with a manure fork in the spring and build a couple big compost piles or spread it on my corn ground.

The bulls are another story. They are in a rougher pasture. When it was -20F a couple weeks ago I moved their bale ring to give them a bedded place to lie down off of the snow. Then they go and unroll a big bale while I am out of town. With the milder weather they are going to have to cleanup quite a bit before they get any more.

Jim

 

[SRBeef]

Nice pics, looks like your #62 cow raised a nice calf.

Thank you. #62 is actually my oldest cow, I think she is 9 or 10 years old. Since I bought her as a bred cow from a friend who had bought her from another friend... she could be older than that. She always has a nice calf, on her own. She just goes up the hill when its time in the spring and comes down with a calf. Weans a 205 day calf right around 50-55% of her weight at weaning also.

Jim

 

[thendrix]

I've got a Charolais that is about that size or maybe just a little bigger. Shes due anytime now. It's supposed to rain again tonight and tomorrow so that sounds like as good a time as any :bang:

 

[SRBeef]

I've got a Charolais that is about that size or maybe just a little bigger. Shes due anytime now. It's supposed to rain again tonight and tomorrow so that sounds like as good a time as any :bang:

As we were told by a nurse in the delivery room when our first child was born, a low pressure system coming through tends to fill the place. As an engineering student at the time, I mentioned something about being an hydraulics problem...to the scorn of the women around.

My concern with #62 pictured above is that she is not due to calve for 2 months yet.

Good luck -

Jim

 

[TexasBred]

As we were told by a nurse in the delivery room when our first child was born, a low pressure system coming through tends to fill the place. As an engineering student at the time, I mentioned something about being an hydraulics problem...to the scorn of the women around.

Jim

I figured with humans it would be 9 months after the big black out or blizzard. :mrgreen:

 

[haase]

She still looks good for a ten year old,Im just starting to learn some of the hereford genetics and places that are close to my area, Im a little familiar with Perks ranch and Del-Hawk that arent far from us. After having limmis and now switching to herefords its kind of a learning curve, but I think I have a decent set of cows to start with.

 

[SRBeef]

Depending on your goals, I would recommend Huth Polled Herefords. Jerry is just north of Beaver Dam Wi. right off of 151.

Another nearby good source of grass and production based Hereford genetics is Ellis in Chrisman, IL. www.efbeef.com. Good luck.

Jim

 

[MO_cows]

Maybe ol' 62 is gonna bless you with twins this year. The cattle look good, the heifer shows promise. I know must be aggravated with the bulls wasing hay, but honestly wouldn't you kinda like to have watched them do it?? Bet it was funny. Boys will be boys.... At least they were beating up the hay instead of each other.

 

[SRBeef]

Maybe ol' 62 is gonna bless you with twins this year. The cattle look good, the heifer shows promise. I know must be aggravated with the bulls wasing hay, but honestly wouldn't you kinda like to have watched them do it?? Bet it was funny. Boys will be boys.... At least they were beating up the hay instead of each other.

Yes it would have been fun to watch them figure out how to get that bale off of the feeder and roll it down the hill...I've got to have a talk with them about maybe pushing this bovine "self service" a bit to far

These two are good buddies. 22 is especially playful - and smart. His dam is smart - for a cow. A couple stories about her I won't bore folks with here.

There is enough age difference between the two bulls that there is no question about who is boss. They will have a friendly pushing match now and then but mostly good exercise as far as I can tell.

They are on a cold north facing pasture for the winter so I have a bit of a soft spot for them. Especially when it is cold as a few weeks ago I try to make sure they have some clean hay on the ground to bed on. Not waste if it keeps them operational at -20 deg F.

I hadn't thought of the idea of 62 maybe having twins. That would sure explain her width with 2 months to go yet to calving. Do twins tend to come early? I have not had a set of twins in the 6 years or so since I first bought a couple heifers from a neighbor. I know nothing about twins. Any pointers or suggestions?

Thanks for the comments, MO.

Jim