The reason we like bulls that throw lighter weight calves 75-80 lbs, had a cow calve today that was 14 days late. Calf is 100 plus pounds. Same bull and cow year before last and the calf was 75 pounds one day early. A combination of a strage winter, weatherwise, and a very late calf can surely cause a train wreck. Took him a while to get up but he's eating and doing dandy, following mom around and trying to snare another teat.
Here's my pondering
- Thread starter dun
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dun
Well-known member
Wewild":2mvrfwlg said:
If you're referring to the green color, it's short and not enough to get a mouth full of yet. It's just so green because all the dirt got washed away from it with the 6 inches of rain we had.
rockridgecattle
Well-known member
dun":2vhbqd6w said:
I agree on the BW bulls. So much can alter what we expect. Weather, feed, late or early, you just never know.
We had the same thing happen this week. Will have to post a pic of this calf sometime.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Dun I want them little as I can't sell big dead ones. There are so many anomolies that can happen to get the unexpected, I never cease to be surprised. We do have to remember EPD's are 40 years old and cattle since the beginning of time. Even with an on time calf there is that sometimes surprise. I always laugh when I here people think they have figured it all out with some numbers we recently came up with and we are dealing with thousand's of years of DNA. We are closer today than we were in the sixties but we have just started the journey down the yellow brick road.
bigbull338
Well-known member
bottomline is you can have a CE cow an CE bull.but that doesnt always mean the calf will be small.an it could just be 1 of those freak things that happen.
glesamiz
Member
I totally agre with above posts but using CE epds is a whole lot better than the old methods. Why not do what you can to improve your hand whether poker of cattle?
G. Lesamiz
G. Lesamiz
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dun
Well-known member
bigbull338":36gx1n4t said:
I just went and checked and her heifer calf sired by the same bull 2 years ago was on time and weighed 55 lbs. I'cw used the bull on heifers in the past and they all came on time and were smaller then this guy.
CKC1586
Well-known member
dun":2k2v6fk4 said:
I heard a talk by a guy from Okla University (I think it was, anyway some beef guy from a university that was speaking at a seminar in Tenn) and he said that with any breed and any bull you will get the occasional big calf.
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dun
Well-known member
CKC1586":a89ubmfk said:
That's very true, but big is relative. I'ld raahter have that occasion big calf from a mating that usually give 75-80 pound calves then a big calf from the 85-90 pound mating.
And for those that study EPDs, even with an accuracy of .99 that still only addresses 66% probability. It's the old bell curve deal.
dun":3egq129k said:
I agree. Most of my calves weigh between 75-85 lbs at birth. However, I have had 4 calves weigh over 95 pounds this year, which hasn't happened for awhile. Their weights have been 96,98,106, and 116!! :shock: Two were A.I. calves, two were not. All were unassisted births, thankfully. But if you plan on 90 lb calves, what if you have one that is 35-40 lbs heavier than 'normal". You are only asking for problems.
I'm with you guys - I'd take a light birth weight calf for SO many reasons:
1. usually more active at birth, if it isn't I have a much better chance of moving it without hurting myself!
2. a big dead calf doesn't sell...an injured cow may not breed back...
3. if there are problems the size doesn't add to it even more!
4. if mama carries it a few days over a couple more pounds doesn't make a huge difference - ie. if she carries that calf that is supposed to weight 75 lbs for an extra week+ and he gains 10 lbs...85 pounds still isn't a monster where the 95 pound calf that adds 10 and is now 105...I know my cows can handle but i'd prefer they didn't!!!!
1. usually more active at birth, if it isn't I have a much better chance of moving it without hurting myself!
2. a big dead calf doesn't sell...an injured cow may not breed back...
3. if there are problems the size doesn't add to it even more!
4. if mama carries it a few days over a couple more pounds doesn't make a huge difference - ie. if she carries that calf that is supposed to weight 75 lbs for an extra week+ and he gains 10 lbs...85 pounds still isn't a monster where the 95 pound calf that adds 10 and is now 105...I know my cows can handle but i'd prefer they didn't!!!!
rockridgecattle
Well-known member
This cow had an 85# bw when she was born.
This is her calf. Last year she delivered an 85# calf this year 132# calf, same bull of 80# bw both times. the calf is 3 days old
this is the monster next to calf born the same day at 70#'s
I don't know what we would have had (dead or alive) if she had been bred to a 100#+ bull
This is her calf. Last year she delivered an 85# calf this year 132# calf, same bull of 80# bw both times. the calf is 3 days old
this is the monster next to calf born the same day at 70#'s
I don't know what we would have had (dead or alive) if she had been bred to a 100#+ bull
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dun
Well-known member
bandit80":al0gyu73 said:
There was (past tense) a local producer that said if you aren;t pulling 10% of your calves you aren't challenging the cow. That was my reply to him. He challenged his cows right out of the business.
dun":1ymzhs9c said:
Kind of off topic, but my brother was ribbing a local purebred Angus breeder about what they were going to cross their Angus cows to so they can get back to calving ease. We always like to give each other a hard time, as he raises purebred Angus, we have Balancers. His response was, "Why do I need to worry about calving ease when I have 1800 lb cows." :shock: :roll: :???: :lol2:
I cant seem to keep calves under the 80 lb threshold. Over 150 cows and 40 hfrs last year i averaged a 99.1 lb birth wt. So far i am under that a bit the heaviest calves are ranging 110 to 115 instead of 120 to 130. I feed my cows cheap but i think since i have started feeding wet distillers my birth wts have gone up 10% anyway. I had 12 Cherokee Canyon calves out of first calf hfrs last year that ranged from 78 to 102 lb, and averaged an 86lb bw over the group.
