ideal weight of bull and cow

[brandonm_13]

I have a question that I'd like to see everyone chime in on.

What is your ideal bull and cow weight?
Also, how do you market your calves? weaned calves, stocker cattle, grass finishing, grain finishing(if more than one, post what percent of each one. Ex. 75% weaned calves, 25% grass finished for local sales.)

Thanks for replying.

 

[brandonm_13]

Also, please post the breed or crossbreed if you use a specific breed or combination of breeds for your marketing scheme.

 

[KNERSIE]

Quite a loaded question...

I market all my commercial steers and about 60% of the heifers as weaners directly to a feedlot. 20% are retained for replacements and 20% marketed as replacements before they are 1 year old.

Any retained heifers that are culled later and all cull cows are marketed as finished cattle for slaughter. Mostly grass or hay only, but if I have access to cheap grain or grain screenings I use that.

The bulls that meet my selection criteria are raised on forage (usually oats or alfalfa hay or a mix of the two) as breeding bulls, any culls along the way are butchered for freezer beef or marketed directly to a local butcher. The bullcalves culled as weaners go to the same feedlot at the same time as the commercial calves.

For my environment 1100-1350lb cows and 2200lb bulls work best. The cow weight to bull weight ratio may seem off, but I breed a moderate, heavy for its frame size, reasonably heavy muscled type hereford and those are the typical weights in my herd

 

[Jovid]

We sell all are bulls and heifers private treaty. Steers are sold as locker beef to individuals.

We keep 50 % of our bulls and sell them when they are a year old if not before. The other 50 % become steers.

75 % of the heifers are sold open and 25 % are sold bred.

Cow size 1100 - 1300lb

Bull size 1800 - 2000lb

 

[SRBeef]

I am looking to develop a herd of cows with a mature weight of about 1200 lbs.

 

[bigbull338]

the crossbred cow herds bulls calves are sent to the sale barn at weaning.as well as the cull bull calves from the reg beefmasters.only the very top of the reg bull calves are kept an raised.all the reg heifers are kept unless some1 wants to buy them at my price.all the crossbed heifers are kept at this time.

 

[gberry]

Quite a loaded question...

I market all my commercial steers and about 60% of the heifers as weaners directly to a feedlot. 20% are retained for replacements and 20% marketed as replacements before they are 1 year old.

Any retained heifers that are culled later and all cull cows are marketed as finished cattle for slaughter. Mostly grass or hay only, but if I have access to cheap grain or grain screenings I use that.

The bulls that meet my selection criteria are raised on forage (usually oats or alfalfa hay or a mix of the two) as breeding bulls, any culls along the way are butchered for freezer beef or marketed directly to a local butcher. The bullcalves culled as weaners go to the same feedlot at the same time as the commercial calves.

For my environment 1100-1350lb cows and 2200lb bulls work best. The cow weight to bull weight ratio may seem off, but I breed a moderate, heavy for its frame size, reasonably heavy muscled type hereford and those are the typical weights in my herd

Knersie, Do you raise your bulls and heifers differently? Just wondering if you tend to feed the bulls better and if perhaps roughing it (as I have seen evidence that your cow herd does) may tend to result in a lower mature weight on your cows than if they were fed the same. I think I know that you raise them the same, but I was just curious as I would expect a 2200 lb bull to result in a 1400 lb mature weight.

 

[KNERSIE]

I wouldn't say I raise them exactly the same, but I raise them very similarly. Even if you don't raise them the same by the time the cows are 4 years old they have pretty much reached their potential mature size and weight. The only significant difference is that the breeding season coincides with the best grazing season so the bulls work in better conditions than the cows would typically work in for the 7-8 months they suckle calves

If your cattle have capacity and muscle you don't need alot of size to have quite big mature weights. My main herdsire (AI) is just a frame 5 and weighed 2600lbs in his prime when in good condition when he was wintered on oats pasture. His daughters are all very moderate in weight and size, although I don't have any mature daughters yet, I have seen quite a few in his breeder's herd and they certainly don't even weigh 1300lbs in BCS 6

 

[Alberta farmer]

In my area the ideal weight for a cow would be around 1400 lbs. The feeder buyers here want a calf in that 650-700 lb. range and they want that calf with some frame so he can finish around 1350 lbs.
Because we calve in early summer we don't wean calves until about March the next year and then out to grass until August/Sept. We try for a 900-950 lb. steer at that time. Dumpy little cows usually produce dumpy little calves....so you need a cow that is big enough but can still take care of herself and feed a calf for 8 or 9 months. Seems to work out for us.