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Is small cow size a myth?
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<blockquote data-quote="Nesikep" data-source="post: 1116239" data-attributes="member: 9096"><p>BRG, very good! And I agree with what everyone says that no one type of cow suits every environment. When I was running Shorthorns, I think my cows got too big, and still have 2 of them that are on the brink of 2000 lbs for the bigger ones, but most are around 1500... Next I went with Gelbveih and that really moderated the frame sizes, though I also noticed that the middle-of-the-road calves as far as frame size were the ones that you just wanted to take a steak of out and eat. With about 10 heifers to choose from a year, it seems that I'd cull the 2 heaviest (700+ lbs) because they looked like a Frame 8 maturing animal, and kept the next biggest 3 or 4, which were about 625-675 lbs. I made a mis-step last year in my judgement on one of them and will probably sell her has a bred heifer or young cow.. Because of her extra size, she's aggressive and pushy, and was the last to come into heat, though she's still got 3 months to breeding season.</p><p>I am moderating my herd to about a 1400 lb mature weight, and on the cows, I'd rather them pack the weight with a big belly, wide hips and short legs than being too tall. I now have a Limo bull, which *hopefully* won't throw my plans off too much, his mother was about 1500 lbs, and the build I like, so hopefully he'll pass that along.</p><p></p><p>BRG, I know there are infinite numbers of cost variables and you can't include them all, but you will have a greater choice of bulls when you run the bigger cows, as sometimes that really nice bull that gained well, just had too high a BW to run on a small cow. The BW is a double edged sword for people in cold climates, 100+ lb bull calves may have more heat reserves, but they're also usually a little slower to get on their feet, when you run 20% more cattle, you need more vaccines, implants, tags, etc.</p><p></p><p>I think all in all, it's rigged so that you'll never be more than a half step ahead of the curve... As soon as everyone gets 1100 lb cows, there will be a shortage of 72 oz steaks, making the big cows get a premium... </p><p></p><p>And yes, I've definitely noticed that smaller is not MORE EFFICIENT, it just eats less. I suspect my most efficient cow to be about a frame 6 to 7, 1500 lbs, usually the first to leave the manger, makes a 700 lb steer calf on time every year, and stays fat doing it. Around here, a small cow is typically LESS efficient because of the exact reason Shanghai mentioned... Them and their calves don't have the frame to be able to use up the energy from relatively lush feed, so they'll get fat rather than truly grow. A big cow on bunchgrass can't get her stomach filled with enough energy and will shrivel up.</p><p></p><p>Djinwa, I can't watch youtube from here, but one thing I've noticed is some cows don't chew each mouthful of cud as throroughly as others... I've seen from about 35 chews to 80, and not surprisingly, the one I just mentioned is chewing at least 60 times, thus mixing and grinding the feed better... I can't say if this is genetic or 'learned' from mother, but it seems to be fairly hereditary. Meanwhile, you'll get a discount on steers with pot bellies, but a well framed cow who's got a deep chest, I find benefits from a big belly... More time to digest the food is what it boils down to</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nesikep, post: 1116239, member: 9096"] BRG, very good! And I agree with what everyone says that no one type of cow suits every environment. When I was running Shorthorns, I think my cows got too big, and still have 2 of them that are on the brink of 2000 lbs for the bigger ones, but most are around 1500... Next I went with Gelbveih and that really moderated the frame sizes, though I also noticed that the middle-of-the-road calves as far as frame size were the ones that you just wanted to take a steak of out and eat. With about 10 heifers to choose from a year, it seems that I'd cull the 2 heaviest (700+ lbs) because they looked like a Frame 8 maturing animal, and kept the next biggest 3 or 4, which were about 625-675 lbs. I made a mis-step last year in my judgement on one of them and will probably sell her has a bred heifer or young cow.. Because of her extra size, she's aggressive and pushy, and was the last to come into heat, though she's still got 3 months to breeding season. I am moderating my herd to about a 1400 lb mature weight, and on the cows, I'd rather them pack the weight with a big belly, wide hips and short legs than being too tall. I now have a Limo bull, which *hopefully* won't throw my plans off too much, his mother was about 1500 lbs, and the build I like, so hopefully he'll pass that along. BRG, I know there are infinite numbers of cost variables and you can't include them all, but you will have a greater choice of bulls when you run the bigger cows, as sometimes that really nice bull that gained well, just had too high a BW to run on a small cow. The BW is a double edged sword for people in cold climates, 100+ lb bull calves may have more heat reserves, but they're also usually a little slower to get on their feet, when you run 20% more cattle, you need more vaccines, implants, tags, etc. I think all in all, it's rigged so that you'll never be more than a half step ahead of the curve... As soon as everyone gets 1100 lb cows, there will be a shortage of 72 oz steaks, making the big cows get a premium... And yes, I've definitely noticed that smaller is not MORE EFFICIENT, it just eats less. I suspect my most efficient cow to be about a frame 6 to 7, 1500 lbs, usually the first to leave the manger, makes a 700 lb steer calf on time every year, and stays fat doing it. Around here, a small cow is typically LESS efficient because of the exact reason Shanghai mentioned... Them and their calves don't have the frame to be able to use up the energy from relatively lush feed, so they'll get fat rather than truly grow. A big cow on bunchgrass can't get her stomach filled with enough energy and will shrivel up. Djinwa, I can't watch youtube from here, but one thing I've noticed is some cows don't chew each mouthful of cud as throroughly as others... I've seen from about 35 chews to 80, and not surprisingly, the one I just mentioned is chewing at least 60 times, thus mixing and grinding the feed better... I can't say if this is genetic or 'learned' from mother, but it seems to be fairly hereditary. Meanwhile, you'll get a discount on steers with pot bellies, but a well framed cow who's got a deep chest, I find benefits from a big belly... More time to digest the food is what it boils down to [/QUOTE]
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