northtexas":13d9jpam said:
I agree with later weaning.
I believe a cow is basically a piece of ranch equipment. She should work most of the year. If she can't hack it find one that will.
i guess it depends on what you mean by later weaning. here the calves are 180 days on average the 15th of October... i wean any later than that and run the risk of weaning calves in nasty weather. i look at a cow the same way, as part of the machine - i get my money's worth over the winter by making them rough out on their own. same way with the calf crop - weaned for 3 to 4 weeks and they go right back out for the winter - also makes it easy to see who has it and who doesn't. my point was that if you are weaning late fall with 250 + day old calves i would be calving in january and it costs too much to calve in january here - you pump hay to a cow nursing a calf for 3.5 months and when its dry around here hay gets auwful expensive. i like calving on green grass with calves weaned 550lbs and up on really good years, and then selling hay to the neighbors for 100+/ton while my cows lick snow or i break ice and check salt/min all winter. inputs break a lot of ranches and it doesn't take long to figure out how to run cows in your own environment. i had this same conversation with a colony a few years back at my dinner table. they were so proud of selling 750lbs steer calves while mine only weighed 535 that fall (this was the sole reason they gave me for not wanting to use a hereford bull). after we compared inputs from start to end i was clearing almost 150/hd more. this is all at the heart of every selection and decision i make running this place