Keep the Heifer?

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TheBullLady

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This should get a discussion going!

Pic of a 6 week old heifer calf:

DSC05208.jpg


Besides the unfortunately color.. would you keep her? Then look at her dam.. she's 10 years old, 1/2 Simmental x 1/2 Brahman.

DSC05232.jpg


Now would you keep the heifer calf?

The cow is leaving this fall, but wavering on the calf.
 
Based on that udder probably not. However if she had a lot of other upside, and was out of a bull who had thrown EXTREMELY GOOD udders then MAYBE.

Just goes to show ya can't always trust a picture!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
For a purebred herd... Get rid of her and mom.

But if she was going into a commerical herd, I guess I'd want to know how long it took for the dam's udder to get that way. If she had a pretty sound udder at 6 or 7, I'd probably keep the calf because she'd definitely make some money until the udder got so bad you had to get rid of her (like the situtation now). But, if she have a ballooned udder at 2 yrs of age that'd be much different. I'd probably get rid of her. Her teats look too big already and I bet she'd cause you more trouble than earnings.
 
I'll second what 3way cross stated! Totally. You don't want "udder" genes like mamma has to be in your herd, no matter how long it took for her to get like that.

DOC HARRIS
 
I'll keep her in a commercial herd IF she was able to nurse her mum without any assistance from birth. Teats like that dont worry me in a commercial setting if I dont have to do anything with them. But, if you had to milk her out to begin with to get the calf started, then NO.
 
For those that asked.. the cow is 10 this year.

And teats like this are the plague of the Brahman breed unfortunately. Breeders struggle with this constantly.
 
TheBullLady":2slewvtv said:
For those that asked.. the cow is 10 this year.

And teats like this are the plague of the Brahman breed unfortunately. Breeders struggle with this constantly.

If a cow is worse than breed average, culling her will improve the breed.
In this case, are you culling the cow the first year she has trouble?
Are there other heifers with better genetics available?
No bulls are likely to emanate from this heifer as she is a commercial, a crossbred. Why not keep her until she shows bad udder herself. This calf shows some muscle, wich I find is an upside.
By the way, what breed is her sire?
 
The cow should be for terminal calf production only. She would have been gone from my herd before she had this calf. Although she does raise a good calf.
 
if your really afraid she will have an udder like her mom id cull them both when you wean the calf.
 
Lovely heifer.... looks like a keeper just from her photo. What kind of bull sired her? She looks like she has less brahma influence than her mama. I have gotten great uddered females out of bad uddered cows... just depends on her Sire.
 
TheBullLady":2gstk234 said:
This should get a discussion going!

Pic of a 6 week old heifer calf:

DSC05208.jpg


Besides the unfortunately color.. would you keep her? Then look at her dam.. she's 10 years old, 1/2 Simmental x 1/2 Brahman.

DSC05232.jpg


Now would you keep the heifer calf?

The cow is leaving this fall, but wavering on the calf.
what about the heifers sire,do you know much about him? ive had my share of teat trouble in the past,it can be bred out. its bad to have one that has what you want phenotyically. but have trouble with the important part, later in the productive years. its probably why you kept the moma in the first place .if the calf is 3/4 simmental id keep her. since shes possibly a commercial anyway
 
As you can imagine, her udder has gotten progressively worse over the years, as Brahman and Brahman influenced cows tend to do. I've had nice udders turn ugly after 6+ years. If the udders are ugly after the first calf, the cow is gone. It's a harder decision for me when it takes 10 years for it to get this bad! And this cow has had bull calves ever year, so it hasn't been an issue until now. Her dam (gray Brahman) is the best Brahman in my herd, and she has a heifer every year.

Actually, the cow is registered. Percentage Simmentals / Simbrahs can be registered with ASA. So the cow is a registered 1/2 x 1/2 Simmental x Brahman, and the heifer is out of an ugly but very good pedigreed Simmental bull... which makes her a 3/4 Simmental x 1/4 Brahman, which can also be registered.

Thanks for the replies! A split decision between shipping and keeping so far! :cowboy:
 
Do you have/have seen other cows sired by the heifer's sire? That might help you make your decision.

However... I know I've noticed on the dairy that cows tend to have VERY similar udders to their dams, sometimes to the extent that I've nearly mistaken one cow for another, and often regardless of what bull they were sired by.
 
TheBullLady":sfsfj62c said:
As you can imagine, her udder has gotten progressively worse over the years, as Brahman and Brahman influenced cows tend to do. I've had nice udders turn ugly after 6+ years. If the udders are ugly after the first calf, the cow is gone. It's a harder decision for me when it takes 10 years for it to get this bad! And this cow has had bull calves ever year, so it hasn't been an issue until now. Her dam (gray Brahman) is the best Brahman in my herd, and she has a heifer every year.

Actually, the cow is registered. Percentage Simmentals / Simbrahs can be registered with ASA. So the cow is a registered 1/2 x 1/2 Simmental x Brahman, and the heifer is out of an ugly but very good pedigreed Simmental bull... which makes her a 3/4 Simmental x 1/4 Brahman, which can also be registered.

Thanks for the replies! A split decision between shipping and keeping so far! :cowboy:

Then keep her; Because if teat problem will occur on the tenth calf, her economical life is a good one anyway. And she is a real nice calf!
 
milkmaid":17r3y6n7 said:
Do you have/have seen other cows sired by the heifer's sire? That might help you make your decision.

However... I know I've noticed on the dairy that cows tend to have VERY similar udders to their dams, sometimes to the extent that I've nearly mistaken one cow for another, and often regardless of what bull they were sired by.

And also very similar milking ability.
 

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