Keeper

[inyati13]

I posted here on whether to breed my little simangus heifer. There won't be any question on this one. What do you think of her? She is 6 months old. Probably already 650 to 700 and tall with plenty of leg. Mother is a mixed breed and I don't have her history (she is the one with the white blaze on her face, 43 ear tag). Sired by easy birth angus bull (AI). Her mother will go 1750.

 

[Bigfoot]

She looks fine to me. I would hope she didn't get as big as her mother. Sometimes I think it might be better to have 3 1,100 pound cows than two 1,700 pound cows. Just throwing a thought out.

 

[chippie]

Very nice. She has a lovely topline and it looks like she has good bone.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

If her mother is a mixed breed and her sire is an Angus, what makes her Simm?

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Got to call her something, might as well be a Simmi. Glad she is some one else's keeper and not mine.

 

[Alan]

These days they all look good.

 

[goddy]

She'll be large

 

[inyati13]

If her mother is a mixed breed and her sire is an Angus, what makes her Simm?

She is not. The confusion is my reference to another heifer (which is a simangus). This heifer is a mixed breed. Mother is the cow in the second picture with the white blaze face. I don't know what she is because her mother came from the stockyards. But the heifer calf in the picture above was sired from a black angus straw via AI. I have another thread about a year old simangus heifer that is small. The heifer pictured above is 6 months old (born 4/28/12). They do look alike and this 6 month old is almost as big as the yearling!!! The simangus heifer is pictured in the thread titled," Little Heifer".

 

[inyati13]

She looks fine to me. I would hope she didn't get as big as her mother. Sometimes I think it might be better to have 3 1,100 pound cows than two 1,700 pound cows. Just throwing a thought out.

There is research to support your point. I do have some cows that are too big for my preference and I plan to transition to cows that are a little smaller. But I still prefer a cow that is going to be at least 1350 pounds. I have no research to support that number but when they are going to have a calf, it makes me feel like they will have less trouble. Also, those bigger cows seem to be a able to withstand the elements.

 

[chippie]

A large cow needs and will eat more roughage than a smaller cow. So if you can maintain either 2 large cows or 3 smaller cows on the same amount of land, you would have a larger profit on your calves. 2 vs 3
Many people do not realize how much roughage a large frame animal really eats.

A large frame fat cow like yours would have a tough time on a South Texas pasture where the cows really have to hustle. For some people the environment has a lot to do with they type of cattle they have.

 

[Black and Good]

Nice cattle in general. Maybe a little big for my taste. But, your cows in super condition. Nice pictures.

 

[Limomike]

A large cow needs and will eat more roughage than a smaller cow. So if you can maintain either 2 large cows or 3 smaller cows on the same amount of land, you would have a larger profit on your calves. 2 vs 3
Many people do not realize how much roughage a large frame animal really eats.

A large frame fat cow like yours would have a tough time on a South Texas pasture where the cows really have to hustle. For some people the environment has a lot to do with they type of cattle they have.

Chippie, you got that right! my holdover big beefmaster mommas can eat it up thats for sure. !!

 

[dun]

We had (past tense) a couple of smaller cows, 1000-1100 lbs. They're the one that with this drought came up open at preg check time. The 1300-1400 lb girls all settled eating on the same droughty pasture.

 

[glacierridge]

She'll be large

Yes she will, we have one with similar growth that's a year old right now...
Hope you don't mind a big one.
I don't as long as they make excellent calves.

 

[glacierridge]

A large cow needs and will eat more roughage than a smaller cow. So if you can maintain either 2 large cows or 3 smaller cows on the same amount of land, you would have a larger profit on your calves. 2 vs 3
Many people do not realize how much roughage a large frame animal really eats.

A large frame fat cow like yours would have a tough time on a South Texas pasture where the cows really have to hustle. For some people the environment has a lot to do with they type of cattle they have.

Chippie, you got that right! my holdover big beefmaster mommas can eat it up thats for sure. !!

Lucky for us the big ones spend most of the summer down in the swamp on canary grass... maybe not the most palatable? Not sure, but they eat and eat and it grows and grows, my brother thinks that little swamp saves him almost a thousand bales a year feeding those big girls.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

One thing most don't realize - a mature 2000# cow does not eat twice as much as a mature 1000# cow. A bigger cow eats more for sure - but not as proportianately (sp?) as you would expect. A 1500# cow doesn't eat 1.5% of a 1000# cow. Don't have the research any more, but Universities must have the figures somewhere???

 

[glacierridge]

One thing most don't realize - a mature 2000# cow does not eat twice as much as a mature 1000# cow. A bigger cow eats more for sure - but not as proportianately (sp?) as you would expect. A 1500# cow doesn't eat 1.5% of a 1000# cow. Don't have the research any more, but Universities must have the figures somewhere???

This is also true. I think it depends on the individual cow, some are very easy keepers, even if they are very large (we have one of those "ton" cows) when we control how much they get, they still don't really lose weight even if the one next to them at 1,500 gets fed about the same. Like people, some of us (myself included :shock: ) don't lose our "condition" easily even if we eat the same portion of a more petite person. ;-)

 

[AussieLim]

Nice heifer but a bit too much leg for me. Bigger doesn't mean better!
I like depth in my cattle as depth weighs- you don't get paid for the fresh air under the underline!

 

[inyati13]

Aussie, this is what makes cattle production so interesting. I sold calves back in March of this year and got upwards of $1.80 per pound. They were leggy and weighed from 650 to 780. I sent somes calves out in the early fall and one that was stout and short legged went for only $1.00 per pound. He was a beautiful simangus steer calf. The guy who hauled my fall calves told me when he picked them up that this calf was short legged, big boned and very muscular. I beamed with pride. Then he said he won't bring as much as the ones that were leggy and lean. I didn't believe him. Well, he was right. He explained to me that when you are selling into the feeder market, that you will get the best per pound price for lean leggy calves. So now I am rethinking the types of heifers that I should keep. All is not as it sometimes appears when you are in the market!!! Here is a picture of the stout short legged calf that disappointed me.

 

[glacierridge]

I think I understand the reasoning, they think the more gangly ones will gain more pounds for them until the date they want to ship them all. The smaller framed ones won't put on as many pounds as the larger framed animal next to it. They are probably thinking the smaller more filled out calves are going to have a lower feed conversion rate as they are more likely closer to finished.
If they took out the ones that were more "ready" for slaughter a few at a time, then they might not be as picky. But if they want the whole lot to go at one time... I think that's their thought process??