keeping older cows

Gather App
R

rocket2222

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 26, 2006
Messages
1,226
City & State/Province
Rappahannock Co. Va
Thinking about selling off my older cows while they still have some life left in them instead of keeping them till they drop. Maybe get a little more than cull prices for them, already have their replacement daughters in the herd. Or I could keep them till they drop, sheeez, I don't know, what do you all do.
 
If they are still maintaining their condition and raising a good calf, I would keep them. They are good enough for you to keep replacements out of, I am thinking you may only get cull proces for them someday, but they will pay the difference in the calf they raise for you now. They are a sure thing. If you are culling because you need to cut your herd, then I would see where you would consider them.
 
rocket2222":3k0h8pny said:
Thinking about selling off my older cows while they still have some life left in them instead of keeping them till they drop. Maybe get a little more than cull prices for them, already have their replacement daughters in the herd. Or I could keep them till they drop, sheeez, I don't know, what do you all do.
Click to expand...

The really good ones stay around a long, long time. But we don't want to keep one around so long that we find her down in the pasture and have to shoot her. We've got one that will be going probably next week. :( She slipped a calf two years ago and we kept her around based on several things, production record, she's a pet, and she's pretty to look at. She rewarded us with a nice heifer last year, but her bull calf was born dead a few days ago. So no more excuses for her.

Sadly, not all heifers will outdo their mommas. I wouldn't be too quick to sell all those older cows until you have an idea how the younger generation is going to work out. Good luck...
 
Getting rid of cows based strictly on agedoesn;t make any sense. I'm real glad that people do though, it's allowed me to pick up some darn good cows pretty cheap.
We have some cows from the K year and several from the M year, and Granny. It just seems that some cows work their way out of the herd for production/health/management reasons and some stick around for the same reasons. Strictly age isn;t even a consideration.
 
I had some C's and D's went with the rest of the mature cows we dispersed this year-I told the buyer but he took them along with the rest about $300 over what the mart was bringing. You can usually tell when they're o n their last calf.
 
rarely keep one past 11 or 12 years, most sill produce a smaller calf after 11 years. it's better to sell one in good condition that can still walk around & look real healthy , than to have to shoot a downer cow. a good cow stills goes for restaurant meat, where old scare crows go to micky d's. i've seen some of their kill pens.
 
jerry27150":6foqnn0f said:
rarely keep one past 11 or 12 years, most sill produce a smaller calf after 11 years. it's better to sell one in good condition that can still walk around & look real healthy , than to have to shoot a downer cow. a good cow stills goes for restaurant meat, where old scare crows go to micky d's. i've seen some of their kill pens.
Click to expand...
Most of mine were 12 when I bought them. Good foundation stock is hard to find at a good price. The old gals more than justified what I paid. They are a much better investment than unproven heifers.
 
nova is right its not smart to sell your foudation cows at 10yrs old.heck you cant get a holt of those type of cows till their 7 or 8yrs old.but then they can get sick on you an die.been there an done that this winter.had a 10yr old get sick an die fast.
 
I agree with Dun and Nova.

Them gals are just about right as they know how to raise a calf and no problems. There's a lot of people out there that think like you do though as there are plenty to choose from on auction day.

Age is not even a factor on my culling list.

Aged cows get on my cull list for going more than 12 months between calves, an open preg check, raising a puny calf (which is usually the result of their bag), not being able to maintain condition or arthritis, or an illness.
 
rocket2222":1l90h6gl said:
Thinking about selling off my older cows while they still have some life left in them instead of keeping them till they drop. Maybe get a little more than cull prices for them, already have their replacement daughters in the herd.
Click to expand...

Depends on what you sell the cow for and the price of a decent heifer. I know a lot of folks love their old cows and that is a fine thing, but fact in my area is that you can buy a good heifer for the price of a big old cow that eats more...

I usually cull when they don't eat and move well.
 
I understand keeping some really good foundation cows, wow, C's are really old, but if you are limited to how many cows you can keep, at some point you have a herd of old cows if you don't constantly work in young stock. I try to sell seven year olds every year and replace them with heifers. The younger cows sell good, and I feel the heifers are just as good as the cows. Granted, some years a heifer will not produce, but she just sells with the oldest and worst the next year. It's not entirly on age, and I do have some older cows, but I'll sell a 7 or 8 to keep one of their heifers. gs
 
At the end of what was for us a very long really cold snap I noticed a couple of the older cows had stiffened up some, which was what got me thinking,( try not to do it to often ) we seem to be back to normal now temp. wise, I weighed calves yesterday, which meant moving them to the lot with the scales in it, cows all looked pretty healthy, running, bucking and farting chasing the 4 wheeler with half a bucket of grain on the back. :)

Thanks for the replies.
 
I got a few old enough to vote as long as they can maintain condition and raise a calf why cull.
If they are over ten here you are going to get cull prices anyway unless you sell private treaty.
There are a few cattlemen that buy and churn cattle to make a profit, the problem is does your cow intrest me when it runs through the barn. If not she is slaughter buyer bound
 
Those good old cows kind of just hang around doing their job and you don't notice how old they are getting. I saw a 17 year old Nichols Promise N5 daughter last week. Still youthfull looking and moving out well. My 16 year old I bought from the same outfit to flush looks alot younger than her years too.
 
I can pick up 12 year old bred, registered, proven cows for $1200. They calve and re-breed for 7 or 8 more calves. I keep a heifer and it takes 3 years to get a calf on the ground. It takes 3 more years to get the next generation proving the genetics are what I want. If I sell the heifers, 6 calves at $2000 plus at weaning that is 1/2 the calves, $6000 plus market value for the bulls = $7500 gross in 6 years. Occasionally I sell a bull and that just adds a little icing on the cake.
Any heifers retained I consider my hobby cows. They are there for my interest playing with improvement on the genetics. They also work as a marketing tool showing people what type of cows the heifers will become. I can assure you that raising heifers to become an unproven cow is expensive.
 
cows are like anything else, if you keep older cows they are more apt to become downer cows if you try for one more year & none age the same. as they age their immune system doesn't function as well as it used to & your downer cow could end up getting your whole herd quarantined. they are all raised to be beef on a table & if you don't keep adding some new blood you end up as suggested earlier with an old herd that can't be sold at a home auction, but only as culls. my place may be tougher on cows as we are surrounded by hogs, but i have bought cows & brought my own herd out here & a lot of them could not live here. now i raise all my own replacements & all my cattle are naturally able to live here & i have a herd of all age cows. most universities claim most farmers cull 20% of their herd each year. i grant you that the more years you can get a cow to produce a calf the more money she makes you & if you are a good gambler with a crystal ball you will never lose any old cows
 
Caustic Burno":16h4upqx said:
I got a few old enough to vote as long as they can maintain condition and raise a calf why cull.
If they are over ten here you are going to get cull prices anyway unless you sell private treaty.
There are a few cattlemen that buy and churn cattle to make a profit, the problem is does your cow intrest me when it runs through the barn. If not she is slaughter buyer bound
Click to expand...

I was thinking of selling them off the farm, where they could see their calves, figured the hardest part would be convincing the buyer they make it on hay through the winter, they're a little fat. Anyways I decided to keep them a while longer, so with the luck I've had lately they'll all kneel over a die before their next calf. :roll: :)
 
Paul,

In your registered herd I wouldn't be too concerned about age, the really exceptional cows will force their way into staying in the herd, the average cows will be moved out by better genetics anyway before they get too old. That is just the way it happens, as you get closer to your ideal more and more of your older cows just won't fit in anymore with the picture you want to look at.

In my situation I believe you should have a plan for moving out the older cows in a commercial herd, my conditions are tough and its a lot easier to get a lean younger cow back in condition than it is to get a lean older cow back in condition. When they reach about 10 I am looking for an excuse to get rid of them.
 
I have a friend who refuses to save any replacements and refuses to buy bred heifers. He buys only cheap cows out of the sales barn and feeds them CRP hay. He will only sell a cow is she comes open or she is a nut job. In a dry year he culls about 25% for being open and in a wet year he culls about 15% for being open.

Strange looking herd but he does make money.
 
When we buy bulls one of the first things i ask is family history on the cows. Do they last? Is his mother a first calf out of a first calf out of a first calf and none of the cows are around any more...... not what gets me excited. Now show me that 14 year old cow and her 7 sisters and 5 daughters and we'll have a beer and talk price. Just food for thought on whether keeping sound older cows around make sense. Cow replacement is one of the biggest costs in the cattle business.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top