Late Bred Cows

[cornstalk]

Hello board;

Have a bit of a situation with a few late calvers. Only running 20 hd it hasnt been real practical for me to pull my bull after 45-90 days. Have been just running him 245 days per year with the cows.....pulling him off when the first calf hits the ground.

This year I ran into a little trouble, and have 6-7 hd (of 20) that are late calvers. I dont really have the time to deal with late calves, nor the time to try and get them back on track, calving with the main herd again. I can see no reason nutritionally that these cows shouldnt have bred back right away....and the bull has been top notch to date. Not to say he didnt go bad on me, but what's done is done. I do have a new bull this year, semen tested and ready to go.

I feel I have little choice but to sell these cows at local auction. I called the sale barn this morning and they advised I sell the bigger cows on the butcher market (untested) and sell the younger smaller cows on the bred cow auction. Breaks my heart as some of these were what I thought were my best cows. Have to seperate emotion from business however.

How much of a premium are bred cows bringing in your area. I was told this morning that kills are bringing 55-60 cwt. Can I expect another 10 cwt selling on the bred market?

Thanks for any insight or random thoughts on this issue.

 

[jkwilson]

Vaccination, nutrition and minerals are key to quick breeding. Will you replace these cows, and does the bottom line work out better to keep them off the bull and skip a year than to buy something new? Raising a heifer isn't cheap, and by the time you wean the calf off the cow you are a long way towards next year. The cows don't have to grow, so their feed requirements aren't bad when open. Sounds like with your operation you have problems separating the bull. I'd think if they are good cows it would be worth trying to find pasture for them so they stay open.

I had three cows slip into July on me due to a few years of failed AI attempts and poor management on my part. I sorted them off and bred them for December calves the following year, and just let them creep back up to the rest of the herd. Just having a few winter calvers wasn't a big deal, and they all stuck the first cycle because they had weaned their calves long before and were ready to go. All calved with 9 days of each other.

 

[cornstalk]

Vaccination, nutrition and minerals are key to quick breeding. Will you replace these cows, and does the bottom line work out better to keep them off the bull and skip a year than to buy something new? Raising a heifer isn't cheap, and by the time you wean the calf off the cow you are a long way towards next year. The cows don't have to grow, so their feed requirements aren't bad when open. Sounds like with your operation you have problems separating the bull. I'd think if they are good cows it would be worth trying to find pasture for them so they stay open.

I had three cows slip into July on me due to a few years of failed AI attempts and poor management on my part. I sorted them off and bred them for December calves the following year, and just let them creep back up to the rest of the herd. Just having a few winter calvers wasn't a big deal, and they all stuck the first cycle because they had weaned their calves long before and were ready to go. All calved with 9 days of each other.

Thanks for the reply. I really dont understand what went wrong here. I provide the utmost premium minerals, vaccinations are complete and timely, and nutrition adequate. I'm not the only one with this problem this year....seems to be fairly common, but bothers me none the less.

It is difficult for me to come up with additional pasture and resources to support 7 cows aside from my main herd. I do understand what your saying. I have 5 replacement heifers pulled and on deck to calve next spring.. Two or three of these late calvers are the most sound and handsome looking ladies you've ever seen. Breaks my heart, but if they arent going to raise me a calf every year in a timely fashion, I have to put wheels under them. I sincerely hope this isnt a mismanagement issue.

 

[bulldealer]

Synch them with a CIDR protocal 30 days after calving. AI if feasible, if not let the bull have them the day after the Lutalyse shot.

 

[regenwether]

Cornstalk...Don't feel bad. It happens to all of us. Do everything right and for some reason they slip past the breeding window. I would check with your local vet before you do anything for the next year. They might see something in your operation that might help you out.

 

[dun]

Every once in a while stuff like this happens. I'm waiting on 3 late calvers right now. As soon as they calve they'll be heading to the salebarn. For some reason, 1st and 2nd stage cows don;t bring anything over kill price. Even 3rd stage bring barely more. But a calf at side and the price goes u a hundred bucks or so.
Last year was the first that we had a bull. Normally any cow that cycles for the third time or doesn;t cycle at all get a one way ticket out of here. Sneaky Pedro was breeding these girls at night and I never saw a one of them in heat after I AIed them the first time. I don;t really understand but these girls were hit with lute because their heat cycle was just before the semen I wanted to use got here. I waited a week after the last ones heat and gave them aeach a shot of lute. They all cycled and I bred them. They didn;t come in to heat again, that I detected, but only one actually settled and calved from the AI. The others have been 6 weeks to 3 months late.

 

[KenB]

Hello board;

Have a bit of a situation with a few late calvers. Only running 20 hd it hasnt been real practical for me to pull my bull after 45-90 days. Have been just running him 245 days per year with the cows.....pulling him off when the first calf hits the ground.

This year I ran into a little trouble, and have 6-7 hd (of 20) that are late calvers.

I dont really have the time to deal with late calves, nor the time to try and get them back on track, calving with the main herd again.

If you have the grass, why not let them calf and sell them as pairs?


I can see no reason nutritionally that these cows shouldnt have bred back right away....and the bull has been top notch to date. Not to say he didnt go bad on me, but what's done is done. I do have a new bull this year, semen tested and ready to go.

I feel I have little choice but to sell these cows at local auction. I called the sale barn this morning and they advised I sell the bigger cows on the butcher market (untested) and sell the younger smaller cows on the bred cow auction. Breaks my heart as some of these were what I thought were my best cows. Have to seperate emotion from business however.

How much of a premium are bred cows bringing in your area. I was told this morning that kills are bringing 55-60 cwt. Can I expect another 10 cwt selling on the bred market?

Thanks for any insight or random thoughts on this issue.

 

[UCFLonghorn]

I would take them off your hands. It's like a bonus.

 

[3MR]

I just bought a Pathfinder Angus for $750 because she was late calving. She calved two days later.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I'm not one to say "I told you so" - but, this has been discussed - pros & cons of running a bull year round. This is prime example. But, if you had pulled the bull in a timely manner, you'd have OPEN cows - which is worse.
Your local sales barn should know what will bring you the best price. Guess, if you're set on selling, I'd take his advice.
Dun, you must be pretty PO'd about those heifers, you were quite "windy" in that post!

 

[dun]

Dun, you must be pretty PO'd about those heifers, you were quite "windy" in that post!

Just venting about one more thing that makes me distrust and dislike inducing heats.
That said, we used a CIDR to try to move a couple up this year. If it works we're money ahead, if it doesn;t they're no further out then the were before and they'll get an all expense paid permanent vacation.

 

[novatech]

Just read an article in the brahman journal about the cost of a missed breeding cycle.
In short; at 2.25 lbs per day in 21 days = 40 to 50 lbs not taken to the sale barn = 50 to 60 dollars for each late breeder missing just one cycle.
That would sure would buy a bunch of beer, but then I don,t drink.