Longevity

[Anonymous]

Before I start, this is not my cow, but it is such a great story I had to share.

I will tell you a bit more about this cow below. In this picture she is in the house yard - she's a bit special to her owners and doesn't have to 'rough it' with the rest of the cows any more- she was supposed to be finished breeding!

Her name is Flossy, a '91 model, making her 18-years-young. (Her birthday was actually yesterday).
Flossy is an AI calf by a bull which sold for A$50,000 in 1990.
She has had 14 calves- seven of each- and had been retired from breeding up until a couple of years ago when she decided to get herself 'up the duff' again.
The calf pictured is her latest bull calf, and the photo was taken last week.
Sons of Flossy have sold to $17,000, grossing $36,500.
Most daughters were retained by the breeder, and these have produced calves selling to $16,000 and grossing $65,000.
Again, most of the females have been retained by the breeder.
This of course is not to mention the affect Flossy's sons have had on a number of Shorthorn stud and commercial herds across the country, two of which were very high profile bulls.

I think Flossy has earned herself a happy retirement!

 

[Frankie]

Neat story. I guess Flossy will retire when she's good and ready. :lol:

 

[*Cowgirl*]

If she's a cow that means that much to the breeder and has made such an impact, why not flush her several times instead of letting her sit?

 

[Anonymous]

Not alot of Shorthorn breeders do alot of flushing, especially this cows owners. They don't do any ET work but did flush her twice in later years. Plus, IMO, you can get too much of a good thing and you would be restricting your gene pool if you were to flush a cow extensively- you only need look at some breeds to see that, where bulls especially have been overused.

Not many cows can claim to be so successful with natural matings and calvings.

 

[Lucky_P]

I've got one in the pasture right behind the house that's a September 1990 model - should have sold her last year, but made the mistake of trying for 'one more calf' out of her, even though the last one she raised was not much punkin'. She aborted at about 6 months, and now she's waiting on her appointment date at the local custom-kill plant to be ground into hamburger and donated to the local Salvation Army soup kitchen; she'd never make it through the sale barn - too old/slow/arthritic.

 

[dun]

Granny turned 21 this spring. She's raising her calf and fostering the bottle calf. She's in standing heat this morning and will be bred this evening.

 

[dun]

Granny with her "twins"

 

[Limomike]

Wow Dun.... Granny looks great for a 21 year old! Oldest one I have is 18 and shes ready to have another one soon.

 

[bigbull338]

gotta love them granny cows.