Thank you for the advice Brandonm2. We do have a scale under our chute at the home place but the cows may not go through that chute system every year. We have 3 other sets of corrals. Even when we deworm in the fall at home we don't catch every cow in the squeeze. We put 7 or 8 cows in the alley, pour on the the dewormer and then let them all go. We do vaccinate in the spring but at that time of year the cows are never around the home place. The mature weight of every cow is really a meaningless statistic (in our opinion). We use that scale under the chute at the home place mainly for weaning weights and yearling weights. For birthweights we do weigh every calf. We have a spring loaded scale attached to an 8 foot steel tube.
Why not wrote
Every cattleman or woman should know what their cows weigh. they also should know what their calves weigh.
Anytime i hear someone use the words ~probably, i think, or i would guess~ when it comes to birth weights it makes me a little leary.
I have to admit when I read this I got a little defensive. I apologize for that. I used the word 'probably' in order to be more honest, not less honest. If we want to get really picky about the use of the English language then if someone says 'my cows average 1400 pounds' he is probably being dishonest (probably not on purpose). Unless you weigh every cow and the average is 1400 pounds, that statement is false. If you were to weigh every cow and they were to average 1405 pounds then that statement is false. Thus people use the words 'probably' or 'approximately' or 'about' in order to show that they have not done the statistical analysis.
I also apologize for making you leary about our calf weights. I am sorry that it seems you do not trust seedstock producers to actually weigh their calves at birth. Once again, I used the word 'probably' to be more honest not less. As I stated earlier we weigh our calves but I had not done the statistical analysis. Thank you for bringing this to the forefront of my mind. I rained off and on for most of the day here yesterday so I did something I have never done before. I did analyze our calf birthweights. Here they are:
We weighed calves off 101 head of purebred cows. 5 cows had multiple births of which 9 calves survived. These 9 calves averaged 66.7 pounds. I have not included these in the following information as I feel this would skew the results.
42 mature cows had bull calves totaling 4122 pounds of calf. 4122 pounds / 42 head = 98.1 pound average.
34 mature cows had heifer calves totaling 3114 pounds of calf. 3114 pounds / 34 head = 91.6 pound average.
10 2 year old heifers had bull calves totaling 826 pounds of calf. 826 pounds / 10 = 82.6 pound average.
10 2 year old heifers had heifer calves totaling 808 pounds of calf. 808 pounds / 10 = 80.8 pound average.
4122 + 3144 + 826 + 808 = 8870 pounds.
8870 pounds / 96 head = 92.4 pound average.
The following is for people that appreciate tongue in cheek remarks (please don't take it too seriously):
Oh no! It just hit me. Our calf scale only has marks every 2 pounds. That calf that we marked down as 88 pounds
probably weighs 89 pounds. And that one that we marked down as 96 pounds
probably weighs 95 pounds. This
probably is true for many other calves as well. Our calves
might not average 92.4 pounds. They
might average 91.9 or 93.1 pounds. What ever will we do?
Sorry, I just couldn't resist the tongue in cheek remark.
One more final note to everyone. If you are the type of person that thinks of the glass is half empty instead of half full, consider the following story.
Two ranchers (let's call them Mr. Brown and Mr. Gray) lived in separate areas of the country. They decided to sell their ranches and move to Somewheretown U.S.A. They both contacted the same real estate agent and both looked at the same ranch. After the tour of the ranch Mr. Brown asked the agent 'What are the neighbors like around here?' To this the agent replied 'What were your neighbors like around where you came from?' Mr Brown stated that his old neighbors were miserable. They did not keep their fences up, they never lent a hand when a neighbor needed help, etc., etc., etc. The agent then informed Mr. Brown that the neighbors around the new ranch would probably be the same as they were around his old ranch.
When Mr. Gray had finished touring the ranch he asked the same question, 'What are the neighbors like around here?' The agents reply was also the same 'What were your neighbors like around where you came from?' Mr. Brown stated that his old neighbors were fantastic. They kept their fences up, they always lent a hand when a neighbor needed help, etc., etc., etc. The agent then informed Mr. Brown that the neighbors around the new ranch would probably be the same as they were around his old ranch.
Just something to think about.
