mature cattle, what age?

[clem]

:?: At what age are cattle considered mature or old enough to breed to bigger birth weight bulls? Clem

 

[Texan]

Need more specific information.

 

[randiliana]

:?: At what age are cattle considered mature or old enough to breed to bigger birth weight bulls? Clem

Most people will start breeding them to larger BW bulls after they have had their 1st calf.

 

[clem]

I have medium frame Herefords and Black baldies, I have been using low birthweight bulls because I was keeping my better heifers. I'm thinking about getting a bull with higher birthweights. Clem

 

[randiliana]

I have medium frame Herefords and Black baldies, I have been using low birthweight bulls because I was keeping my better heifers. I'm thinking about getting a bull with higher birthweights. Clem

What sort of BW's are you talking about? We run hereford and angus cross cows here, and we use 90-100 lb bulls, with little problem. If you want to stay on the safe side go with bulls under 95 lbs, also, check out the Calving Ease EPD's on the bulls you are looking at, and look for long smoothly built bulls. You want to see a tapered front end, not a blocky one.

 

[clem]

Randi, thanks for telling me what would be a safe weight to shoot for. My calves have been averaging 70-75 lbs. Thanks,Clem

 

[randiliana]

Randi, thanks for telling me what would be a safe weight to shoot for. My calves have been averaging 70-75 lbs. Thanks,Clem

Our cows average weight is 1250 lbs, and those weights work for us. BUT, we also buy bull that are smooth, with a lot of length to them. The build of the bull has as much to do with calving ease, as BW. You want to look at him from the front, and you don't want to see his shoulders sticking out squarely. Also, we are on hand at calving time in case there is a problem. We don't have very many, but there is always a few. And also, remember that the cow has a lot to do with BW too.

Are your cows older animals, or are you talking about 2-3 year old animals? 70-75 is a good weight for heifers, but cows should be able to easily handle calves 10-15 lbs heavier.

 

[dun]

Randi, thanks for telling me what would be a safe weight to shoot for. My calves have been averaging 70-75 lbs. Thanks,Clem

Our cows average weight is 1250 lbs, and those weights work for us. BUT, we also buy bull that are smooth, with a lot of length to them. The build of the bull has as much to do with calving ease, as BW. You want to look at him from the front, and you don't want to see his shoulders sticking out squarely. Also, we are on hand at calving time in case there is a problem. We don't have very many, but there is always a few. And also, remember that the cow has a lot to do with BW too.

Are your cows older animals, or are you talking about 2-3 year old animals? 70-75 is a good weight for heifers, but cows should be able to easily handle calves 10-15 lbs heavier.

You're in Canada, he's in MS. A 75 lb calf in Canada would probably be a 65 lb or maybe even smaller calf in his area. There is also the diference in forage base that enters into the equation. You really can;t realistically compare weights between the 2 areas.
More important then raising birth weights is improving weaning weights. As I've said before and no doubt will say again, challenge your cows to wean a heavy calf not have a heavy calf. With proper bull selection you lose very lattle if any between a lighter and heavier birthweight when it comes to weaning or yearlings weights, daughters calving abilitys, carcass grade, etc.

dun

 

[clem]

My older cows are 6 yrs old most of my cows are between 4-6 yrs. Thanks for the info and food for thought Randi and Dun. I like to learn something new everyday,and I usually do from the many interesting things people post on this board. Thanks again, Clem

 

[aplusmnt]

Randi, thanks for telling me what would be a safe weight to shoot for. My calves have been averaging 70-75 lbs. Thanks,Clem

Our cows average weight is 1250 lbs, and those weights work for us. BUT, we also buy bull that are smooth, with a lot of length to them. The build of the bull has as much to do with calving ease, as BW. You want to look at him from the front, and you don't want to see his shoulders sticking out squarely. Also, we are on hand at calving time in case there is a problem. We don't have very many, but there is always a few. And also, remember that the cow has a lot to do with BW too.

Are your cows older animals, or are you talking about 2-3 year old animals? 70-75 is a good weight for heifers, but cows should be able to easily handle calves 10-15 lbs heavier.

You're in Canada, he's in MS. A 75 lb calf in Canada would probably be a 65 lb or maybe even smaller calf in his area. There is also the diference in forage base that enters into the equation. You really can;t realistically compare weights between the 2 areas.
More important then raising birth weights is improving weaning weights. As I've said before and no doubt will say again, challenge your cows to wean a heavy calf not have a heavy calf. With proper bull selection you lose very lattle if any between a lighter and heavier birthweight when it comes to weaning or yearlings weights, daughters calving abilitys, carcass grade, etc.

dun

What is the contributing factor to Canada having larger birth weights?

 

[dun]

What is the contributing factor to Canada having larger birth weights?

Colder climate

dun

 

[Beefy]

clem,
i'd recommend waiting on the higher bw bull until after the second calf but thats just me. i've had several intances where a heifer had a tiny little heifer calf the first go around and then had problems with a gargantuan bull calf the second go-around. second calvers can have just as much trouble with the second calf if the first one came too easily..

 

[aplusmnt]

What is the contributing factor to Canada having larger birth weights?

Colder climate

dun

I am assuming they eat more to stay warm? So calves come bigger?

 

[clem]

Thanks everyone for your replies, lots of good input, and what seems like sound advice. Clem

 

[dun]

What is the contributing factor to Canada having larger birth weights?

Colder climate

dun

I am assuming they eat more to stay warm? So calves come bigger?

No, it has to do with the routing of the blood during pregnancy to the calf rather then to the surface of the cow.

dun

 

[randiliana]

You're in Canada, he's in MS. A 75 lb calf in Canada would probably be a 65 lb or maybe even smaller calf in his area. There is also the diference in forage base that enters into the equation. You really can;t realistically compare weights between the 2 areas.
More important then raising birth weights is improving weaning weights. As I've said before and no doubt will say again, challenge your cows to wean a heavy calf not have a heavy calf. With proper bull selection you lose very lattle if any between a lighter and heavier birthweight when it comes to weaning or yearlings weights, daughters calving abilitys, carcass grade, etc.

dun

That is true, but realistically speaking is there a reason that my 1250 lb cow can have a 95 lb calf, and his can't, providing they are built similarly? I am not saying that he SHOULD go out and get a 95 lb BW bull, as that requires a commitment to be there for calving IMO, but suggesting that he could get his BW to that. Definitely he should be looking more to WW, but generally, (and I guess this might be regional) a 75 lb calf just doesn't have the growth potential of a 95 lb one.

 

[dun]

Last year our 70-77 lb BW calves averaged 675 weaning weights. Our single 90 lb bw calf weaned at 593. Heaviest bw calf she's ever had and the lowest weaning weight she's ever had. Obviously boosting bw isn;t the way to go. Maybe better growth genetics??

dun

 

[Jovid]

Obviously boosting bw isn;t the way to go. Maybe better growth genetics??

Bigger bw does not mean bigger ww. There are several factors to consider in achieving a higher ww. Breed of cattle, genetics, forage, creep feeding, etc.

 

[aplusmnt]

What is the contributing factor to Canada having larger birth weights?

Colder climate

dun

I am assuming they eat more to stay warm? So calves come bigger?

No, it has to do with the routing of the blood during pregnancy to the calf rather then to the surface of the cow.

dun

Thanks for the Animal Science lesson! Interesting.

 

[randiliana]

Last year our 70-77 lb BW calves averaged 675 weaning weights. Our single 90 lb bw calf weaned at 593. Heaviest bw calf she's ever had and the lowest weaning weight she's ever had. Obviously boosting bw isn;t the way to go. Maybe better growth genetics??

dun

Thanks, Dun. I do agree, that just boosting BW will not end up in bigger calves at weaning time. You have to be paying attention to both. There are big BW's out there that have no growth and then there are low BW's that have high growth. The trick is to find the happy medium. We don't mind higher BW because in general they connect to higher growth rates, and, because usually we cannot afford to buy the curve bender bulls that are out there.

Also, what I have learned is that really high birth weight doesn't usually equal out to a heavier WW. What I think happens there, is that the calf has a difficult birth, and takes longer to recover from it which usually equals less growth.