Minotaur Smiled!

[inyati13]

Can someone tell me why I am going through a stretch of big calves? This morning was a miracle! Maybe Fire Sweep's prayers for me are working. If you would have told me this heifer who is on day 276 post AI would deliver a 97 pound calf on her own during the night, I would not believe you. I am weighing my calves at birth now. I am confirming that these little angels are much heavier than they look.

Of the last four calves, three have been in the 100 pound range. All are AI and were bred for calving ease with the exception of the War Party calf which was 105 pounds. One of these big calves resulted in the death of my Milestone Heifer.

I went out in the short hours of the morning and found this:

I am weighing my calves at birth. I dam near ruptured a disc weighing this one. Socks (Anne gave her that name) is very sweet but I did not know how she would react to me handling her calf. I put a pan of feed down and while she was eating I weighed the calf. I got hold of this calf and realized he was very thick and compact. When I got him and me on the scales, I lost balance and we both fell forward on the ground. I thought I strained my back. Socks came off her feed and I stepped back. She made low groans to her baby and when she was satisified all was well she went back to her feed. My second attempt was a success. 97 pounds.

This calf is a Top Hand. I wanted a smaller calf. This heifer is out of a Built Right line. She is a registered 5/8 simangus heifer. She is not as big as my other livestock. I have been suffering Heifer Anxiety for the last week. I could see she was very heavy. I think she would weigh about 1250 pounds.

 

[Bestoutwest]

Nice calf! Is that frost on the ground next to the scale?

 

[inyati13]

Nice calf! Is that frost on the ground next to the scale?

Thanks. Pea gravel.

 

[Lazy M]

Not sure if it is due to the good rain and grass we had this summer, but all of our fall calves have been huge, too. Cows bred to the same bulls that have typically had 75-85# calves have been having 90-100+# monsters.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Very pretty calf Ron! Congratulations! :clap:
I have found that some bulls have very poor BW accuracies! A lot depends on the number of calves they have on the ground and who they were bred to for those numbers. I think they can be manipulated too easily. Some bulls that start out with great numbers change later!

 

[LazyARanch]

And I think maybe you are feeding just a bit too well! ;-)

 

[Taurus]

And I think maybe you are feeding just a bit too well! ;-)

Ditto! We had a cow just calved last month to a monster calf. The sire of calf is a CE and he always throws 70-90lbs calves but these calves are all spring calves. This fall calf is absolute monster and he is over 180lbs right now. I think his momma is fed well....prehaps too well since we have lot of rain and grass is growing good. Maybe that's what happening with your cattle?

 

[Deepsouth]

Great looking calf Inyati.

 

[jasonleonard]

That is gonna be an awesome pair Ron! Do you have any calves out of your cleanup bull yet? Isn't the new bull a blaze face? I was wanting to see if he will pass the blaze to the calves very often.

 

[Kingfisher]

Makes me think that in years past with normal rain fall and abundent grass a bigger cow would be better suited for 100lb calves. You might consider an electronic bathroom scale w memory so all you have to be concerned about is getting on it with the load and not trying to read it too.

 

[gizmom]

That is a really nice calf glad it turned out well.

gizmom

 

[Williamsv]

Fine calf. Glad all turned out well.

 

[Nesikep]

For me the big calves started 5 years ago, suddenly, and haven't come back down.. Management didnt' change, grass didn't change, and the bull didn't change at the time the BW's jumped, but had another bull since and that didn't change anything.. New bull next year, so we'll see.

Important thing is she had it with no problems!.. They look good

 

[FourSquareFarm]

Congrats on the new addition! Yes...Minotaur smiled :lol2:

 

[inyati13]

That is gonna be an awesome pair Ron! Do you have any calves out of your cleanup bull yet? Isn't the new bull a blaze face? I was wanting to see if he will pass the blaze to the calves very often.

Jason, the first calf out of Spartacus will be in November. The cow is Price. She is the big hippo. This will be her fourth calf. All her calves have been big but I don't expect any trouble. I have 3 non-pedigree cows that are due to him in March. I am waiting for the same thing. He is a Built Right Bull and that white blaze is a regular with that line.

 

[inyati13]

Makes me think that in years past with normal rain fall and abundent grass a bigger cow would be better suited for 100lb calves. You might consider an electronic bathroom scale w memory so all you have to be concerned about is getting on it with the load and not trying to read it too.

Excellent! What caused me to fall, I was trying to lean over the calf in the light of my flash light and see the reading. I must have strained a muscle when I tried to get my balance. I am getting too old for picking up these live weights.

 

[Jake]

We had problems last winter with our heifers having much larger calves than anticipated. Believe it was a nutritional deal as the calves were out of the the same bulls as the year before but easily 30 pounds heavier. Colder weather also effected those I believe, leaves us up in the air on how to feed them this winter.