Month old bull calf

[SRBeef]

I was putting out hay this morning and noticed one of the bull calves, 29 days old today, just looked obviously larger, more solid/filled out especially from the rear than the others. Despite the freezing rain coming down he was aggressively nursing his dam and seemed somewhat oblivious to the miserable weather. He looks very healthy, active and playing around...great testicles on him for 30 days old.

Just wondering how much stock you can put into visual comparison of bull calves at just about a month old? Is a standout bull calf at 1 month likely to be the standout as a yearling? He was an easy afternoon birth as a 2nd calf of his dam. Has a heck of a butt on him even at 30 days old.

Is it worth keeping him as a bull when we work the herd in a month? I'm trying to identify one bull calf to keep for my non registered group and by pedigree this is not the one I was planning to keep. But he does have good genetics except maternal granddam was a pretty large cow. Otherwise a lot of 9126J and my best cow in him....

In general do good looking young bulls stay that way or is it likely others will catch up or exceed him by weaning or yearling? Can you identify a standout bull prospect at a month old?

Jim

 

[KNERSIE]

Be very afraid of those runty little bull calves that catches up later after weaning and turning into good looking bulls! The maternal genetics they'll leave in your herd isn't the way to make a profit selling calves in the long run. The real bull prospects look like bull prospects from 1 week old and a bull that doesn't look like a bull prospect by 6 weeks old really isn't one.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

He sounds promising. How about posting some pics (weather permitting)?

 

[3waycross]

My rule is what they look like at 2 months is what they will look like at a year if they are fed right. It seems to hold pretty true. I do have one cow who has produced some nice bulls for me that her calves are a "little" later maturing but they always look real good at weaning. If they didn't I wouldn't waste any more feed on them!

 

[SRBeef]

He sounds promising. How about posting some pics (weather permitting)?

Well the weather today was much better than the past few days and I did take a few pictures of this calf that looks so much more mature than the others.

Calf 8A, born 040413 is exactly 30 days old today.

Here is a picture of him and dam an hour or so after he was calved out in the mud on 0404:

Here he is with dam at 9 days old on 041313:

Here are several pictures from this afternoon 050413 at 30 days of age:

This is just one of a number of commercial bull calves this spring. He seems much more mature than the others. May not be much compared to most other Hereford posters here. But I was just struck by the differences between my group.

Thanks for the replies above, especially Knersie.

Jim

 

[fitz]

If he were mine he would be left intact when you work them in a month. You can always change that later on.

fitz

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I like him.

 

[FB-Maines94]

He's going to be a stout one. I would be interested in finding out how he develops.

 

[djinwa]

The only thing I don't like about him is his mom's front teats.

 

[3waycross]

Hard to say if he is bull material but he is a cut above. Leave him intact till you wean him. He will tell you for sure by then!

 

[SRBeef]

Hard to say if he is bull material but he is a cut above. Leave him intact till you wean him. He will tell you for sure by then!

That's what I am going to do. It used to be simple to choose which bull calf to keep: any bull out of my best cow.

A couple generations into my home grown breeding plan though, the daughters are having better bull calves than what used to be my best cow. I am going to keep a couple bull calves intact until weaning. But I can only use one so will have to choose at weaning.

This calf will probably be 700-750 lb at 2015 days. I just hate to cut them when they are that big. Vet did one I changed my mind on a couple years ago and they just don't heal as quickly as if cut at 2 months. I don't band.

Jim

 

[SRBeef]

The only thing I don't like about him is his mom's front teats.

I agree on the teats in the 9 day old picture. But they usually look better than that - just not a good teat day? she had her 2nd calf only 9 days earlier. And I do like cows with milk and growth.

Here are some typical udders in my herd. My bulls generally tend to pass on good udders:

Your point is well taken. Thank you.

Jim

 

[MarkM]

Jim,

Don't mean to hijack your thread but why don't you like banding?

Mark

 

[SRBeef]

Jim,

Don't mean to hijack your thread but why don't you like banding?

Mark

Mark, my vet is very good at cutting the bull calves as a part of our whole herd spring workup/preventive medicine program. The calves follow mama into the corral for a grain treat, I close the gate the vet arrives and pretty quickly the calves are run through the tub, alley, weighed, poured, ear tags/rfid, get their first vaccinations, steers get cut and they're done until fall.

They are done quickly, you never have a missed testicle (if we can count to two), I have never had one bleed or develop an infection and cut at about two months old, they go out of the chute back to grass, mama keeps them clean and they are running around like spring calves again within a few days.

I don't try to catch mine at birth and especially in a year like this one in the north, the last thing the new born calf needs is more stress waiting for the band to work. Especially on older calves, I have had others tell me it can take 3 or 4 weeks for the sac to fall off.... always a risk of having a retained testicle or infection.

Just like to get it done and the calf healed asap. Have had good experience so far with vet cutting them.

Jim

 

[MarkM]

Thanks, Jim.

I am still trying to decide on a "system".

 

[SRBeef]

Mark I think for most newcomers like us, a good relationship with a vet and a good preventive medicine program is very important. Cutting steers at spring workup doesn't really cost very much. My vet teaches me a lot every time he comes over usually just twice a year, spring workup and fall weaning/preg check. Total spent per year on vet expenses is $25-30/head. And along with a good mineral program, I have had almost zero sickness.

Good luck.

Jim

 

[muleskinner]

Jim
You have something good started there. If it is working for you contiue. The key thing that I found out about my little place is that you have to do what works for you, if you dont it will fail. That is a good looking bull calf. My calves are just 3 months old and I have picked out a couple heifers for replacements, unless something happens to them. Remember as you progress and grow your heard your better calves should be coming from your younger animals. keep up the good work.

Eric

 

[SPH]

Some nice looking calves Jim. Curious what the breeding is on the dam and calf side and how much did he weigh at birth? We leave all our bull calves intact until after weaning. Everything is weighed and ratioed at weaning then we decide which to cut. Typically anything over 100 ratio that did not weigh 90+ lbs at birth we will look over good and determine if they are good enough to feed out as a bull. Last year our standout bull calf out of a first calf heifer you could tell early on he was going to be the top bull calf and he easily has been our top performing bull of the calf crop at 116 weaning ratio and 111 as a yearling. Probably will use him ourselves to replace our current herd sire if he's not sold.

 

[SRBeef]

Some nice looking calves Jim. Curious what the breeding is on the dam and calf side and how much did he weigh at birth? We leave all our bull calves intact until after weaning. Everything is weighed and ratioed at weaning then we decide which to cut. Typically anything over 100 ratio that did not weigh 90+ lbs at birth we will look over good and determine if they are good enough to feed out as a bull. Last year our standout bull calf out of a first calf heifer you could tell early on he was going to be the top bull calf and he easily has been our top performing bull of the calf crop at 116 weaning ratio and 111 as a yearling. Probably will use him ourselves to replace our current herd sire if he's not sold.

Both the calf's sire and dam were sired by my Huth T021 bull (P42812075) who put up some pretty good numbers for a good pedigree. However both the dam and sire had two of my best non registered commercial cows as their dams. He has some very concentrated and I hope "fixed" genes, but is not registerable.

Both grand dams and the calfs dam wean 205 day calves over 50% of their wt at weaning, with no creep. That is a criteria for any retained bull I keep.

I don't weigh calves at birth but as you can see from the picture above getting his first colostrum, he probably weighed around 75 lb at birth. But just a guess. He'll go thru the tub, alley and scale in a week or so for his first official weight. I will be keeping a couple bull calves whole until weaning. But don't really like to cut them at the 650-700+ lb they'll be at weaning. Would prefer to cut them at 250 lb. Usually in late May or early June at spring herd workup.

Jim