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More cows vs. Big cows
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<blockquote data-quote="Nesikep" data-source="post: 1032474" data-attributes="member: 9096"><p>I have a couple words to say here too, and mostly it's in agreement with what I've heard others say... Not every size or type of cow is suited to every operation... I have a variety of sizes of cows... a couple 1/2 shorthorn cows who weigh in close to 1800 lbs, and they make about 700-750 lb steer calves... those two cows are just plain big cows, both have had twins... then I have some others who are just tall cows, without being so heavy.. Probably frame 7ish, 1500 lb, and they make the same size calves... Most of my newer Gelbvieh cross cows are in the 1200-1400 lb range, probably frame 5's, and they seem to be really promising.. easy keepers, tons of milk, and seem to all have first time bull calves in the mid 600's, the second calves (only 2 heifers calves so far) should end up at 625 and 675 lb respectively... What I can say is that the SH/GV crosses are something the buyers seem to like as my 600 lb bull calves usually take the high price (or close to it) for the weight class as the sale barn. My best bunch was 3 years ago when I had 5 steers in the low 700's that brought in $1050 a piece... We had a calf from a small cow (who ate like a pig) who weaned at about 450 lbs... He got $1.70 a lb, which is great... per pound, but it still is only $765. There's also the personal satisfaction of seeing a nice bunch of calves that make your mouth water when you look at them. One of my best cows isn't a small cow.. she's certainly a frame 6, probably around 1500 lbs, bot very heavy boned, and doesn't have the best topline either, but she raises an excellent animal every year, 650 lb heifer or 700 lb steer, breeds back well, and is always the first to leave the feed bunk and lay down to chew cud (her daughters as well), and comes from a line where mother and grandmother lived to have an average of 15 calves. I think she's a pretty efficient animal.</p><p></p><p>One thing I've been looking at is how many time a cow chews each mouthful of cud... I do seem to ind a bit of a correlation in efficiency there... I find the ones that do the best chew each mouthful about 60-70 times are thriftier animals than those that chew less... this isn't perhaps a purely genetic trait, but you could see how if the food was more thoroughly chewed, she'd get more nutrition out of less feed.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Another piece of logic I heard around here was that smaller cows aren't able to produce enough milk while on lush pastures to prevent them from getting fat, while big cows can't eat enough on lean pastures to keep condition, milk, and breed back, which should be something for people to consider while selecting their cattle.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nesikep, post: 1032474, member: 9096"] I have a couple words to say here too, and mostly it's in agreement with what I've heard others say... Not every size or type of cow is suited to every operation... I have a variety of sizes of cows... a couple 1/2 shorthorn cows who weigh in close to 1800 lbs, and they make about 700-750 lb steer calves... those two cows are just plain big cows, both have had twins... then I have some others who are just tall cows, without being so heavy.. Probably frame 7ish, 1500 lb, and they make the same size calves... Most of my newer Gelbvieh cross cows are in the 1200-1400 lb range, probably frame 5's, and they seem to be really promising.. easy keepers, tons of milk, and seem to all have first time bull calves in the mid 600's, the second calves (only 2 heifers calves so far) should end up at 625 and 675 lb respectively... What I can say is that the SH/GV crosses are something the buyers seem to like as my 600 lb bull calves usually take the high price (or close to it) for the weight class as the sale barn. My best bunch was 3 years ago when I had 5 steers in the low 700's that brought in $1050 a piece... We had a calf from a small cow (who ate like a pig) who weaned at about 450 lbs... He got $1.70 a lb, which is great... per pound, but it still is only $765. There's also the personal satisfaction of seeing a nice bunch of calves that make your mouth water when you look at them. One of my best cows isn't a small cow.. she's certainly a frame 6, probably around 1500 lbs, bot very heavy boned, and doesn't have the best topline either, but she raises an excellent animal every year, 650 lb heifer or 700 lb steer, breeds back well, and is always the first to leave the feed bunk and lay down to chew cud (her daughters as well), and comes from a line where mother and grandmother lived to have an average of 15 calves. I think she's a pretty efficient animal. One thing I've been looking at is how many time a cow chews each mouthful of cud... I do seem to ind a bit of a correlation in efficiency there... I find the ones that do the best chew each mouthful about 60-70 times are thriftier animals than those that chew less... this isn't perhaps a purely genetic trait, but you could see how if the food was more thoroughly chewed, she'd get more nutrition out of less feed. Another piece of logic I heard around here was that smaller cows aren't able to produce enough milk while on lush pastures to prevent them from getting fat, while big cows can't eat enough on lean pastures to keep condition, milk, and breed back, which should be something for people to consider while selecting their cattle. [/QUOTE]
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