Backbone Ranch
Well-known member
It is raining here now, so I figured I would post some pictures of a few of the cows, the bulls, and calves. The majority of our calves were born in March this year, so they are between 5 and 6 months old. We will most likely be weaning these calves at the beginning of November.
This first heifer was born on March 12 at 84 lbs. She is sired by Balmoral Elation, a Murray Grey bull from the 1980s , and her mother is a full sibling to our current herd bull. She is one of our tallest heifers, but I am really liking her depth and width.
This next calf was born on March 29 at 78 lbs. She is sired by our current herdsire, BB Uncle Tony. Her dam did not take by AI last year, so this heifer is a little younger than the rest. She is pictured here at 4 1/2 months. She is one of my favorites in the whole calf crop.
This bull calf is a half sibling to the first heifer pictured above. He too is sired by Balmoral Elation. He was born on March 8 at 82 lbs. He will have more frame to him than the other calves do.
When I first saw this calf the day he was born, I was surprised at how thick he was, despite his small size. He weighed 72 lbs at birth and is sired by BB Uncle Tony. He is pictured below at 4 1/2 months. His grandsire on his mother's side, Michaelong Grasshopper, was a really well known Murray Grey bull that was imported to Canada during the 1970s. His mother is one of only three cows in our herd that is a recent descendant of Michaelong Grasshopper.
This next bull is out of our current herdsire as well. He was born on March 25 at 86 lbs. He is pictured here at 4 1/2 months.
This cow is one of the oldest cows in our herd. She will be turning 9 this September. She has had some great calves for us over the years. Her 2015 bull calf was the best in the entire calf crop, and her 2016 heifer is one of the top two heifers of that age group. She gave birth to a 102 lb bull calf this year that is also looking really nice. To date, she has only had two heifer calves, but I am hoping that she has a few more in her still!
This cow is another one that I really like. She was born in the spring of 2011 and raises some really nice calves, while still maintaining her weight. One of her daughters had her first calf last fall and we have another one of her daughters in our group of yearling heifers. Her udder is not very large, but her calves are among the heaviest at weaning.
And finally, these last two photos show our current herdsire, BB Uncle Tony, and our back-up bull, OK Buford. They are half brothers and are approaching 5 1/2 years old. Both bulls scored a perfect 10 out of 10 on the Igenity tenderness test, putting them in the top 4% of all cattle in the US for that trait. They both have sired some great calves for us in the past few years. We will be retaining a bull calf from this year's calf crop and probably next year's too in order to replace Buford, and eventually Tony as our herdsire.
BB Uncle Tony
OK Buford
This first heifer was born on March 12 at 84 lbs. She is sired by Balmoral Elation, a Murray Grey bull from the 1980s , and her mother is a full sibling to our current herd bull. She is one of our tallest heifers, but I am really liking her depth and width.
This next calf was born on March 29 at 78 lbs. She is sired by our current herdsire, BB Uncle Tony. Her dam did not take by AI last year, so this heifer is a little younger than the rest. She is pictured here at 4 1/2 months. She is one of my favorites in the whole calf crop.
This bull calf is a half sibling to the first heifer pictured above. He too is sired by Balmoral Elation. He was born on March 8 at 82 lbs. He will have more frame to him than the other calves do.
When I first saw this calf the day he was born, I was surprised at how thick he was, despite his small size. He weighed 72 lbs at birth and is sired by BB Uncle Tony. He is pictured below at 4 1/2 months. His grandsire on his mother's side, Michaelong Grasshopper, was a really well known Murray Grey bull that was imported to Canada during the 1970s. His mother is one of only three cows in our herd that is a recent descendant of Michaelong Grasshopper.
This next bull is out of our current herdsire as well. He was born on March 25 at 86 lbs. He is pictured here at 4 1/2 months.
This cow is one of the oldest cows in our herd. She will be turning 9 this September. She has had some great calves for us over the years. Her 2015 bull calf was the best in the entire calf crop, and her 2016 heifer is one of the top two heifers of that age group. She gave birth to a 102 lb bull calf this year that is also looking really nice. To date, she has only had two heifer calves, but I am hoping that she has a few more in her still!
This cow is another one that I really like. She was born in the spring of 2011 and raises some really nice calves, while still maintaining her weight. One of her daughters had her first calf last fall and we have another one of her daughters in our group of yearling heifers. Her udder is not very large, but her calves are among the heaviest at weaning.
And finally, these last two photos show our current herdsire, BB Uncle Tony, and our back-up bull, OK Buford. They are half brothers and are approaching 5 1/2 years old. Both bulls scored a perfect 10 out of 10 on the Igenity tenderness test, putting them in the top 4% of all cattle in the US for that trait. They both have sired some great calves for us in the past few years. We will be retaining a bull calf from this year's calf crop and probably next year's too in order to replace Buford, and eventually Tony as our herdsire.
BB Uncle Tony
OK Buford
