Not perfect cows

[kenny thomas]

The thread about the heifer with a short tail got me to thinking about how many people want all of their cows to look perfect. Thats not a bad goal but is really the most profitable. Is a short tail cow that grows a really good calf one that needs to be culled. One of the best cows that I have has a tail only about a foot long. She looks really weird but she grows a good calf and breed back quickly. How about the longhorn discussion? If a longhorn cow can be bought for 1/2 or less of what an Angus cow can be bought for and still raisea really good calf is she not maybe the most profitable.
Skyhightree1, and several others, I say all the time that im in it for the money. I sold Jersey steers this year that made a profit of over $700. They might not look as good as some of the others but the bank account dont know the difference.
How many of you are guilty of keeping a non perfect cow, or culling one just because she isn't?

 

[LauraleesFarm]

I wouldn't use the word guilty.....!

Imperfect cows don't bother me one bit. I've had more trouble with the beauty queen types. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Aaron]

I much rather have a herd of cows that are same breed and similar in color and frame. Which for me would be Herefords, more yellow and cherry red than dark red and in the 5-5.5 frame area.

 

[Williamsv]

Imperfect cows do not bother me. I tell my husband all the time that my goal is to make money. I am not running a petting zoo, as I sometimes accuse him of doing. We have some purebred Black Angus and purebred Simmental. The others are commercial Simangus or Beefmaster. We use a purebred Black Angus bull. The commercial cattle raise heavier calves that grow off much faster and they breed back faster.

 

[skyhightree1]

The thread about the heifer with a short tail got me to thinking about how many people want all of their cows to look perfect. Thats not a bad goal but is really the most profitable. Is a short tail cow that grows a really good calf one that needs to be culled. One of the best cows that I have has a tail only about a foot long. She looks really weird but she grows a good calf and breed back quickly. How about the longhorn discussion? If a longhorn cow can be bought for 1/2 or less of what an Angus cow can be bought for and still raisea really good calf is she not maybe the most profitable.
Skyhightree1, and several others, I say all the time that im in it for the money. I sold Jersey steers this year that made a profit of over $700. They might not look as good as some of the others but the bank account dont know the difference.
How many of you are guilty of keeping a non perfect cow, or culling one just because she isn't?

Kenny I really like this post. :tiphat:

 

[jedstivers]

That's what we like. Front pasture cows don't put a lot of folding money in the back pocket.

 

[Tim/South]

It is hard not to like a cow that raises a good calf every year.
We have a hereford with half ears. Must have been frostbit. My son bought her as a calf at the sale for $40. We raised her on a Jersey nurse cow. She is a big cow and a good momma. We also have a longhorn/angus cross momma cow. She is a big cow and raises a good calf. She looks a little different than the other cows but her calves look like all the other black calves.
I have a few cows I keep saying I am going to cull because they do not have big udders. They wean big calves so they remain.
I am much tougher on a herd bull than I am cows.

 

[Williamsv]

We also are much tougher on a herd bull than cows. As long as a cow can raise a good calf every year, she stays until I see that she is getting too old to keep. Then she is culled.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I only keep and have perfect cows! The rest are turned into burger! :cowboy:











:lol: Just kidding! :lol: Is there such a thing as a perfect cow? Both in beauty and reproduction?

 

[Nesikep]

I like to be able to enjoy the look of my herd.. but they gotta work too... I don't need perfection, and can live with a few defects, but don't like anything glaringly bad.
I have a few cows that make good steers, but their heifer calves are just never anything worth keeping, I have others that can't raise any sort of calf impressively, but are completely troublefree.. I have one cow that's a mean witch at calving time with a dragging udder.. usually need to run her down the chute and milk her and get the calf latched on, and she's good from there.. I'd love to get rid of her but she's made some really dandy daughters.. she's 11 now and she'll probably stick around a couple more years. I have a bunch of cows that don't have big udders and raise big calves.. I get rid of the ones with big udders that don't do the job.

I know some people took immediate advantage of the high prices to sell anything not quite up to snuff... I worked it a bit differently.. I had extra food, so I kept all my cows I'd have normally culled and took a gamble on them having another calf or two.. I got through 1 year with them, and this year they'll have another calf, then be shipped because I'm up to my holding capacity now. I think it worked out great for me.. I get 8 extra calves from those 4 cows when the prices are really good, and even the butcher price has been going up.. win-win... probably to the tune of $15,000.. It was worth putting up with 4 imperfect cows for that!

 

[Nesikep]

I only keep and have perfect cows! The rest are turned into burger! :cowboy:




:lol: Just kidding! :lol: Is there such a thing as a perfect cow? Both in beauty and reproduction?

Mega is a perfect cow! :hide:
At least for me she is

 

[ANAZAZI]

Generally speaking; few cows are too good to cull, few are too bad to keep.

Even obvious culls are often possible to keep, to grow ones numbers, to "get one more calf out of her".
I tend to cull quite a few cows with no glaring faults at all, simply because there are better cattle to take their place. If a little hard doing cow is gone this year she is no trouble next year. A cow that is nervous this month will likely show the same behaviour next month. This way the herd gets easy to handle in the short time span so my patience can handle waiting for the more ideal cattle of the future.
I try to make sure that there are always lots of young cattle on the way for replacement so I can cull on my own terms. I do not like the situation of having to keep cows around that are not good enough to keep heifers from.

So it happens more than once that our culls would have worked for someone else for more years. Some of them could have stayed here, bred to terminal bulls, and could have made money.

 

[Nesikep]

I have quite a number of 'terminal' cows... I could get rid of about 8 cows right now and probably not miss them... I'll do it a bit at a time in case the good looking ones screw up on the important parts of being a cow... I figure I'll get rid of 5 this fall, and maybe 3 the year after. I have a 10 and an 11 year old that are in fine flesh, and raise acceptable calves, just nothing that ever looks promising.. Perhaps to someone else they will look good, and perhaps someone else has different requirements for them and they'll do OK. The ones I know have prolapse problems I will probably just feed hay to over the summer and not breed them

 

[cowgirl8]

I think it only matters if they are my cows..

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

We are retaining two heifers born last January in a bad Ice storm which resulted in the loss of half their ears. They have rounded ears like teddy bears, very odd. They appear healthy in every other way so time will tell I suppose.

I just didn't want to get clobbered at the barn so hopefully this gamble pays off.

 

[jltrent]

Everyone of mine are culls and I keep em. The ones that looks the worse usually have a calf by fall bout as big as they are.

 

[highgrit]

We have a heifer with a deformed front hoof. She gets along good just looks bad walking. Trying to sell to someone to raise for freezer beef. I'm sure I'll take a beating at the barn on her.
If a cow prolapse on us she's down the road. Sounds like you guys have some good commercial cows to me. I cull when I'm over stocked or the price is right. I screwed up 2 years ago should of never sold a single cow.

 

[M5farm]

I got some ugly cows and a few pretty cows and the rest fall in the middle. I have learned you can correct a lot of that with a good pb bull. I really don't care as long as I can keep them healthy and producing. The culls this year were because they were getting harder to maintain and not breeding back on time.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I only keep and have perfect cows! The rest are turned into burger! :cowboy:




:lol: Just kidding! :lol: Is there such a thing as a perfect cow? Both in beauty and reproduction?

Mega is a perfect cow! :hide:
At least for me she is

So is my Rosey cow! And don't anyone tell me otherwise! I don't want to hear it. :lol:

 

[J&D Cattle]

Got one cow with a crooked toe, one with a dragging bag, and another with 3 teats. All three raise good calves and breed back which obviously helps my bottom line. Since I have the grass I keep them as replacements are high.

However, if I'm trying to improve my herd I have always thought I should cull any cow that I wouldn't keep a heifer out of. Any thoughts on this?