old hereford

[sporder]

brought a hereford cow 9 months 3 weeks ago. it came with bull calf and told it was back in calf again. the cow is 15 years old and looks alot bigger than the others. could this be due to her age or what is the max time of pregnancy. any help welcome new to this

 

[dun]

Roughly 285 days plus or minus 14 days.

 

[Keren]

brought a hereford cow 9 months 3 weeks ago. it came with bull calf and told it was back in calf again. the cow is 15 years old and looks alot bigger than the others. could this be due to her age or what is the max time of pregnancy. any help welcome new to this

Awful old for a cow of any age to be having a calf. Most are useless except for hamburger after 10 years of age. It aint very common. I would have a vet preg check her. If she is 15 years old I bet she will be a real pain in the butt to breed.

Well, you'd better come and tell our 16 and 17 y.o girls that.

15 is old, yeah, but they are capable of breeding at that age.

 

[Bez+]

brought a hereford cow 9 months 3 weeks ago. it came with bull calf and told it was back in calf again. the cow is 15 years old and looks alot bigger than the others. could this be due to her age or what is the max time of pregnancy. any help welcome new to this

Awful old for a cow of any age to be having a calf. Most are useless except for hamburger after 10 years of age. It aint very common. I would have a vet preg check her. If she is 15 years old I bet she will be a real pain in the butt to breed.

Right now - at my house we have more than 8 cows that are all over the age of 15 - they are in fine shape and still doing the calf thing - they are bred back and will calve out again next year.

I anticipate no probs wintering them in our bush.

If the previous owners of this animal have bred for longevity and she is bred you will likely have no probs.

Provided of course she is indeed bred!

The oldest cow on our place died last year at the age of around 20 year. We got a calf every year from her and a couple sets of twins - never pulled one, never had to help her raise one and she never lost one - all were weaned at a good percentage of her body weight.

First calf was probably born at around 22 - 25 months of age - which is our target age for start of production.

There are lots of folks in my neck of the woods that believe a cow comes into her prime at the age of 6-7 years - holds it until 15 and then starts to go down hill - I am one who believes that the right genetics can keep them going for longer.

Agree they are only good for burger after they have finished their calving life - but I can bet you there are many here that have old cows that are still productive and still breed back.

So Sporder - If you are unsure, get her palpated - if you do not know how to do it yourself. It is simple, painless and all it will cost you is a simple trip from the vet - or lunch for your neighbour if s/he knows how - provided of course you have a method of restraining her. They do tend to resist the procedure.

Or wait and let God and Mother Nature tell you in their own good time. In the end it will / will not happen until they and the cow are good and ready.

Personally I like the old girls best - they know how to raise a calf and they know how to do it without help from others. If their health drops, or they become a problem - toss them. Otherwise keep those girls working for you. They know the routine and one big advantage - they keep the other girls on a calm and even keel.

Cheers

Bez+

 

[Bez+]

Keren

It is 0240 in the morning here - I figured to beat everyone to the punch on the response - forgot it is only afternoon where you are - seems we have similar thoughts

Bez+

 

[Workinonit Farm]

keep those girls working for you. They know the routine and one big advantage - they keep the other girls on a calm and even keel.

Cheers

Bez+

I agree 100%. I have had a few oldsters, the oldest left this past spring. The next oldest right now is 14 yo. One of the better ones I've got. She's a BWF.

What Bez+ said.

Katherine

 

[Jovid]

brought a hereford cow 9 months 3 weeks ago. it came with bull calf and told it was back in calf again. the cow is 15 years old and looks alot bigger than the others. could this be due to her age or what is the max time of pregnancy. any help welcome new to this

Awful old for a cow of any age to be having a calf. Most are useless except for hamburger after 10 years of age. It aint very common. I would have a vet preg check her. If she is 15 years old I bet she will be a real pain in the butt to breed.

I guess that depends on the breed....most Red Polls will calve at least to they are 14 or 15 many even longer

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I have one cow that is 25 years old, she has had 23 calves and raised 21 of them. Have been going to sell her for years but she just keeps raising good calves. She lost her second calf this year don"t no what happened i did find the calf but don"t no why it died. Sold three today that were 2fourteen and 1fifteen years years old i am sure i could have got another calf or two out of them but cull prices are pretty good now just thought it was a good time.

 

[Mat Man]

I have a 17 year old com. hereford that will weight over 1500 lbs. thats never miss raising a good calf.
The last couple of years I thought about save another heifer from her and our reg.angus bull but she has had bull calves.She is due in nov.might as will wait and see what it is this year.

 

[Bez+]

I have a 17 year old com. hereford that will weight over 1500 lbs. thats never miss raising a good calf.
The last couple of years I thought about save another heifer from her and our reg.angus bull but she has had bull calves.She is due in nov.might as will wait and see what it is this year.

Man yall have some old cows. I cull all the ones over 10 years old usually.

You are letting some of the best go.

Bez+

 

[TexasBred]

I have 2 thirteen years old....one just weaned her calf and is 5 months bred...other has a three month calf and bred last month. All still sound as can be. One is beginning to show her age but the other still looks and acts like a young cow, beautiful udder, raises a great calf and is still the dominant cow.

 

[dun]

I have 2 thirteen years old....one just weaned her calf and is 5 months bred...other has a three month calf and bred last month. All still sound as can be. One is beginning to show her age but the other still looks and acts like a young cow, beautiful udder, raises a great calf and is still the dominant cow.

We have one 12 and one 18. They both look like old cows but other then the 18 year old not getting as fat as she did when she was on 15 she's the same cow. The both also still breed back first service and raise dandy calves.

 

[Jovid]

Man yall have some old cows. I cull all the ones over 10 years old usually.[/quote]

You are letting some of the best go.

Bez+[/quote]

No cuz by then they dont breed back hardly at all. Although now the new bulls I have been using have high stayability epd's so hopefully I will get alot of longevity out of their offspring.[/quote]

Could be a breed thing.....don't have those problems with my cattle

 

[TexasBred]

Man yall have some old cows. I cull all the ones over 10 years old usually.

You are letting some of the best go.

Bez+[/quote]

No cuz by then they dont breed back hardly at all. Although now the new bulls I have been using have high stayability epd's so hopefully I will get alot of longevity out of their offspring.[/quote]

Could be a breed thing.....don't have those problems with my cattle[/quote]

No problem here either....they breed back first heat everytime. Very fertilie old ladies.

 

[cfpinz]

I have a 17 year old com. hereford that will weight over 1500 lbs. thats never miss raising a good calf.
The last couple of years I thought about save another heifer from her and our reg.angus bull but she has had bull calves.She is due in nov.might as will wait and see what it is this year.

Man yall have some old cows. I cull all the ones over 10 years old usually.

Those salers of yours must not be the holy grail as you'd like folks to believe.

 

[Keren]

Keren

It is 0240 in the morning here - I figured to beat everyone to the punch on the response - forgot it is only afternoon where you are - seems we have similar thoughts

Bez+

Hey Bez, I do like our old ladies. We havent had one get as old as yours -- we probably would have but last year we ended up sending off the 18 and 19 y.o girls to the yards. The drought had got us so down ... and there was just more future in the good 18 m.o heifers coming up through the herd. I never get upset when we sell cows/steers whatever, but I cried after I loaded the old faithfuls. Still, brought a smile to my face when they sold to a restocker and went up to Queensland. I couldnt believe it. The 5 - 6 y.o Hford cows next to them went for dog food.

 

[simskop]

I have a few cows that are 13 – 15. Sim cross, and they have bred every year, on time, and are calving right now. I have had some of them longer then I have had my kids. I can't let go of them till they do something like, not breed on time, lose a calf, raise a sub par calf, or have an udder go bad. I guess what I am saying is they should not get that old unless they are productive. I don't have any freeloaders on my place.

 

[mnmtranching]

I've kept a few good cows around to have their 12-13th calf. But! you got to look them over, don't keep one with a broken down utter, or has some trouble getting up late in her pregnancy, OR any other noticeable health problems. Don't take a chance on them, you could get 5-7 hundred or more for kill. So easy to save a replacement heifer.

 

[wstevenl]

I visited a Dexter herd last year and saw a 16 year old cow that had just calved and sure didn't look like she was ready to quit now. I believe that the owner had owned her her whole life, he's been breeding Dexters for over 35 years. He is keeping some of his oldest cows just to see how long they will breed back.

 

[dyates]

Longevity is just another argument for moderation. High input, high output operations that attempt maximum weaning weights will not keep old cows because they are burned out before they get old. Look at the dairy folks. How long do they keep cows in production?