Well, if you're honest you'll be selling her as a slaughter heifer. You have two choices, imo. Sell her for what she brings as a slaughter heifer, or keep her, let her give you some calves, and sell her as a slaughter cow when she's older. She didn't cost you anything, so unless you're overstocked then she'll make you money.older cow with bad bag..but new heifer calf...what are the odds of her passing bad bag to new calf? i know to sell her asap..but she busted out of my dads pen and he gave her to me...i am biding time to get her sold.. thaks
thank youIn my experience, pretty good odds the calf will have some version of her dam's udder but not always. I have two full sisters whose dam, granddam and great granddam were all phenomenal calf raisers but they ended up being culled late in life for poor udders. One is being culled this year at the age of 7 as I am afraid that if her udder gets any worse I will have a bottle calf. The other has a nice udder that looks like it should hold well at the age of 6. I have had the same experience with another cow family.
This would be my vote. Sell the pair at weaning and buy back a bred heifer or 2, depending how they sell.I would consider selling the pair and re investing the funds.
real good u can count it ,and her offsprings too ship her and her calf the price of cows now u can buy a 3-5yr. old for about the same priceolder cow with bad bag..but new heifer calf...what are the odds of her passing bad bag to new calf? i know to sell her asap..but she busted out of my dads pen and he gave her to me...i am biding time to get her sold.. thaks
Yup. But I'll chime in with my 2 cents. Three-year-old cow had her 2nd calf this morning, a beautiful, big heifer. And the calf can't nurse her enormous bottle teats. Gave the calf a bottle of colostrum replacer, just to be sure, and got her latched on. Which lasted all of 30 seconds before mama kicked her off. Okay, give it some time. Went out this afternoon and the calf still hadn't nursed. Another bottle. And the calf still wanted more, so tried to get her latched on again. Fail - and I darn near got my teeth knocked out. They're at the lake and not remotely close to a corral/chute, so Plan B is to continue bottle feeding this calf until she either figures it out or I can get them in.15 month old thread
Good udders while they can be accidental seldom are. My point is if you want good to great udder structure on your cows you have to select for it. Buy your bulls from someone who cares about it as much or more than you do and it goes away in two generations. Poor udders are time killers.Yup. But I'll chime in with my 2 cents. Three-year-old cow had her 2nd calf this morning, a beautiful, big heifer. And the calf can't nurse her enormous bottle teats. Gave the calf a bottle of colostrum replacer, just to be sure, and got her latched on. Which lasted all of 30 seconds before mama kicked her off. Okay, give it some time. Went out this afternoon and the calf still hadn't nursed. Another bottle. And the calf still wanted more, so tried to get her latched on again. Fail - and I darn near got my teeth knocked out. They're at the lake and not remotely close to a corral/chute, so Plan B is to continue bottle feeding this calf until she either figures it out or I can get them in.
So, what's going on with this cow? She comes from a prolific lineage with outstanding udders, and I have 3 other cows & 2 granddaughters from the dam. Never a problem. But they all had different sires.
On the flip side, I had a Simm-Angus that was my fave cow but had a horrible udder. As in, I always had to get her calves latched on and she finally blew out a teat before she was retired. And yet, I kept the only heifer she gave me, who is now 10 years old and still has a great udder. Same with subsequent heifers I've retained from her.
It's a gamble, retaining heifers from dams with poor udders. But there's certainly no guarantee about retaining heifers from dams with good udders! I'm gonna blame the bull, just because.View attachment 43002
That heifer cost way more than she is worth.older cow with bad bag..but new heifer calf...what are the odds of her passing bad bag to new calf? i know to sell her asap..but she busted out of my dads pen and he gave her to me...i am biding time to get her sold.. thaks