Opinions on culling

[jrn28]

I had the opportunity to purchase a few cows from a local farm. I am to the point where I am at capacity and need to cull 2 of my existing cows. I wanted to know if y'all would replace hard doing cows that raise above average calves or easy fleshing cows that raise average calves, but won't cross out aswell with my new bull?

The hard doers are angus plus cows and the easy fleshing cows are 3/4 and 1/2 blood brafords. I have a hereford bull now. Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[bigbull338]

any hard doing cow needs tobe culled.because you have to spend money on feed to put her weight back on.

 

[jrn28]

Thanks bigbull, that's what I was thinking. Only reason I asked is cause the neighbor said he would rather keep the hard doers that he knows will cross better.

 

[dun]

Odds are that the hard doing one will turn up open before the easier doing one does

 

[AllForage]

Nothin wrong with average, everybody's got one

 

[Aaron]

Average cows pay the bills, year in, year out.

 

[Bez__]

Nothin wrong with average, everybody's got one

I have an entire herd of average cows

I would happily take another ten

Bez__

 

[jerry27150]

what are you calling hard doing, most angus will lose weight with calf sucking on them. do they gain weight right back after calf is weaned. Hereford crosses will always hold their weight better. what are the ages of the cows, if they raise big calves & breed each year I would cull by old, open, ornery & lower weight calves. beef still sells by weight & bigger calves make for bigger checks

 

[jrn28]

This is the best she has ever looked, she is on her second calf In this pic. Her sister is identical to her. Thier two heifer calves I have sold weighed over 600 in 7 months. Their calving interval is 10month 23 days . They are on their third calve now and the are growing fast.

 

[Kingfisher]

And what's wrong with that cow?

 

[wbvs58]

I sort of like the ones that are putting their heart and soul into the calf as long as they are getting good results.
Ken

 

[John SD]

I would cull based on physical and mental defects, then age and physical condition. In that order.

On a "hard doing" cow, I'd keep her if she is indeed putting everything she's got into the calf and it shows. But at some point she is going to burn out early compared to "average" cows while doing that, and needs to go to town. She likely won't last as long in the herd as the "average" cow.

I agree average cows are good. Just make sure you make progress and your "average" cows get just a wee bit better every year. :2cents:

 

[John SD]

And what's wrong with that cow?

It's obvious. She doesn't have a white face

 

[Black and Good]

what are you calling hard doing, most angus will lose weight with calf sucking on them. do they gain weight right back after calf is weaned. Hereford crosses will always hold their weight better. what are the ages of the cows, if they raise big calves & breed each year I would cull by old, open, ornery & lower weight calves. beef still sells by weight & bigger calves make for bigger checks

:nod: I have to agree. B&G

Bout the pic? What's wrong with her she's the keeping kind. B&G

 

[Taurus]

I agree with others, I don't see anything wrong with that black cow. What it mattes to me is that they must raise a calf every year and get bred on time. Their calves must be over 400lbs at weaning time to avoid the cull process as I don't want have a cow that gives me a small calf every year. It is true that big calves bring big paycheck than the average calves.

 

[jrn28]

Took this pic today, this is what she usually looks like.

Right now I have them on free choice hay, and have them in the field which is very short bermuda and winter grass. The rest of the cows look pretty good.

 

[djinwa]

No expert here, but just want to raise some issues to chew on.

Decades ago I took an ag econ class that ruined me, as everything was discussed as output PER UNIT OF INPUT. So when someone tells me how big a calf their cow raised I'm not impressed, as I don't know how much feed she consumed.

Kind of like people who tell me how much they won at the casino, but won't tell me how much they had to lose to get there. Or someone telling me how far they went on a tank of gas, but won't tell me how big the tank is.

Anyway, I see the expression, "easy fleshing", and wonder what that means. If a cow is "easy fleshing" by eating twice as much as the "hard doer", doesn't sound like easy fleshing to me. Seems a better term would be "big eater", like a lot of "easy fleshing" people I know.

Anyway, if one selects cows just because they are in good flesh, its possible one is selecting for big appetites, which is not efficiency. Efficiency is units of production PER UNIT OF INPUT.

I have two heifers, so watch them closely. Most tell me how good looking my "easy fleshing" one is, but unfortunately I know that she eats a lot more than the other one. Most people throw feed to a herd and don't know how much each cow is eating.

Cows with more muscle eat more than others, as muscle tissue is more metabolically active, so demands more calories to maintain. They may look more easy fleshing, but have to eat more.

Now I realize a cow needs to pass some muscling genetics to her calf so she would also have some muscle, but cows with less muscle are not all bad, as they will eat less.

And of course, a cow's fertility will decline if they aren't eating well enough, so they have to have sufficient appetite for that. But seems if a thinner cow can still get pregnant and raise a decent calf on less feed, that would be good.

As I've posted before, they are finally doing research on cow efficiency and finding significant differences between cows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6hSQMz8hyo

 

[wbvs58]

She is still only a young cow and still growing. She certainly doesn't have any trouble going into calf early. Give her a year or two and as she matures she will hold her condition as well as anything in your herd. I think she sounds like a very good cow and you should be keeping her and any heifers she produces would be on my short list as keepers.
Ken

 

[Lazy M]

Took this pic today, this is what she usually looks like.

Right now I have them on free choice hay, and have them in the field which is very short bermuda and winter grass. The rest of the cows look pretty good.

Aye carumba! Last cow I saw like that was hard wired.

 

[randiliana]

This cow is a 4 year old, right? I would have expected her to be thinner as a 2-3 year old, and as a 4 year old starting to fill out. 2-3 year olds are almost always your thinner group of cows, they are still growing themselves, raising a calf, breeding back, and somewhere in there they lose their teeth.... Quite a lot going on with them. Often they need a little more TLC than more mature cows.

One question is why are you buying new cows if you are at capacity? Are they better cows than what you already have?

As far as culling goes, I would have a hard time culling a young cow, that is raising a 600 lb calf and is breeding back. If she is doing it all now, she should only get better as she ages. Fat cows with average calves are also hard to cull, they certainly are doing reasonably well under your management conditions. But, how old are they? Do they have any other reasons to be culled (feet, udder, temperament)?