WarEagle73
Well-known member
Hi,
I'm a long time lurker that finally bit the bullet and created an account. I'm not a true beginner, but I am no expert for sure so I figured this was the best place for this post. I wanted to get some opinions on our small commercial herd.
First, I guess I'll give a little background. My father and I run a few head of crossbred cows in the northeast corner of Alabama on Sand Mountain. Originally, it started out as something dad wanted to use to teach me how to work and responsibility, so my grandfather bought me a couple goats and a bottle heifer from a local dairy. From there it has grown a bit and I've now gone on to college at our state land-grant university and recieved a bachelors in animal science and now working on my masters. All that to say, I want to post some pictures and get some opinions on were we are. I realize that there are differences between book knowledge and real-world application, so I'm always asking producers and industry leaders everywhere I go about what really works.
What I am aiming for is a 1000-1200 lb cow that can wean over 50% of her body weight on grass and some hay in the winter. We have a few cows that fit that and are working on getting rid of the others, slowly.
Now on to the pics:
Cow Herd
This is our "foundation" female lol. She is the bottle heifer I raised as a kid and is 17 now. She is way too big in my opinion and just stays because she is a pet.
5 and her steer. Daughter of the first cow.
#6. Out of a $270 bred sale cow we bought in 2002.
#8 and her steer. 1100 lbs at her heaviest. 354 day average calving interval on 5 calves. She is what I consider to be our best cow. Heaviest and highest selling steers almost every year.
#10. Bought from the same producer as #8. Another moderate size cow. very similar to #8.
#28. Bigger framed Brangus type cow. 1250-1300 lbs. A bit big for what I want but she gets the job done on the same inputs as the small cows.
#63. Moderate framed cow that stays FAT year round on grass and raises a good calf. She is newer to the herd so I have fewer calves to look at, but the 2 we have had have been nice. She can be a bit on the wild side, though.
#67. Out of a South Poll cow and an EXT son. First calf heifer with a January born steer. She will be about 1050-1100 lbs when mature.
#68. Same breeding and age as 67. SP/EXT son. Her calf is a younger steer, but is a little poor so she will get one more year to prove she should stay.
Bred Heifers
#69. Same breeding as 67 and 68 just a year younger.
#70. Again, Same breeding as 67 and 68 just a year younger.
#71
#72
#73. 71,72,and 73 are all from the same herd. They are out of moderate framed Brangus cows and a thick built Polled Hereford bull from TRM.
Herd Bull
Our previous herd sire was a black "gelbvieh" bull. I use quotations because we bought him from a friend and I never saw the papers we were supposed to get. He is the sire of the calves in the first pictures and he did an ok job, but we want to start selling breeding age replacement heifers so we decided to by this bull.
He a registered Angus. His registeration number is AAA 16529579. He isn't a monster by any means, but I like the way he is built and the calves he has on the ground at the farm I bought him from.
So, that is most of our operation. I apologize for the length of the post and if you have made it this far thank you for taking the time to check it out. Please comment on my cattle and ideas. My photography skills are poor at best, but hopefully this is enough to talk about. I have thick skin so don't hold back. Now that I am a register user, I will try to chime in on conversations when I think I have relevent information. Thanks again for looking and War Eagle!
I'm a long time lurker that finally bit the bullet and created an account. I'm not a true beginner, but I am no expert for sure so I figured this was the best place for this post. I wanted to get some opinions on our small commercial herd.
First, I guess I'll give a little background. My father and I run a few head of crossbred cows in the northeast corner of Alabama on Sand Mountain. Originally, it started out as something dad wanted to use to teach me how to work and responsibility, so my grandfather bought me a couple goats and a bottle heifer from a local dairy. From there it has grown a bit and I've now gone on to college at our state land-grant university and recieved a bachelors in animal science and now working on my masters. All that to say, I want to post some pictures and get some opinions on were we are. I realize that there are differences between book knowledge and real-world application, so I'm always asking producers and industry leaders everywhere I go about what really works.
What I am aiming for is a 1000-1200 lb cow that can wean over 50% of her body weight on grass and some hay in the winter. We have a few cows that fit that and are working on getting rid of the others, slowly.
Now on to the pics:
Cow Herd
This is our "foundation" female lol. She is the bottle heifer I raised as a kid and is 17 now. She is way too big in my opinion and just stays because she is a pet.
5 and her steer. Daughter of the first cow.
#6. Out of a $270 bred sale cow we bought in 2002.
#8 and her steer. 1100 lbs at her heaviest. 354 day average calving interval on 5 calves. She is what I consider to be our best cow. Heaviest and highest selling steers almost every year.
#10. Bought from the same producer as #8. Another moderate size cow. very similar to #8.
#28. Bigger framed Brangus type cow. 1250-1300 lbs. A bit big for what I want but she gets the job done on the same inputs as the small cows.
#63. Moderate framed cow that stays FAT year round on grass and raises a good calf. She is newer to the herd so I have fewer calves to look at, but the 2 we have had have been nice. She can be a bit on the wild side, though.
#67. Out of a South Poll cow and an EXT son. First calf heifer with a January born steer. She will be about 1050-1100 lbs when mature.
#68. Same breeding and age as 67. SP/EXT son. Her calf is a younger steer, but is a little poor so she will get one more year to prove she should stay.
Bred Heifers
#69. Same breeding as 67 and 68 just a year younger.
#70. Again, Same breeding as 67 and 68 just a year younger.
#71
#72
#73. 71,72,and 73 are all from the same herd. They are out of moderate framed Brangus cows and a thick built Polled Hereford bull from TRM.
Herd Bull
Our previous herd sire was a black "gelbvieh" bull. I use quotations because we bought him from a friend and I never saw the papers we were supposed to get. He is the sire of the calves in the first pictures and he did an ok job, but we want to start selling breeding age replacement heifers so we decided to by this bull.
He a registered Angus. His registeration number is AAA 16529579. He isn't a monster by any means, but I like the way he is built and the calves he has on the ground at the farm I bought him from.
So, that is most of our operation. I apologize for the length of the post and if you have made it this far thank you for taking the time to check it out. Please comment on my cattle and ideas. My photography skills are poor at best, but hopefully this is enough to talk about. I have thick skin so don't hold back. Now that I am a register user, I will try to chime in on conversations when I think I have relevent information. Thanks again for looking and War Eagle!
