Pelvic size scoring?

[WAguy]

Was at the fair talking to people with Tarrentaise cows. They claimed they were easy calvers due to large pelvic size.

Got me wondering how many check pelvic size regularly. Seems all the attention is on bull birthweight EPDs - why not pelvic size also? Is it just too hard to measure?

I selected my wife based on large hips, and her births were real easy. (Well, they were hard for me)

 

[r and s peckman]

I plan on doing this with the next replacements. This is something new to me so I will have to do some reading up on it.

 

[grannysoo]

I selected my wife based on large hips, and her births were real easy.

Make sure that your wife reads this thread.......

 

[Green Creek]

We always have pelvic measurements taken on replacement heifers. Out of 25 replacements, 6 were culled because of small pelvis measurements. The remainder calved without a problem.

 

[dun]

We always have pelvic measurements taken on replacement heifers. Out of 25 replacements, 6 were culled because of small pelvis measurements. The remainder calved without a problem.

At what age do you measure and what is your smallest you'll accept.

 

[Green Creek]

Dun,

We measured at 14 months but I can't put my hands on the file right now. The vet said a couple of them were not sexually mature enough at that time. I will get the file rounded up and look at the figures.

 

[BAR_R]

We never thought of pelvic measurements until we bought some animals from Neb. These folks knew everything about their herd. They calf out over 200 and they don't put up with small pelvic animals. All I can say is I am a believer. I have 4 of their cows and all 4 had calves and had zero problems. Just my small experience.

 

[MikeC]

Limousins have the largest pelvic openings of any breed I have personally encountered.

We get them in the chute before heifer breeding season and glove them. You can tell with just your hand as to which have an unusually small pelvic size. If any are substancially smaller than the others, she takes a ride.

Lot of people measure the bulls pelvic size too. It's supposed to be highly heritable.

 

[CKC1586]

Our vets check at 15 months.

 

[WAguy]

So, what am I missing? Pelvic size is very heritable, but not commonly done? Why isn't there an EPD for it as there is with birth weight? Does pelvic size not have big effect on calving ease?

 

[dun]

So, what am I missing? Pelvic size is very heritable, but not commonly done? Why isn't there an EPD for it as there is with birth weight? Does pelvic size not have big effect on calving ease?

Most people dont measure pelvic size. The EPD for it is instead represented with calving ease and the calving ease of the offspring. Outof curiosity, what is the range of pelvic measurements that the breeder you go the heifers from considers desireable?

 

[KNERSIE]

Had an interesting conversation with an oldtimer the other day. He is a long time angus breeder and he says that he had always brought the heifers in just before the start of the breeding season and palpated them to feel for abnormalities.

At the same time he would push his hand through the pelvic opening and open his hand keeping it vertically and pull it back. He would repeat this with his open hand horisontally. He claims if his open hand can go through the pelvic opening without getting stuck both vertically and horisontally, her pelvic opening is of adequate size and he never had calving difficulties since he started using this method.

I know this is very unscientific, and people's hands vary greatly in size, but this might be a handy DIY selection tool or at least will give you some point of reference if you haven't used pelvic measurement before. I intend to try this before the next breeding season.

 

[MikeC]

Had an interesting conversation with an oldtimer the other day. He is a long time angus breeder and he says that he had always brought the heifers in just before the start of the breeding season and palpated them to feel for abnormalities.

At the same time he would push his hand through the pelvic opening and open his hand keeping it vertically and pull it back. He would repeat this with his open hand horisontally. He claims if his open hand can go through the pelvic opening without getting stuck both vertically and horisontally, her pelvic opening is of adequate size and he never had calving difficulties since he started using this method.

I know this is very unscientific, and people's hands vary greatly in size, but this might be a handy DIY selection tool or at least will give you some point of reference if you haven't used pelvic measurement before. I intend to try this before the next breeding season.

That's exactly the way we do it now.

I was once hung up on the BW deal but decided I was fighting a never ending cycle.

Went back through the records of some culls we eliminated this way and well over 90% were from extremely low BW bulls.

In my way of thinking, if we continue to breed to these low BW bulls and get smaller pelvic openings, the less chance we have of having a cow that can normally achieve parturition.

 

[ROB]

Dun-

i had three replacements measured this spring. two were 13 months old and measured 190 and 205, the third was 16 months old and measured 210. 190 would be the low end for my replacements (at yearling age).

ROB

 

[dun]

Dun-

i had three replacements measured this spring. two were 13 months old and measured 190 and 205, the third was 16 months old and measured 210. 190 would be the low end for my replacements (at yearling age).

ROB

Holy cow! We have a much lower range and still don;t have porblems. What kind of FS do those big pelvic cows end up?

 

[MikeC]

http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/pdfs/bch/02130.pdf

 

[ROB]

Dun-

i consider them to be moderate framed as they are very comparable to our angus cows when mature. they are a lot smaller than our neighbors cows which are also angus.

two of the heifers are pictured in the photo gallery.. but it has been a while since i tried to post a picture .. i'd probably have fits. anyways, the pictures were taken about a month after the heifers were pelvic measured.

when i got back into cow/calf operation - we calved out 120 first calf heifers. didn't enjoy the experience and dont want to revisit the past. most every heifer i save back is of a particular bloodline that works well, and are fortunate that they have a lot of capacity with almost no calving problems.

ROB

 

[dun]

most every heifer i save back is of a particular bloodline that works well, and are fortunate that they have a lot of capacity with almost no calving problems.

ROB

And that is the name of the game afterall