Pic of old cow. What does she tell you?

[Txwalt]

She's 12 years old and is raising a healthy calf. It bothers me that she has the ribs and hip bones showing but she has plenty to eat. I can tell she has gained since I bought her in January. For some reason she looks worse on one side than the other. Frank advice will not hurt my feelings. It would be appreciated. On a side note I bought her and her calf for $500. Let me know what you think all around. Is this what ya'll mean by hard keeper?

Walt

 

[dun]

What kind of frame size is she? She may be a hardd(ish) keeper depending on how much she's putting into ther calf. She's a little light in the muscle department, almost dairyish. If she raises a good calf and breeds back without supplement, I sure wouldn;t throw her out of the pasture. For a cow that age she also has a pretty decent udder. But I tend to have a weak spot for older cows.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Says she is turning grass to milk, also not to hurt your feelings that pasture doesn't look like feed.

 

[FlaAngus]

in the bottom pic she looks better than a couple of mine that weaned their calves a month ago but it puzzles me about her right side being so much worse

she looks like she milks pretty good, keep her 4 a while and see what kind of calf she raises.

 

[Beefy]

she looks to be holding her own ok. she may be starting to lose a few teeth at that age. looks like she is raising a good calf and her udder is pretty dang good for an old cow. i guess she might be a beefmaster cross? maybe beefmaster x charolais. but who knows. she may be getting to be shortmouthed which could cause her to be a hard keeper in the future. if she breeds back though, thats what matters.

 

[Txwalt]

I should have mentioned. Pics were taken 2 months ago all on the same day. Pasture was not taken care of and overgrazed before I bought it. There is some bottom land to it though that is in better shape and the cows tend to hang out down there. I have a lot of work to do to get the property in good shape. I did just about everything back asswards and I'm playing catch up to get everything in order. I'll be able to rotate these cows off while I'm working on getting the weeds killed and grass growing. Just need to get some fence built on another place.

On a different note, the neighbor I bought her from raises mostly red brangus and told me she was 1/4 simmental. So I'm guessing shes atleast close to 3/4 red brangus.

Ya'll won't hurt my feelings. I'm like Al Gore at a biker rally. But I'm trying. I'm ya'lls humble protege. Thanks for the posts and keep'em coming.

Walt

 

[Bez>]

I think she is fine - if she breeds back - keep her.

Old cows know how to raise a calf.

Bez>

 

[Limomike]

I agree with BEz and Dun on this one. Shes a keeper in my books.. She has a wonderful udder for her age, and she could possibly give you 2-3 more calves.. never know.

 

[Rustler9]

She looks like she might be a money maker.

 

[holly heifer]

I would keep her, i have several that look similiar to her,
they are putting it all to the calves and are good moms---
I just wean them earlier. :lol:

 

[Dusty Britches]

I'll tell you what, Walt, you can keep her on my pasture. In exhange, we get all of her calves. :lol:

Most of ours look like that with that size of calf on them. After weaning, the cows gain back to bcs 6 before calving.

 

[redangus]

She's the best kind of cow. She's the kind that make money. You could sell her this fall, get $550 + for the calf and get $450 for the cow. I wish I could buy 100 like her and double my money on every one of them.

 

[shorty]

Make sure she has enough to eat she'll be fine

 

[ALACOWMAN]

i was expecting to see alot worse. ive got some simmx cows that will look like that while nurs'in a calf . thats just working clothes

 

[Workinonit Farm]

She doesn't look all that bed to me either. I have one that looks like crapola most of the time (looks worse than the one in the pic), raises a dandy calf every year and breeds back right on schedule.

As someone else mentioned, that's 'working clothes'.

Katherine

 

[backhoeboogie]

Everyone is right. For $500, you did good. Her udder is in good shape. Get her in a head gate occasionally and keep an eye on her teeth. She could produce a few more calves if her teeth are okay.

You can likely run her through the sale barn and recoup your original investment if you don't keep her too long.

 

[sewall]

I think you made a hell of a deal. You can pay for the cow with one calf and then the rest is profit.

 

[Sir Loin]

Walt,
Dittos on everything everyone else said except the poor grass part.
It looks to me that she has plenty to eat.
If the pics were taken 2 months ago (April) that's not that far past winter feeding so you just may be expecting a little to much too soon from her as we don't know what her winter feeding was like.
And she doesn't look bad for a mamma feeding a baby that big.
IMO she's doing just fine.

Look, you took a risk when you bought her, and if I were you I'd rollum again and keep her for at least 4 or 5 more years unless she develops a problem we don't know about.

In pic 2 I noticed some raw skin on her navel area you might what to check now to see if it has healed itself or needs a little Blu-Kote.

SL

 

[mnmtranching]

Yup, you got your 500 worth and lots more. I think she is short term however, probably short of teeth. If she breeds back on time let her have another calf. But then before she gets to be a thin shell get your 500 back out of her. 8) And good luck!

 

[Txwalt]

Thanks for all the replys! She has a bull calf on her now but if I got a heifer calf from her would ya'll think about keeping her, or is it sale barn time?

Walt