Pickin out a heiffer

[luvmymoo]

I am getting my first hieffer to breed for show calves. Any tips on what to look for when I pick her out? I know what to look for when picking out a show steer but I've never picked anything out for breeding let alone breeding for shows.
Thanks

 

[certherfbeef]

In my opinion the traits you want to look for differ between breeds.
What breed are you looking for? Or are you wanting a composite for club calves?

 

[luvmymoo]

they are crossbred- to be honest not really sure what they are cross between other than angus- they are black thats all I know. Not registered- heres the situation- my uncle told me if I continued to work for him he would give me choice of a heiffer calf out of his cows for free. none of them are registered they all have some black angus in them but are crossed with whatever his breeder uses for AI- we never really know its just whatever he has on hand when they are ready to breed. so i guess im just looking for general advice on picking out a breeder for club calves

 

[Texas26steerjock]

depends on wether you want to raise show steers or show heifers. defferent types equal different results.

 

[luvmymoo]

i will be raising her to breed for show steers. she wont be registered so I cant raise her for heifers. I plan on using her heifer calves to keep increasing my livestock numbers

 

[Texas26steerjock]

well look for the steery lookin heifers that are sound, round, and low to the ground!

 

[Muratic]

You really need to know about the breeding of the cow. Hard to start with a composite of who knows what.

Doesn't sound like your uncle has a very good handle on his herd if he lets the ai guy pick his mateings.
Crossbred cows are a dime a dozen. Pick one that is sound and easy on your eye.
But it sounds to me like you are gonna need more help. Find a mentor. They can be pricless and full of information.
Find someone that is willing to help you, someone that is in the show calf business already.

What is your general location in PA?

 

[AAOK]

well look for the steery lookin heifers that are sound, round, and low to the ground!

Even breeding for Show Steers, you need to look for a heifer with femininity. I wouldn't dare start with mixed up genetics unless I could also see the Dam and hopefully even the Grand Dam. Then, you would at least know something about the Cow Family. Look for possible foot, leg, shoulder, or hip problems. Beware of too much muscle in the rear quarter. Look at udder and teat quality. Search out a cow line with narrow heads, long, clean necks, strong top lines, deep ribbed, long bodies, and free moving.

Yes you can breed for heifers with an unregistered cow! Many breeds will allow you to register "percentage calves" from a commercial cow. For instance, a commercial cow produces a heifer sired by a registered Purebred bull: the heifer will be eligible to register as 50%. That calf, bred to a purebred would produce a 75% calf.

You need to do a lot of research before you make this selection. The quality of your cows is much more important than the quality of the bulls you will use. Think strongly about a registered heifer, and study your breeds.

 

[Grand Chaser]

To get a Heifer that will hopefully throw good show steers you need one that is thick and deep, clean through the front, muscular but still femine, and she HAS to be sound. thats just the round house of picking one.

 

[luvmymoo]

Doesn't sound like your uncle has a very good handle on his herd if he lets the ai guy pick his mateings.

Unfortunately you are right about this. his main money maker on the farm is the chicken house and tobacco and he does custom farming. The cows are just kind of an extra thing for something else to send to market and get some more money. Stopped by his farm yesterday to check em out. I picked out three that I liked but can't really get a great look at them without having them in the corall away from the bull calves and the cows that I dont need to see- just them and their dams. Guess what I need to do is take a picture of each and post them for some advice. unfortunately around here there arent too many beef cattle gurus, mostly just crop farmers that breed what they get and send em off to market. keep your eyes open for me to post the pictures in the next day or so.
Thanks for all your advice so far.
--ps: I forget who asked but im from western lancaster county, PA

 

[L Weir]

Doesn't sound like your uncle has a very good handle on his herd if he lets the ai guy pick his mateings.

Unfortunately you are right about this. his main money maker on the farm is the chicken house and tobacco and he does custom farming. The cows are just kind of an extra thing for something else to send to market and get some more money. Stopped by his farm yesterday to check em out. I picked out three that I liked but can't really get a great look at them without having them in the corall away from the bull calves and the cows that I dont need to see- just them and their dams. Guess what I need to do is take a picture of each and post them for some advice. unfortunately around here there arent too many beef cattle gurus, mostly just crop farmers that breed what they get and send em off to market. keep your eyes open for me to post the pictures in the next day or so.
Thanks for all your advice so far.
--ps: I forget who asked but im from western lancaster
county, PA[/quote


If you aren't sure what to look for you can go up to the Keystone this coming weekend up at the Farm Show building. There will be heifers for sale that you can look at. There will be several breed sales on Saturday. Whether you go to buy or not there will be cattle from out of state. They also have a prospect steer and heifer sale. The heifers are of different breeds. Some are crossbred.

There are also some cattle breeders, mostly Angus, in Lancaster that would be willing to help you.

 

[luvmymoo]

ok- I found out some more info on the calf: her mom is about 75% black angus. my uncle did not use AI with this herd it was the next one so her dad is a purbred black angus, I still need to get ahold of the guy we borrowed him from to find out if he was registered so I know if I can register her 50%. so as far as the questions about her breed- Im calling her black angus. ----Like I said in my last post Im new to getting anything for breeding. so someone please correct me if im wrong in any of my assumptions here. I was able to go back into the meadow this evening and get pictures of her, her mom, and her grandma....please let me know what you all think. I have not made a final decision yet but I feel (with the few things I have learned on here) that this is the nicest heifer calf in the herd-It was getting pretty dark so you will have to bear with me on the pictures until I have a chance to get some in the light. just thought this might help me out some if yas could see some pics

This is her
[/img]

This is her grandmama

and this is her mama[/img]

 

[AAOK]

so her dad is a purbred black angus, I still need to get ahold of the guy we borrowed him from to find out if he was registered so I know if I can register her 50%. so as far as the questions about her breed- Im calling her black angus.

You can't register an Angus 50%. You will have to call the Dam commercial, and go back to the Sire for possible registration.

 

[Texas26steerjock]

yep those are def some jet black cattle. all i can see is the eyes! haha

 

[luvmymoo]

You can't register an Angus 50%. You will have to call the Dam commercial, and go back to the Sire for possible registration.

someone please explain this to me- I am so confused!! can I register my heifer at all since the sire is registered ( I think) even though the dam is not??? Will I be able to register her calves if she is not and I use a registered bull??

 

[6M Ranch]

My opinion, buy an older cow than has a proven track record. That way you know she can make good club calves. Too many people pay thousands for bloodlines. Paying good money for a heifer that hasn't produced a single calf, just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[luvmymoo]

I will agree with you on this- the same goes for some of these show steers that kids take to state shows and dont stand a snowball's chance in you know where and they only go for market price after spending $2000 on a 400 lb steer. However, Im not paying for her. She is being given to me, I just need to pick her out. As far as choosing a cow instead so I know what kind of calves she has- all of the bull calves i have chosen from our herd for show steers have placed last in their class at the fairs so that wont do me any good. Im hoping since this year the heifers have been sired by a nicer bull maybe it carried over into the calves and if I use a nicer bull to breed with her it will carry over into HER calves...just trying to improve the herd a little. And if nothing else and I get some crappy calves out of it, well theres always sending them to market- I just love working with the cattle so this is my start to my own farm i guess

 

[6M Ranch]

Not sure I understood all of your response. My suggestion is to buy a cow that has produced show winners. Typically, as these animals approach 8 - 10 years of age, they are sold, often at a reasonable price. They've normally been treated very well, and have several productive years left. It's a long, expensive road to travel, building a herd from scratch.

 

[joe]

can somone go over this % registered thing for me? If I have an unregistered angus cow, and breed it to a registered shorthorn bull then it can be registered as a 50% shorthorn, since AAA doesn't accept registered %? I have a calf from a registered angus cow, but unsure which bull, but it too was purebred angus. Just wondering how to breed the calf to make some $