Play catch up or just sell and replace?

[Dusty Britches]

I'm moving my breeding season to May - June so calve in late February through March. I have several heavies that are due to calve late March early April and I'm concerned they might miss the breeding season. Is there anything I can do to help them get bred this year or should I sell them as heavies and replace with opens? I guess I could keep them and if they come up open sell them with their calves? Part of my wanting to keep them is they are heavy bred and a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. So, 3 options:

1. Keep and help them get bred.
2. Sell as heavies now and replace with opens that will be ready to breed in May.
3. Keep and see if they get bred, if not sell in the fall.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I'm working on the same situation at home.
I'm gonna feed em a bit. And hope they breed up early. They need to be in tip top shape and cycle early and a good bull is a must!!

I've heard talk of cidrs and such. Not gonna go that route

 

[Lucky]

I was in the same situation years ago. If I had to do it again I'd sell and buy back opens or open pairs. It's really really hard to move a cow up 2 months. Allot of folks will say this isn't true but I'd bet those folks calve year round and don't keep as good records as they think. The other option is to give them a chance. If they aren't bred back when you preg check at weaning time sell them as opens and buy breds that suit you.

The thing to remember is heavy breds are as high as they gonna get right now and opens are at near the lowest they'll be in November.

 

[callmefence]

It's a good time to sell , just sayin.

 

[BFE]

I'd keep if you know they're bred. Moving up isn't too hard.

Buying is a crapshoot. I end up culling 1/3 to 1/2 within three years.

 

[BFE]

That is if you're happy with them otherwise.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

I'm working on the same situation at home.
I'm gonna feed em a bit. And hope they breed up early. They need to be in tip top shape and cycle early and a good bull is a must!!

I've heard talk of cidrs and such. Not gonna go that route

Good luck with those 1st cycle calves. That is what changed things around for me.

 

[Brute 23]

I don't think there is a wrong answer.

What would come to mind is are these cows you like and want to keep? If they are, give them a shot, imo.

If you want to upgrade or go in a different direction, let them role. As already said, prices are high.

No way I'm getting rid of proven cows for open AB cows just for a move in calving season.

Another thing is I'm bullish on the cattle market through the fall. I don't see any thing in the next 6-8 months dropping prices significantly. Famous last word though and I'm far from an economist.

 

[StrojanHerefords]

If you have a good market for pairs, I would sell the late calvers and buy back feeder cows from a good source. Even if they don't breed up, they will make you money as fat cows.

 

[GoWyo]

We calve March 1 to April 15 or so. I commonly catch April calvers to A.I. in the first 10 days of June. Even two and three year olds. But, we also hit green grass around May 1 and they are on a rapid increase in body condition starting May 1 and that helps tremendously.

 

[RDFF]

I've heard talk of cidrs and such. Not gonna go that route

Cidrs will only help to move them up by resetting their heat cycle a small amount... it won't actually help with "low fertility" really. They'll still have to be in just as good if not better condition (better, because you're messing with their normal hormonal balance... I figure ANYTIME we mess with the natural, we're gonna be in a worse position overall...). If they're fully fertile and in good condition, using "estrus timing aids" will still probably result in a slightly lower overall "conception rate" than it would if they just got bred on their normal cycle by a fertile bull. They cycle every 21 days... so you'll probably only be able to move that up by perhaps 10 days or so really...

I'd opt for keeping them if I like 'em, and work hard toward getting them in great condition. If you know they're "low fertility animals" anyway, maybe consider trading them out. If you don't like 'em, trade 'em regardless. Probably calve them and sell as breds next fall... but that's up to you and how much pasture you might have. $$$ are good right now... probably will be this fall yet though too.

 

[bird dog]

You need t give it more time. I would allow three years to try to get them all (or most) into your calving period. Some will move up, some will not no matter what you do. Bringing in new open cows may make things worse.

Do to a consolidation of different tracts, I was forced to put three herds that had different calving periods together in one group. I chose to have a wide calving period rather than sell off some proven cows. I tried to get some to move up, and let others move back. After a few years most have stuck to their original schedule. Its more work but since I rotate, its not that big a deal. When they rotate to the field with the pens, some calves get weaned. I am doing nine tomorrow. They will fence line wean for 4 or 5 days.
After weaning the calves then go into the backgrounding part of my business. Dropping these rookies into an group of experienced weaned calves seems to get them settled and eating good right away.

 

[Travlr]

I'm moving my breeding season to May - June so calve in late February through March. I have several heavies that are due to calve late March early April and I'm concerned they might miss the breeding season. Is there anything I can do to help them get bred this year or should I sell them as heavies and replace with opens? I guess I could keep them and if they come up open sell them with their calves? Part of my wanting to keep them is they are heavy bred and a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. So, 3 options:

1. Keep and help them get bred.
2. Sell as heavies now and replace with opens that will be ready to breed in May.
3. Keep and see if they get bred, if not sell in the fall.

#3, 3. Keep and see if they get bred, if not sell in the fall, is what I've done. If you have cows you like and they breed, keep them.

 

[wbvs58]

When you say heavies, are they heavy in weight or heavy in calf? Have they fallen behind with calving as that might be why they are heavy in weight, they look after themselves rather than go back in calf straight away?
If they have history of being good breeders I would keep them rather than replace them for the biosecurity reason. I have no problem moving them up a month each year sometimes more by just letting the bull do his job of sniffing around them and romancing them.

Ken

 

[Dusty Britches]

They are heavy bred - due to calve in late March/ April. They are on their second calves and they are behind purely because I dropped the ball on planning this move. I like the idea of perhaps AI in early June to catch them up. They should be close to recovery by then. Thank you all for the replies.

 

[Travlr]

They are heavy bred - due to calve in late March/ April. They are on their second calves and they are behind purely because I dropped the ball on planning this move. I like the idea of perhaps AI in early June to catch them up. They should be close to recovery by then. Thank you all for the replies.

If you get them synchronized you can breed them all on the same day and you'll have a very short calving season.

 

[Stickney94]

How many cycles are you trying to move them (2-3 - or 42-63 days)? Moving them more than one cycle per year is overly ambitious -- but moving them back one cycle each year has worked for me (using CIDRs).

But as others have said -- really good market at the moment.

 

[WFfarm]

It's not hard to move a cow's calving up a month per season if they are in good condition. Your decision will depend on the cows you have. Are they mediocre mix bunch that you have no idea of what's in them, or are they a herd you've been working on breeding up and investing in quality bulls? Do you dump the devil you know for a roll of the dice for what you might be able to replace them with?

 

[simme]

My opinion. If I wanted the best chance to move them up, I would use a bull instead of AI and drugs. I believe good nutrition (but not fat) and a good bull will give better results in terms of cows settling as early as possible. Maybe the calves will not be as good as AI sired, but the bull puts more sperm in the cow with better timing. Some few cows may settle 30 days after calving, but expectations should be that you get majority settled 60 days after calving under good conditions.

 

[wbvs58]

My opinion. If I wanted the best chance to move them up, I would use a bull instead of AI and drugs. I believe good nutrition (but not fat) and a good bull will give better results in terms of cows settling as early as possible. Maybe the calves will not be as good as AI sired, but the bull puts more sperm in the cow with better timing. Some few cows may settle 30 days after calving, but expectations should be that you get majority settled 60 days after calving under good conditions.

Yes I have had best results with a bull. For a good success rate with AI they need to be 60 days post calving and any you miss with AI it is another 21 days for the bull.

Ken