She's done it again!

[Nesikep]

Well, Finally, after months of waiting, my big ole cow had her calf, and, like most times, without me watching. I had seen her at 2 PM, I could tell she was close and it was probably going to be that day, I went and had a nap, and I looked out of my window at 4:30 to see her laying down with her calf in the shade all nice and content, he had already sucked too, and, as is also usual for her, it is a 135 lb'er, and this time THERE WAS NO COLD WEATHER. I was a little worried for the little guy since it's currently about 100F in the shade, but it seems that he's got enough liquids... he drinks not because he's hungry but because he's thirsty, which is sure making him grow. He's now 6 days old and I'm fairly sure he's gained close to 30 lbs.

Here's some pics from yesterday






big boy eh?

 

[sim.-ang.king]

That's diffidently a keep cow birthing a 135lbs calf with no help!
and a good grown calf to boot!

What's his breeding?

 

[Nesikep]

His mother's sire is shorthorn, and her mother was a herf with some simm maybe?, his father is our Gelbvieh. His fullblood brother of last year is currently 1300 lbs and a really tasty looking steer.

The cow has often had retained placenta, this time was about the fastest she's ever gotten rid of it at 3 days, though she's never gotten sick from infections or anything.

This calf's fullblood sister had her first calf this year, and though he's not keeping up with the growth of the older cows calves, he's doing pretty well at about 425 lbs currently (born Mar 28)

Before this cow calved, I could have said she looked like a barrel, but not in the way you'd imagine... the barrel was sideways in her belly

 

[SSGenetics]

Pet cows.... :clap:

 

[bigbull338]

dang she just keeps having big calves.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

He looks like a stout little fella!

Katherine

 

[KNERSIE]

That is a thick calf, if he is structurally sound he may very well be the candidate for the showring you were looking for last year.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Congrats, Nesi!

 

[Nesikep]

I'm not the one to congratulate lol

He is growing at a stunning rate... he's now 13 days old and by the weigh tape he's 205 lbs, and looks like it too.. he started nibbling on hay at 3 days old. I think one of the reasons he's growing so fast is that since it was scorching hot, he had to suck because he was thirsty, not because he was hungry, and since I'm estimating Tizia's milk production at about 5 gal/day, he has got to grow. I was talking to my vet about his birthweight and explaining that this cow made ordinary sized calves until she missed a year, and that since then they've all been monsters, he says there's a DNA test that can be done on a hair sample for about $80. He's really well hung for such a young guy, and one of my friends (who specializes in bastardized breeds.. Longhorn jersey Holstein and angus crosses) has expressed interest in him as a bull. I didn't get a chance to take any more recent pics of him, but maybe next week I'll do it, I'll be turning them both out to pasture so his mum gets bred.

 

[Nesikep]

Well, I have him sold as a bull, I have a deposit on him, and I'm not sure if he knows how lucky he is to get to keep his nuts... at the rate he's going, I figure he'll be about 275 lbs at 31 days old, he's currently 240 with 10 days to go. He's with mum on pasture now chewing cud and eating grass as well

 

[Nesikep]

Here's a couple pics I took of him today,... His chest girth is now 42 1/2 inches, which puts him at around 260 lbs though I haven't worked the formula out for him today... whatever his real weight is, it's pretty impressive for 27 days old...

He's got his dad's butt and his mothers hips



Decent length and chest, and most importantly, the danglers


I'll have to try and get a good picture of him against a uniform coloured background at some point

 

[Nesikep]

Well, he's 3 1/2 months old now about 450 lbs.. unlike his father, he's got a really nice winter coat, he looks like a teddy bear. I noticed he lays down right by his father nearly as often as with his mother.. which is something I've never seen before, the two of them really seem to get along. Meanwhile, his brother from last year is about to get shipped, he's been paid for in full and he's touching 1500 lbs at 20 months

here's some pics of Hector
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v153/ ... G_8462.jpg

him and daddy in the back
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v153/ ... G_8458.jpg

I just put a bell on him to get him used to something around his neck, it wasn't too easy to slip it over his head, but once it was on he didn't seem to mind it at all

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

He's handsome, Nesi!!

 

[Nesikep]

If he's as nicely tempered as his steer brother, he'll be golden, I had to load 2 big cows into a 2 horse trailer today, one of which was very uncooperative, and without the steer being so nice as to show them the way, I think I'd still be trying to get them in. Once they go into the trailer my challenges weren't over though, I needed a giant shoehorn to make them fit as they were about 5 inches too long for the trailer... but I finally got it done and they're sold.. good riddance to them!

 

[Nesikep]

just shy of a year old, at his new home

 

[inyati13]

just shy of a year old, at his new home

He did well Nes. Where is his new home? Is she due to calf again this fall?

 

[Nesikep]

his new home is about 3 hours away (Falkland BC)... No, his mother is the one that had a stroke this spring, and that's the reason he got weaned a month early... I really wanted to get another heifer from her too... I only got one from her and she's turning out to be a heck of a cow... her first calf was a steer that she weaned at 670 lbs, and this year she's got a really impressive heifer who's on my "keep" list... my only thing that strikes me as something that could be improved is she has a pretty big tailhead... but I've never seen a cow have a problem due to that. All her daughters seem to take after her in the way that they all have big bellies and look pregnant after calving, but I read that big bellies are good for digesting grass.

Nearly the most important thing to me is that they're easy to handle, they halterbreak easily and often I can just use a piece of bale twine around their head as a halter to lead them. The mother often had retained placenta, and I could give her uterine boluses just by putting a flake of hay down on the ground... doesn't get much easier than that.

 

[Cabo]

Congrats Nesi, you are a "hands on" cattleman. I always like your pics including the beautiful scenery.

 

[Nesikep]

Besides being a choice, being "Hands on" here is a necessity, the vet is 2 hours away, and any equipment dealer is about 3 or 4... it's forced me to be able to figure out how to do nearly anything... Caesarian's are still a bit out of my league though

 

[Gelbvieh 5]

I like him and his sire also! Hope you made some money on him.