Should I Stay ??????

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hillsdown

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or should I go now ????

One for you to tear up .She has given me 2 ET's and 3 calves of her own all were incredible, I like her despite the fact that she was a spoiled 4H calf :lol2: . BUT I need to cull hard and she has to be on the list, her daughter from last year is a definate keeper.

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Why is she on the list over the others that aren;t, or others that are on the list but are below her?
 
Brandonm her feet are good the back ones are covered in heavy mud in the pic as they like to drink out of a hole rather than come up for real water.

She is a 7 yr old.

Why is she on the list, well she is not Gelbvieh and this is Stormy's mom from last year that I posted about quite a few times..

As in ET, it means that she has successfully been implanted and given me 2 embryos (sexed at that) to full term ..

The other thing she is huge, my guess is close to 2.. She has a h@ll of a balancer heifer at her side this year as well. I have to cull really hard due to the drought, and I really like her and she is a doll to work with but..
 
What a problem to have. (Been there myself and it sucks) To have to choose between good productive probably above average, young cows to ship.
 
She looks to me like the type of cow that never stops eating. How much hay do you suppose it takes to get her through the Winter. Why ET a cow like this or any cow? Sounds expensive and time consuming. Good medium frame commercial cows and $1500 low birthweight bulls might make your cattle operation more profitable. I truly am trying to help.
 
dun":2ba42h6u said:
What a problem to have. (Been there myself and it sucks) To have to choose between good productive probably above average, young cows to ship.

oooooo..such a terrible problem to have. my cows by most standards would all be culls. probly my bull too. im poor and knew nothing bout cattle 5-6 yrs ago so.. i got what i got when i knew nothin....id be over the moon to have adozen of them much less hafta cull animals looking that good and producing that well
 
mnmtranching":2l7kottz said:
She looks to me like the type of cow that never stops eating. How much hay do you suppose it takes to get her through the Winter. Why ET a cow like this or any cow? Sounds expensive and time consuming. Good medium frame commercial cows and $1500 low birthweight bulls might make your cattle operation more profitable. I truly am trying to help.

If I understood Hillsdown right they didn't flush her; but rather she has been a recipient twice.
 
It's been said before but if she's that big and doesn't fit your plan for the future, then I would cull her in favor of 2 12oo lb cows that will give you a lot more income for not much more input.

I'm guessing she will wean a 6 to 650 lb calf. The 2 1200 pounders will more than likely wean 2 575 to 625 lb calves. You do the math.

She's the perfect example of why it makes sense to downsize your average cow.
 
Her last calf weened at 735lbs at 217 days plus she moved up a month in breeding. She is actually an easy keeper they all are or they wouldn't survive winters here and the drought we are in. As you can see she is in very good condition. She is actually raising 2 calves now as well, I had to put a cow down last month and the calf latched on to her.

Why ET her because she is fertile and that is what you use for ET's .. A deep pedigree Holstein is worth big bucks here .

BTW who says I am not making money clearly I am, as I do have a LTD and do know how to run it. I just will not go in the red to feed beef cattle, it makes no sense.

I will know next month when we do herd health, but if it is like last year and I expect it to be the same it won't help as we have been having 100% conception rates here the last 2-3 years.

I may get to keep a couple of my favorite commercials once we get the hay and green feed cut and I can crunch my numbers better. But my commercial herd will be mostly gone. I think I will like a smaller herd better for awhile as well ,it will let me AI more of them. But yes Dun, it sucks and I think a few of my special ones that I have raised will be on the chopping block. The hay burners hit the road last month already so that will help.
 
Sounds to me then that she does still fit your plan at least for the "NEAR" future. Then by all means keep her.
 
Geez HD, what a decision!! We went through this last fall, culled out a total of 80 head, about 60 of which were bred cows.

I'd have a really hard time culling this cow, even though, she is such a big girl. She is obviously a darn good producer. I guess, all you could do is compare her production to the other cows on the chopping block. If she out does them, then she stays, but if there is someone else that you like as much that out does her, then she'd have to go. But, do keep in mind that she will take on an extra calf for you, that sometimes is and darn nice thing to have, as long as the cow can raise both calves well.

As for reducing the #'s I like it in that we do not have any junk left around, but I still miss having all the cows. We are slowly rebuilding.
 
3waycross":1xe1rg3p said:
Sounds to me then that she does still fit your plan at least for the "NEAR" future. Then by all means keep her.
Actually 3way I think I am just talking myself into a bad decision . She should probably go and then I can keep 2 more PB replacement heifers that I really like this year plus Valentine my gelbstein out of a retired flush cow who I had to put down last month. I want to keep her because they come in handy when you need nurse cows and after 4 sets of twins this year and a loss of a great cow due to a broken leg they are a blessing. I think this will be an eyeopener for me and I need to think of my herd in 2 years after hopefully we have recovered from this drought.

Thanks for all of the responses and I need to look to the future and not just tomorrow.

Thanks Randi ,,I left out a big part of this story though.. :lol2: The heifer I am keeping is Stormy and I raised her remember my -40 bottle baby last year and the mom wouldn't take her..
The last calf she weened was in '07 so you see most of you would have kicked her out last year already when she wouldn't take her calf.
Now here is more to her story as well, she wouldn't take her stupid calf this year either so I got really really PO'd as I refused to raise a calf myself this year and I had enough extras around already. So I gave her 17cc's of atravet , put a halter on her .I went out a 1/2 hour later, tied her leg , and put the calf on her. That calf drank for almost 45minutes I think she thought it was her last meal. I untied her and left the two together in the poll barn over night and when I went out at 5 that morning mom and calf were best buds. That is why it is so strange that she took Valentine in after she lost her mom ,,weird to say the least..

I know I did what I have chastised others for doing in the past, but it was do or die for her this year anyways, as if she didn't take her calf hubby was going to shoot her anyways.. ;-)

See there is always more to a story.. :lol2:

Yep, now that I read all that she has done, she goes for sure. I have too many good ones out there that will take their calves without hesitation. BTW is is PB red angus.

Thanks again all.. :tiphat:
 
Ah hah. It is amazing what we can talk ourselves into or out of with the right help. I've been known to keep a cow around for sentimental reasons before, very rarely does that work out, sooner or later they show their stripes again. Good luck with your downsizing, it is a hard decision to make, but usually in the end the right one.....
 
We just took a 4 year old cow to the butcher today. She will become hamburger tomorrow. Both hubby and I hated to do it. Her first calf was a dud. She became hamburger too. Cow bred back easily as a first calf mama but slipped that pregnancy. We bred her back right away after discovering her open. Had a bull calf that has developed into an average calf. Now a steer and destined for the freezer in a few months. We put 2 embryos in the cow and she didn't take. That was expensive. AIed her after that. Didn't take was cystic. Gave the gnrh to get rid of the cyst. We think it worked but think she went cystic again. Somewhere along the way hubby decided enough was enough. Plus we are in a drought here in Texas and people are selling their cows because of no grass and no hay to be put up.

Sorry to steal the thread but sounded so much like our story.

Thanks,
Farmgirl
 
you are between a rock an a hard place thats for sure.but since your in a bad drought she has to go to town.everything thats not reg beef cattle or reg holstein flush cows needs to go.
 
bigbull338":3gq3znmm said:
you are between a rock an a hard place thats for sure.but since your in a bad drought she has to go to town.everything thats not reg beef cattle or reg holstein flush cows needs to go.

its a shame an animal like that would probly be killed anyways..aint likely anyone would chance her as a cow...i wouldnt at the market. too bad theyre isnt an outlet for a good animal; that is worth something morethan a cull. that cow is as good as some of my keepers..
 
3waycross":8nwruguu said:
It's been said before but if she's that big and doesn't fit your plan for the future, then I would cull her in favor of 2 12oo lb cows that will give you a lot more income for not much more input.

I'm guessing she will wean a 6 to 650 lb calf. The 2 1200 pounders will more than likely wean 2 575 to 625 lb calves. You do the math.

She's the perfect example of why it makes sense to downsize your average cow.
3way - not trying to rub you wrong - just pointing out different viewpoint.
Not all cows are on this earth for commercial calves. No matter what size the cow is - or the cost to feed her, she's a keeper if she is making a really good profit. If all my calves were being sold by the pound, I would be a lot more critical at the yearly cow costs. Last cow cost calculated here was $471/yr. My steers will average about $750.
If this cow carried & raised an ET calf for Hillsdown, she may have paid for 4 years worth of eating! So, being fertile was a big PLUS.
Hillsdown - no brainer - if she is a problem at calving time - ship her & be HAPPY. We are all too busy at calving to have a cow that we have to mess with to get her to take a calf.
 
Jeanne no offense taken. I just tried to buy a Blk Angus cow maybe bigger than her.

However I am not in a drought and I was looking for specific genetics for a seedstock operation.

Your point is well made and taken.
 

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