Spayed heifers

[Dave]

On Monday we spayed 303 heifers. First time I have ever been involved in this. It takes a fair size crew. There was 7 of us total. This Vet is fast. We did 50 an hour. My job was pushing them down the alley into the chute. The alley holds 5 or 6. So at nearly a heifer per minute I was constantly pushing in a heifer or opening the back gate to allow the guy back there to push in another group.
This is a good portion of the heifers before work got started. I would have taken a picture of work in process but I was too busy to remember to do it.

 

[kenny thomas]

What do they do to spay them?

 

[SBMF 2015]

I've read about it, never been involved in doing it.
Have you ever tried any other way to keep them from coming in heat?

 

[Buck Randall]

I know vets that have dabbled in it. By the time they figured in the cost to spay and the death loss, it was cheaper to feed MGA.

 

[Dave]

I know vets that have dabbled in it. By the time they figured in the cost to spay and the death loss, it was cheaper to feed MGA.

These heifers will all go to range land in about a month. No way to feed them anything. They will be running with 300 steers and there is certainly the potential for bulls to come into the pasture. The vet said if we had a bleeder it would be dead the next day. No dead the next day. He said if they got infected they would be dead in about 3 days. So far so good. We are at day 3 today. The vet said he has done 600 in a day in the past with very little death loss. The cost wasn't bad, $6 a head.

 

[gcreekrch]

What a difference in cost!

We are looking at spaying 300 heifers to go to grass with. Vet charges $22, includes 1 dose of Oxymycine and Metacam.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Maybe it's the picture, but those hfrs look 6-700lbs? How old will they be when they come off grass? In the mid-west they would be headed to the feedlot. I'm just asking. The West and the mid-west feed cattle different, but we all get good results.

 

[Buck Randall]

What a difference in cost!

We are looking at spaying 300 heifers to go to grass with. Vet charges $22, includes 1 dose of Oxymycine and Metacam.

I'd say that's pretty reasonable. $6.00 is incredibly cheap, especially for a vet that does exceptionally good work.

There's just not enough demand for it in the Midwest for anybody to get good at it. Most calves that stick around go straight to feed after weaning, or they end up on trucks going west.

 

[gcreekrch]

Maybe it's the picture, but those hfrs look 6-700lbs? How old will they be when they come off grass? In the mid-west they would be headed to the feedlot. I'm just asking. The West and the mid-west feed cattle different, but we all get good results.

Lots of yearlings in western Canada go to grass at up to 750 lb. Come off at 1000 lbs and go to feed.

Lots lighter too.

 

[Buck Randall]

Maybe it's the picture, but those hfrs look 6-700lbs? How old will they be when they come off grass? In the mid-west they would be headed to the feedlot. I'm just asking. The West and the mid-west feed cattle different, but we all get good results.

Lots of yearlings in western Canada go to grass at up to 750 lb. Come off at 1000 lbs and go to feed.

Lots lighter too.

It makes a lot of sense in places where the soil and climate is best suited for grazing. Can't justify it on land that yields 200 bushels/acre in corn. Most of our dairy cows will never see a blade of grass. Beef cows get the ditches and hills that are too steep to till.

I have to get out to the Northwest some time. Beautiful country.

 

[Dave]

The heifers are more like 500 average. There are some at 600 but very few that will make 700. They are already contracted. The bigger end will leave in June. The lighter ones will leave in mid August. Their steer mates are bigger. I think they will make up the majority of the June run.

Like I said I was pushing them in. I didn't get much time up around the chute. I think the $6 was just for the vet. Each heifer got 4 shots and implanted. There was penicillin, Long range, pink eye, and I don't know what the fourth shot was.

 

[gcreekrch]

Maybe it's the picture, but those hfrs look 6-700lbs? How old will they be when they come off grass? In the mid-west they would be headed to the feedlot. I'm just asking. The West and the mid-west feed cattle different, but we all get good results.

Lots of yearlings in western Canada go to grass at up to 750 lb. Come off at 1000 lbs and go to feed.

Lots lighter too.

It makes a lot of sense in places where the soil and climate is best suited for grazing. Can't justify it on land that yields 200 bushels/acre in corn. Most of our dairy cows will never see a blade of grass. Beef cows get the ditches and hills that are too steep to till.

I have to get out to the Northwest some time. Beautiful country.

When you get there, go north and west and you will find me.

Any time Sir.

 

[Silver]

My grandfather used to talk about spaying heifers on a ranch he worked on in the sandhills of Saskatchewan during the depression. There was a cowboy that did it for $1.00 a head and did one a minute all day long. Pretty good money when the cowboys were making a dollar a day or so.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Are the corn growers and the confinement dairies both making a profit, or are just the input suppliers making a profit?

 

[SBMF 2015]

An old cattle feeder I know and respect very much used to argue with me and make a very bold statement that "the corn is free because we raise it". Now we all know that isn't true. But if you break down that statement a little there can be some truth in it.
If it takes 180bu corn at $3.50/bu to cover my input costs, and I can raise 220bu corn. That kind of makes that extra 40bu an acre free and clear to do with what I want. Most young guys around here just sell it, pocket the profit and relax until spring. But a few of us are still willing to take that extra corn and invest it in a group of calves to see if we can make a profit doing what we truly enjoy.
If you are feeding home raised calves and raising the feed. There is still money to be made feeding cattle.

 

[Buck Randall]

Are the corn growers and the confinement dairies both making a profit, or are just the input suppliers making a profit?

Not sure about the cash grain growers, but the confinement dairies are making a profit. Even with the input costs, corn silage is the cheapest way to feed cows here.