Still out working....

[Durham Reds]

IMG]http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr340/durhamreds/cows-heifersdec08.jpg[/IMG]

I took these pictures a few nights ago. The snow has gotten progressively deeper until yesterday when the temperature hit +40 with rain. It's snowing really hard again right now and building up fast. I'm beginning to think I should have trailed home yesterday. Now I won't have another chance until at least Thursday.

I'm very pleased at how our heifers and cows have maintained condition on grass pasture so far. Their only supplement is a good mineral/salt mix and clean, fresh water. The temps until yesterday's thaw have ranged from +10F to -22.

I know a lot of folks are of the opinion that Shorthorns only function well in the show ring. We're working hard to produce the kind that function for commercial cattle people.

On the other hand, I'm pleased to say that 3 of the bred heifers in this group were the Supreme Champion Pen of Range Heifers over all breeds at the NILE in Billings this past October. The rules for this competition are that the cattle have to be straight off pasture and cannot be clipped or fitted. 30 plus pens of heifers of many various breeds were judged by a panel consisting of 2 ranchers and a professional judge.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Durham Reds]

For some reason this picture did not come through. I thought I was finally gettin' the hang of this!? These were taken right at dark.

 

[bigbull338]

those are some nice looking cattle.

 

[blackcowz]

Very nice female in the first post. Looks like you are well on your way to making them some very functional animals.

 

[Coyote]

Boy do they look like nice easy fleshing cows.

 

[Nesikep]

I love the white ring around the nose.. how'd you breed that into them???

Our cows were on pasture until dec. 21st.. which is really good for us, that's about the time there's nothing left out there to eat anyhow. so we could be down to about a 140 day feeding time for our cows this year

Nice animals too.. I'll post some pictures of our cows tomorrow or so, I got a good picture of the shorthorn cross "Nelly", though it was hard to get a picture of her with her mouth closed.. Hey, some people are like that too

 

[Durham Reds]

Thanks for the comments. Bucking the black tide of popularity can be a bit discouraging at times! It has been gratifying to see though that people are "rediscovering" the benefits of British x British mama cows bred to a terminal sire. Time after time I hear from ranchers that their Granddad, or Uncle, or Dad had Shorthorn cows. "He used to say they were the best cows he ever had!" We have selected for solid red Shorthorns in order to overcome the "color" issue some that some folks find objectionable with this breed. Personally, I don't think there's anything prettier than a roan hide!

Nesikep, that "white ring" seems to be a seasonal thing much like our Jackrabbits or your Arctic Fox. It only appears in winter. It seems to be most prevelent on our "easier keeping" cows!

 

[Anonymous]

Very nice herd!! For some reason I never get tired of looking at good cattle Thanks for sharring!