The fun with heifers calving continues.

[Ky hills]

Yesterday evening a heifer was close to calving and decided to claim a another calf about 4 days old.
Didn't realize at the time that had happened so when went back to check her in a little later, found her with the older calf and afterbirth coming out.
Drove around the field in the SxS and spotlight trying to find her actual calf.
Found it finally in the last area we looked. Took it to the barn and gave it a bottle of colostrum.
By this morning the other heifer had whooped the real mother who is smaller away from her calf. Got the real mother in the barn lot and proceeded to try to drive the cow claiming the calf and calf to the barn. Wasn't working to good until a tree in the fence line provided a distraction and helped me corner the calf. Got it in the SxS and fought to hold it the rest of the way. Right pair reunited and hopefully by this evening can get the other heifer up and with her real calf.

 

[Warren Allison]

Yesterday evening a heifer was close to calving and decided to claim a another calf about 4 days old.
Didn't realize at the time that had happened so when went back to check her in a little later, found her with the older calf and afterbirth coming out.
Drove around the field in the SxS and spotlight trying to find her actual calf.
Found it finally in the last area we looked. Took it to the barn and gave it a bottle of colostrum.
By this morning the other heifer had whooped the real mother who is smaller away from her calf. Got the real mother in the barn lot and proceeded to try to drive the cow claiming the calf and calf to the barn. Wasn't working to good until a tree in the fence line provided a distraction and helped me corner the calf. Got it in the SxS and fought to hold it the rest of the way. Right pair reunited and hopefully by this evening can get the other heifer up and with her real calf.

Never a dull moment in the cattle business, is there? Especially fooling with heifers!

 

[Ky hills]

Never a dull moment in the cattle business, is there? Especially fooling with heifers!

Nope there ain't. This is the craziest time we've had with heifers though.
5 have calved, 1 lost twins, 2 with no milk, as of right now only one has her calf. Hoping we can get the one from last night to take her rightful calf once we get the heifer up.
Worst percentage I've ever had with heifers.
Usually might be a pull or two and maybe have to give a few calves colostrum just to make sure they get it.

 

[Warren Allison]

Nope there ain't. This is the craziest time we've had with heifers though.
5 have calved, 1 lost twins, 2 with no milk, as of right now only one has her calf. Hoping we can get the one from last night to take her rightful calf once we get the heifer up.
Worst percentage I've ever had with heifers.
Usually might be a pull or two and maybe have to give a few calves colostrum just to make sure they get it.

Any of these purchased, or are they all retained?

 

[Ky hills]

Any of these purchased, or are they all retained?

All retained.

 

[moses388]

...heifer was close to calving and decided to claim a another calf...

I've been there... I bottle raised the abandoned female calf and she's now one of my pet cows. The thief cow was moved. I don't recall a problem with the thief the following years. ...I might not have provided enough space for the heifers to separate from each other.

 

[coachg]

They'll make you grey headed or bald that's for certain ! I'm not going to post about mine , don't want to jinx myself.

 

[Ky hills]

Good thing I didn't buy any calves for the Jersey looks like she's gonna be at full capacity with calf for ever faucet

 

[Brute 23]

Where did these cows come from that are producing these heifers?

 

[Dsth]

claiming a calf already born is not just for heifers. had a mature cow claim a calf when she was in labor. wife called on my way home from work that she was calving. got home to see her claiming calf with ear tag in already and cleanings on the way out. checked her and no calf inside. wife, son, and I looking all around the barnyard with flashlights but couldn't find calf. finally found it in a hay shed that had about a 6 inch opening between the doors. fed her calf colostrum and locked the two in a small pen to bond. took the cow three days of calf sucking while mom was in the headgate before she licked the calf clean and claimed as her own.

 

[Warren Allison]

All retained.

Same sire, or different bulls? Some time some of these things may be due to something passed down by the bull. Or from the dam. Sometimes it may be enviroment, or what they eat or don't eat. Even weather, etc. But sometimes it is just bad luck. Sometimes, sh*t just happens, like they say. Following you for a few years now, I am sure it is not because of something
you did, or didn't, do. It sucks to lose calves, especially now with bottle calves bringing 5, 6, and I have even seen 8, hundred dollars. Good luck to you for the rest of the season, my friend.

 

[Ky hills]

Same sire, or different bulls? Some time some of these things may be due to something passed down by the bull. Or from the dam. Sometimes it may be enviroment, or what they eat or don't eat. Even weather, etc. But sometimes it is just bad luck. Sometimes, sh*t just happens, like they say. Following you for a few years now, I am sure it is not because of something
you did, or didn't, do. It sucks to lose calves, especially now with bottle calves bringing 5, 6, and I have even seen 8, hundred dollars. Good luck to you for the restyof the season, my friend.

Thanks Warren,
So far we've only lost the one set of twins. Looks like gonna have the Jersey full capacity and maybe bottles if the streak continues. Honestly there's a lot of things that were my decisions that could come into play,
The calves are all by our BWF bull, several of the heifers themselves are by him too and the others by a half brother.
Calves are all small the twins that were lost were probably no bigger than 30 pounds a piece. 2 more of the calves are probably 40 pounds maybe a little more but seem lighter than a 50# sack of feed.
The largest of the calves are probably a little over 50 maybe around 60#.
A few issues I've attributed to inbreeding like the smaller size calf the one deformed twin, and another calf that has just been slow to take off, but it's doing much better as of today.
I think the lack of milk is coming from a particular Hereford bull I had that is the grandsire on the cow side of my BWF bull. That Hereford bull was all over the place as far as his daughters milking, some were improvements over their mothers, most were on par with their mothers and a few wouldn't have milk at all. It seems like this BWF bull is picking up on the no milk thing and passing it at a much higher percentage to his daughters. The milk issue is not from inbreeding as the heifers are first generation from that bull, some of the calves are by the same bull though so definitely inbred on the calf generation and we won't keep any of them for sure.

 

[Ky hills]

Where did these cows come from that are producing these heifers?

Pretty much all these heifers are daughters or granddaughters of heifers I've bought through stockyards over the years. I've had some of the cows as long as 10 years and retained other daughters from several of them.
My thinking is it's coming from their sire.

 

[Warren Allison]

Thanks Warren,
So far we've only lost the one set of twins. Looks like gonna have the Jersey full capacity and maybe bottles if the streak continues. Honestly there's a lot of things that were my decisions that could come into play,
The calves are all by our BWF bull, several of the heifers themselves are by him too and the others by a half brother.
Calves are all small the twins that were lost were probably no bigger than 30 pounds a piece. 2 more of the calves are probably 40 pounds maybe a little more but seem lighter than a 50# sack of feed.
The largest of the calves are probably a little over 50 maybe around 60#.
A few issues I've attributed to inbreeding like the smaller size calf the one deformed twin, and another calf that has just been slow to take off, but it's doing much better as of today.
I think the lack of milk is coming from a particular Hereford bull I had that is the grandsire on the cow side of my BWF bull. That Hereford bull was all over the place as far as his daughters milking, some were improvements over their mothers, most were on par with their mothers and a few wouldn't have milk at all. It seems like this BWF bull is picking up on the no milk thing and passing it at a much higher percentage to his daughters. The milk issue is not from inbreeding as the heifers are first generation from that bull, some of the calves are by the same bull though so definitely inbred on the calf generation and we won't keep any of them for sure.

Well. sounds like you have figured it out, or figured out what most of the problem is. I hate it for you even more now, about that Simm bull you bought that didn't work out. You probably gonna need one sooner, but I guess you saw those 2 bulls, brothers to @kenny thomas 's and @ClinchValley86 's bulls, that @simme is gonna sell in July. Man., if you were closer (and you wanted to) I would let you try a reg Brangus bull out to see what you thought.

On the bright side, like you said, it appears it worked out to the good, that you hadn't already bought any $500 bottle calves to put on that Jersey!

 

[Travlr]

Thanks Warren,
So far we've only lost the one set of twins. Looks like gonna have the Jersey full capacity and maybe bottles if the streak continues. Honestly there's a lot of things that were my decisions that could come into play,
The calves are all by our BWF bull, several of the heifers themselves are by him too and the others by a half brother.
Calves are all small the twins that were lost were probably no bigger than 30 pounds a piece. 2 more of the calves are probably 40 pounds maybe a little more but seem lighter than a 50# sack of feed.
The largest of the calves are probably a little over 50 maybe around 60#.
A few issues I've attributed to inbreeding like the smaller size calf the one deformed twin, and another calf that has just been slow to take off, but it's doing much better as of today.
I think the lack of milk is coming from a particular Hereford bull I had that is the grandsire on the cow side of my BWF bull. That Hereford bull was all over the place as far as his daughters milking, some were improvements over their mothers, most were on par with their mothers and a few wouldn't have milk at all. It seems like this BWF bull is picking up on the no milk thing and passing it at a much higher percentage to his daughters. The milk issue is not from inbreeding as the heifers are first generation from that bull, some of the calves are by the same bull though so definitely inbred on the calf generation and we won't keep any of them for sure.

Just to put it out there... there IS a point where small calves are TOO SMALL.

And I've been reading a lot of things on these threads without saying anything because so many people are adamant about inbreeding being so "safe"... and all of these anomalies I've been seeing may have something to do with inbreeding.

 

[wbvs58]

Yesterday evening a heifer was close to calving and decided to claim a another calf about 4 days old.
Didn't realize at the time that had happened so when went back to check her in a little later, found her with the older calf and afterbirth coming out.
Drove around the field in the SxS and spotlight trying to find her actual calf.
Found it finally in the last area we looked. Took it to the barn and gave it a bottle of colostrum.
By this morning the other heifer had whooped the real mother who is smaller away from her calf. Got the real mother in the barn lot and proceeded to try to drive the cow claiming the calf and calf to the barn. Wasn't working to good until a tree in the fence line provided a distraction and helped me corner the calf. Got it in the SxS and fought to hold it the rest of the way. Right pair reunited and hopefully by this evening can get the other heifer up and with her real calf.

Did she hook back on to her own calf OK?

Ken

 

[Ky hills]

Just to put it out there... there IS a point where small calves are TOO SMALL.

And I've been reading a lot of things on these threads without saying anything because so many people are adamant about inbreeding being so "safe"... and all of these anomalies I've been seeing may have something to do with inbreeding.

The 2 year old heifers calving are not inbred themselves. The baby calves they are having are inbred.
The bulls that we have been using do sire very small calves out of most heifers.
We have been trying to bring in outside genetics ie other unrelated bulls even different breeds but have had a run of problems with that too, that is the reason for inbreeding these heifers to their sire.
We are awaiting results of a semen check on a registered Hereford bull now. Haven't even discussed price yet. Our hope is that buying a bull from a knowledgeable, reputable, longtime breeder and friend will yield better results , than our more recent purchases from new and probably less experienced breeders.
I've never liked the concept of close inbreeding, but we chose to breed those heifers to their sire because we were trying to go in a different direction with more of a growth bull for the cows.

 

[Ky hills]

Did she hook back on to her own calf OK?

Ken

No, but we did get her in the chute and got the calf to nurse her some

 

[Brute 23]

You can not blame inbreeding for bad genetics. Inbreeding is like coming in to money, it will only highlight what you already have.

Trying to breed up from auction barn cows is a long row to hoe.

 

[angus9259]

Genetics gets a lot of blame. Sometimes deserved. Sometimes not. Often times in this game it's just the nature of the beast. The issues mentioned here could just as easily be freak issues. They are all different.