The replacements

[Nesikep]

My yearling replacement heifers posed together nicely for a picture today

Haida


Katima, my favourite of the 3


the 3 of them, one in the front (Lava) is 11 1/2 months old, Her mother calved this morning

 

[Nesikep]

Geez... 120 views and no one says anything... I can only imagine if CG8 had posted them this would be 10 pages by now

 

[Bestoutwest]

Well I like them. I'm starting to like the red colored animals more and more. People need to stop posting pictures of them or I'm going to have start going in that direction.

 

[JWBrahman]

Nesi, you have to figure at least 50 of those peeks are bots and trolls. I like Katima, too.

These are the times when you can separate the real cattlemen from the cowboys. Cattle never stops being fun for me. Improving my soil and water management gives me the same thrill after all this time. Don't lose that attitude and you'll be around a long time.

 

[Nesikep]

I find all 3 of them could use an inch or two cut off their legs to look really good, Katima has the body to not make it too noticeable though.. She's got a pretty big noggin though.

I have a pretty good set of calves this year, and might retain 6 heifers to do some serious culling later.

Improving the soil, etc is quite a job around here, we're in a super arid area (8" average yearly precip), and irrigation water just is different from rain... we've found a lot of techniques that are what every gardener is taught and takes as gospel does NOT work at all here.. Trying to build up nitrogen and organic matter in the soil is really hard

 

[gizmom]

Nesi

I did look and they are nice heifers, very long bodied. I love cattle with depth of body and your cattle lack that at least they do for me. However your cattle work in your environment so that makes them perfect for you. I can't imagine living in an area that has that little rainfall. Living on the coast in the summer we get pop up thunder showers almost daily. When the temp hits 90 you figure your going to get rain somewhere in the area. Good luck with the heifers.

gizmom

 

[Nesikep]

I can see what you mean, and I think a lot of that is because they're longer legged than many cows.. Looking at your old bulls you posted shows that very well.. I'm not striving for longer legged cows, but it's what I started with and it'll take me a few more generations until I get both consistency and the phenotype I'm looking for.

Rosie and Mega are better examples of what my ideals are... and hopefully I can get there with a little line breeding and careful selection... Rosie's grandson is my homeraised bull and from what I see of his calves this year, they're very nicely put together, he's breeding a lot of kin this year and I'll see what comes of it


screenshot program


free picture hosting

 

[gizmom]

Nesi
Take a ruler put it at the top of your cows front legs where they join the body, a straight line then look to see how much depth you have. The first cow pictured is really deep the second is not just a good way to get a really good picture of the depth of the animal. Take a look and let me know if you see what I am seeing.

gizmom

 

[Nesikep]

Nesi
Take a ruler put it at the top of your cows front legs where they join the body, a straight line then look to see how much depth you have. The first cow pictured is really deep the second is not just a good way to get a really good picture of the depth of the animal. Take a look and let me know if you see what I am seeing.

gizmom

Near the armpit? "Elbow"? Can you describe this a little better? From the back or from the ground?

Photography can do a lot for an animal too.. First picture the cow is in 8" tall grass, and virtually nothing in the second picture... I notice this A LOT in bull flyers where the bulls are standing belly deep in straw, and darned if they don't all look like tanks, but I'm not so convinced they'd look as good on bare ground

 

[Supa Dexta]

Look at how much lower the first cows chest drops below the pointy part of her shoulder. And then compare to the 2nd cow. That's where the capacity is.

 

[Nesikep]

Here's Caddy (Rosie's oldest daughter) at about 5 years old... a bit a taller cow from the Shorthorn influence


Another of her daughters (Cenci)... she looks pretty good


Caddy's first bull, Full brother to the one I have.. I really liked his build, but he didn't pass his BSE due to a crooked poker


Avatar picture is the sire to both the above calves

 

[frieghttrain]

I love when you post pictures Nesi, great heifers. Ours could use a bit more leg. Joe

 

[gizmom]

Nesi

Please understand I am not faulting your cattle, like I said they work for you and that is what counts. Everyone has something they like or dislike about a cow or bull but that is what makes the world go round. If we all liked the exact same thing it would sure nuff be a dull world to live in.





Look at the black line when you draw a line sort of cutting off the legs see how much depth the first cow has over the second cow. I love that when I look at a cow some folks don't but when you do the line you can sure see it. When I look at bull sale catalogs I use the line trick a bunch it sure tells a tale as far as depth of body or guts which ever you want to call it.

edit, I actually put my line a little off on the top cow if it was in the same spot as the second she would show even deeper.

gizmom

 

[elkwc]

Personally the leg length is ok with me. I would overall like to see more gut. But again I was raised in my youth in arid NM so have seen lots of similar cattle that raised a good calf every year. The environment has a lot of influence on the type that evolves. In my experience those with a little leg can travel rough country better to find food than a short legged cow. As an old cattleman I knew used to say he had more to do on a 54,000 acre ranch than to pull a short legged cow off of high center. So one reason I like a little frame to mine but do like lots of depth.

 

[Nesikep]

I love when you post pictures Nesi, great heifers. Ours could use a bit more leg. Joe

Careful what you wish for If they have more leg they look like they have less capacity.

What I really usually look for, doing the best I can with what I have and balancing traits, is a cylindrical chest that isn't pinched at the heart or waist, and nice width from the shoulders all the way through to the rump, and a round, convex butt.

gizmom, so you're thinking of measuring the top of the shoulder to the sternum, just behind the front legs, right?
Bear in mind too that that picture of Rosie is when she was 16 years old, and Mega was 4 when the picture was taken.. they do fill out a bit with age. One thing I look for, and your 'line' underneath Mega is a perfect example, is that the udder, the waist, the navel, and the chest are all even with each other... that's the 'cylindrical' look I find nice... What you don't see is in that picture is Mega's "capacity" in width

I do have some cows I'm not proud of, and I've pretty much never posted pictures here.. One I have in mind right now I really should take a picture of...

Meanwhile, heres some more pictures...
Rosie and Tizia's mother (Mega's grandma) Josie.. Not a very pretty cow but she produced well and lived to have 12 calves (Rosie had 16)


Rosie's maternal sister Tizia (Mega's mother) (the day before she dropped a 140 lb calf)


Mega's full brother Hector


Mega's oldest daughter Sofa (Little teapot short and stout...) linebred, same sire as Mega


On the right is Mega's current calf (7Y) (Limo sired)


And Caddy with Chroma, who isn't a very deep bodied cow now (5 years old), but darned can ever make a calf... Last year she had the biggest calf of the herd (and she's a smaller cow), and this year's heifer looks to be not far off



elkwc, That reminds me of an Ace Reid cartoon of them trying to pry an old hereford cow off a rock!... My goal isn't stubby legged cows to make them look deep and long, I'm going for a frame 5-6 and 14-1500 lb mature weight

 

[Nesikep]

Could only attach 6 images.. here's Chroma a couple weeks ago with her heifer calf, Last year her steer was 640 lbs @180 days

 

[js1234]

Pretty decent stock that seems to fit your country.

 

[elkwc]

elkwc, That reminds me of an Ace Reid cartoon of them trying to pry an old hereford cow off a rock!... My goal isn't stubby legged cows to make them look deep and long, I'm going for a frame 5-6 and 14-1500 lb mature weight
The only possible end result of treating all animals like people is that all people will be treated like animals

Your goals are very similar to mine. The shorter legged, smaller framed cattle work good for many in what I call a paddock type environment but not so well in rough country where they need to climb and cover acres.

 

[Nesikep]

Mine have a pretty easy life.. they really don't need more than about 2" of ground clearance... They are always on decent pastures... spoiled brats

 

[talltimber]

This reminds me of an old joke.
A guy bought a mule. Every time he led him to go in the barn his ears would hit the bottom of the loft. Wouldn't fit. While he was thinking about how to get around this problem, a guy walking down the road came up, looked the situation over, and said, just dig you a trench to lead him down in and up in to the barn. That way his ears won't hit.
The mule guy says, Well that's just stupid. His ears are too long, not his legs!!