Things finally getting more even.

[Black and Good]

I was calling this "The year of the heifer". LOL Out of my first 16 calves 12 were heifers. As of now have had 29, 17 heifers 12 bulls. I've lost 2 heifer calves. Had to sell one bull calf and his non-milking second calf momma. 26 calves doing great and bout 8 more spring calvers to go. :wave: B&G

 

[inyati13]

I was calling this "The year of the heifer". LOL Out of my first 16 calves 12 were heifers. As of now have had 29, 17 heifers 12 bulls. I've lost 2 heifer calves. Had to sell one bull calf and his non-milking second calf momma. 26 calves doing great and bout 8 more spring calvers to go. :wave: B&G

Sounds like you are doing better than many have here this year. Some bad results for cattleman in this area.

 

[cowgirl8]

We've had more heifers TOO! We also had 50% of our cows calve 2 weeks early or in the first month. We lost one cow calf, after tons of work, due to being too early. Spent its first 2 weeks in our living room. Then 2 weeks out, found it dead a week after put into the herd. I suspect her digestive system was not developed and this is what got her. She'd grunt after each feeding. Our first 4 calving heifers calves were born dead. I think due to a thick sack and uneducated heifers. Sometimes they will struggle with their first calf and not get up after the calf comes out. If the sack did not rupture, the calf will suffocate. But since, everyone else is ok and have around 6 left to calve out of 48. Old herd only 5 left out of 35. Other herds are over 75% calved and we still have 2 months left.
I suspect the rest will probably be more bull, at least i hope. I figure that we lose 100 dollars every time we have a heifer past the 50/50. My only hope is calf prices will stay high and the grass will grow and it would encourage people to pay more for heifers to grow their herds.

 

[dun]

We're running almost 3 to 1 bulls over heifers

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

We're running almost 3 to 1 bulls over heifers

I'd like that ratio this year.

 

[slick4591]

I've had five this year and they were all heifers. Last year was all bulls.

 

[cowgirl8]

Everything has a way of averaging out. Its possible that the calves i have left will all be bulls. That makes me a little nervous because that means they will be big. UGH...

 

[dun]

We're running almost 3 to 1 bulls over heifers

I'd like that ratio this year.

I'm kind of fond of it too

 

[Backbone Ranch]

So far, we have 10 bulls and only 4 heifers. We only have two more to calve.

 

[Black and Good]

I guess I had it coming. Last year I was 80% bulls. But, I lost 6 calves 7 if you count twins as 2. B&G

 

[coxy]

Last few years its been running 50/50 with maybe a few more heifers but this year is all about the bull calves

 

[Nesikep]

I had an 8 bull calf streak last year, but ended up with 10 heifers, 11 bulls in the end...

This year I'm at 7 bulls 4 heifers, with 12 left to go (3 late ones though). All my "good" cows so far have had bulls, and have 1 good and one promising cow left... the promising one has had 4 bulls in a row, so I don't know if she can raise a heifer like she can a bull calf.

22 year average? well, darned close... 194 bulls, 193 heifers... doesn't get closer than that when you've had an odd number

 

[shortybreeder]

I had an 8 bull calf streak last year, but ended up with 10 heifers, 11 bulls in the end...

This year I'm at 7 bulls 4 heifers, with 12 left to go (3 late ones though). All my "good" cows so far have had bulls, and have 1 good and one promising cow left... the promising one has had 4 bulls in a row, so I don't know if she can raise a heifer like she can a bull calf.

22 year average? well, darned close... 194 bulls, 193 heifers... doesn't get closer than that when you've had an odd number

Last year, out of the 60 head dairy, we had 27 bull calves in a row... Then when we finally got some heifers, they were angus X calves out of our bottom-end cows :bang: But it does all average out, because the year before I had 100% heifers from my beef herd :roll:

 

[Nesikep]

wow, how many in your beef herd? 1?

I've just come off a 7 bull streak, and I'm now at 11 steers and 5 heifers... 2 of which may turn out to be something. I have one really good cow that ought to calve tomorrow, but she rarely carries over term, so I'm thinking another bull from her (she had a bull I kept intact last year and he was a beauty, so I might keep this one intact too). I have 1 second timer that *might* give me a worthy heifer, and one monstrous cow that I've kept 2 from so far, 1 I really like, and the other is too leggy and pushy with other cows.

Though the bulls are good for the bottom line, I have a bunch of cows on the cull list that I do need replacements for

 

[branguscowgirl]

For those of you that buy semen, have you experience a higher percentage of bull calves with it? My vet was kind of joking, (and kind of not) when he said, "now with sexing the semen, I think the bull semen gets added back into the mix." Meaning we are seeing a much higher percentage of resulting bull calves! Just wondering.....
I would be happy with just getting replacement heifers this year, because I lost some of my cows.

 

[dun]

Counting the heifer that was stillborn/frozen, we ended up twice the bulls compared to heifers.

 

[cowgirl8]

Our calves are starting to even out. I havent opened the books to count, but when i drive through the herds, i'm seeing as many bulls now as heifers.