This year's yearling heifers

[Nesikep]

Well, bull goes out before long, what do you think of the heifers I kept from last year... I think they're all around 900-950 lbs

Sofa, from Mega (2nd calf). Linebred 3/4 Gelbvieh, 1/8th Shorthorn, 1/8th Hereford.
Really meaty and stout.. big round belly like momma, but should process grass well. A bit a big tailhead for my liking. HATES all people except me (like momma!). Has been in heat a dozen times since last september.

Kama, from Rosie (16th calf). 1/2 GV, 1/4 Saler, 1/4 Herf.
Really like her.. Good length without being framey, Generally proportionate. LOVES *ALL* people.. and PLAYING.. still!. Grandma had 13 calves, so that line seems to have 'staying power'. Not the line that will typically wean the heaviest calves, but always respectable. Kama actually was the fastest gaining heifer last year, from a lame and toothless old cow at that. Kama is distinctly lighter on her feet than the others, when she trots nothing jiggles and she's really smooth and agile (for a cow). Shes been in heat since October.

Vatna, from Vispa (6th calf). 1/2 GV, 1/4 SH, 1/8 Saler, 1/8 Herf.
Not too fond of her, much too tall for the meat on her bones and may be hard to keep in condition, doesn't play nice any of the others. Seems fine with people though. I still think she can be a productive cow so I'll keep her for now... If someone came and waved cash in my face (large bills only), she'd be the first to go. She was the last to start cycling into heat about in early march.
She's look better if she has as big muscles as ears!

Tatla, from Alma (8th calf). Same breeding as above
Nice all around, meaty and stout, big belly like Sofa, could have a bit more frame, Mother is full sister to Vispa (above calf's mother). A little shy of strangers. I think a blend of Tatla and Vatna would be a happy medium, but I guess I'll have to live with the 2 extremes. Sofa hates her and beats up on her. She's been in heat since January.

There you have them. Would you change the same things about them I would? What order would you pick them in... For me it's Kama, Sofa, Tatla, then Vatna, though I could swap the first two... Kama will probably be a longer lasting cow, and Sofa will be a heavier producer..

 

[inyati13]

Nesikep, I don't know what I would pick. I usually look for white on their face and ignore everything else. :lol:

But I did look at their feet. They all look like they stand well on their hoofs. Nice heifers. I am keeping one out of my fall heifers. She is a Sept 1 calf. No white except on her udder. But she is very nice in my opinion. She would be 8 months old in this pic and I sold the lot she was out of so I know the weight by comparison. She is at least 770. Long and big muscles. She has three sets of teats. She will be registered when I get my simmental membership. She is out of a Hudson Pine/Rocking P half blood Simangus. Her Sire was the registered Angus bull I had last year. That is her on the right in the bottom picture. That is the fall group I sold in April except for her. The biggest one went at 845 pounds. So I know she is going to be a big cow.

 

[Lazy M]

Nes- I like the first 2 and the 4th. I believe you should cash in on the 3rd. I'd also think about getting rid of the 1st if she's heady. Life's too short to deal with wild cows.

 

[JWBrahman]

#2 is my favorite

 

[Nesikep]

Lazy M, the first hates OTHER people, she's a one man cow and quite OK with me

Inyati, yours in a nice girl too , she doesn't need any white!. She sounds like she's going to be like Mega, a "cow and a half" who has 6 teats.. I will say white faces make them a little easier to see at night and tell them apart for each other... I can tell them apart by nearly any part of their body though.. every butt and every udder is different.

For weights, I know the top 2 were certainly over 650 at weaning by comparing them to the steers we sold in October, I'm quite sure they gained over 300 lbs since then but I'm going with a slightly conservative number.

 

[Lazy M]

Lazy M, the first hates OTHER people, she's a one man cow and quite OK with me

Unless you always work the cattle by yourself, I'm sure your helpers would appreciate it if she was gone

 

[Nesikep]

What helpers? The less people are around when I work them, the easier it is, you couldn't find helpers around here if you wanted to. She's not wild, she just would much rather stay 40 ft away from other people. She's nicely halterbroke so I don't forsee big problems.

 

[Lazy M]

What helpers? The less people are around when I work them, the easier it is

Your right about that! I hate when people at work ask if they can "help" me work my cattle.

 

[Nesikep]

exactly, unless you're working with an experience roper and a horse, it's better they stay calm... Her mother is my milk cow and hates strangers, even my parents, her grandmother was more sociable, and I gave her uterine boluses just with a flake of hay on the ground, she was a milk cow too

 

[Jake]

I like the 2nd and 4th heifers. I agree on the blaze face, she could stand a new home if somebody wanted her.

 

[txffamom]

I like the topline on #3, and think she may just be a little green, just needs a little more time to fill out. If they were black and had pretty white faces and ears like #3, I'd have an opinion on them all.


Good job with them, and good luck when the bull goes in.

 

[Nesikep]

They'll be bred to a Limo bull, it'll be the first time we use him, and I don't think he's a good match for #3, but will do well especially with #1 and 4, which are the "stout" ones as he has quite a frame on him. It'll take a year before I even get a clue about how they really do and if they live up to or exceed my expectations for them

 

[Nesikep]

Oh, I should add a bit more info to them all too

#1 has no siblings to compare to as far as heifers, however, her mother's first calf (bull) weaned at 675, and her 3rd (bull) is about 300-350 lbs at 52 days, he's going to be something else this fall, probably in the 750 lb range, and her mother isn't a big cow, probably frame 5ish and 1400 lbs.

#2 I has 2 full sisters and 1 half sister, the two older ones are doing really well, the 3rd has her first calf and is the lowest of the low in the pecking order, she's going to have a small calf this year, I'll reserve judgement on her until she gets a chance to push someone else for food.

#3 has 1 full sister, she's got her second calf, and is a better looking cow in my eyes, a little more compact. She's got a steer this year and he's doing OK, but isn't going to be exceptional.. probably wean around 600 or so, which is about what she did last year

#4 has 1 full sister that's got her 3rd calf, she is very similar, though perhaps a bit taller... She's raising a nice bull calf this year that ought to be around 675-700 at weaning