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Breeding / Calving Issues
Thoughts on purebred vs crossbred heifers
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<blockquote data-quote="Nesikep" data-source="post: 1057397" data-attributes="member: 9096"><p>Well, I would say that unless you have exceptional heifers, most of their heifer calves are going to have to be pushed hard to catch up with a heifer from a mature cow, and that you can probably buy heifer calves that are going to be in better shape... This of course depends a lot on how much feed you can throw at them. I have a heifer cow with a heifer calf this year, and I must say I think she looks quite nice as far as build.. but she's about 150 lbs off the mark for weight, which means she's going to get pushed around more at the feed trough... The problem gets compounded once they have a calf sucking on them and they need to breed back in their 2nd year... I have one heifer cow who is raising the biggest calf of the first timers, and she was in fine shape in spring and has been sucked dry, and she's on good pasture as well... if she hadn't been in excellent shape there'd just be nothing left of her.</p><p></p><p>I personally would say use this bull on these heifers, despite being unproven, "chances are" he's going to have good birth weights that they can handle, and give yourself time to look at a LOT of different bulls and really pick one that's going to do what you want... the price of butcher bulls is close to $1/lb here, so by having him gain some weight you aren't losing out there. I can't remember where it was posted, but Hillsdown posted a picture of a Gelbvieh bull that was really nice.</p><p></p><p>I wouldn't worry about purebred/crossbred for now either.... you have purebred? stay with it and for the next bull, if you want crossbred cows, pick a different breed and raise your own crossbred heifers... Who was it who said "It's not the destination that matters, but the journey"? You may not make as much money if the calves are a bit lighter, but for 4 head, it's not going to make or break you... you're going to learn, and you may well change your mind several times about the direction you want your breeding to go.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nesikep, post: 1057397, member: 9096"] Well, I would say that unless you have exceptional heifers, most of their heifer calves are going to have to be pushed hard to catch up with a heifer from a mature cow, and that you can probably buy heifer calves that are going to be in better shape... This of course depends a lot on how much feed you can throw at them. I have a heifer cow with a heifer calf this year, and I must say I think she looks quite nice as far as build.. but she's about 150 lbs off the mark for weight, which means she's going to get pushed around more at the feed trough... The problem gets compounded once they have a calf sucking on them and they need to breed back in their 2nd year... I have one heifer cow who is raising the biggest calf of the first timers, and she was in fine shape in spring and has been sucked dry, and she's on good pasture as well... if she hadn't been in excellent shape there'd just be nothing left of her. I personally would say use this bull on these heifers, despite being unproven, "chances are" he's going to have good birth weights that they can handle, and give yourself time to look at a LOT of different bulls and really pick one that's going to do what you want... the price of butcher bulls is close to $1/lb here, so by having him gain some weight you aren't losing out there. I can't remember where it was posted, but Hillsdown posted a picture of a Gelbvieh bull that was really nice. I wouldn't worry about purebred/crossbred for now either.... you have purebred? stay with it and for the next bull, if you want crossbred cows, pick a different breed and raise your own crossbred heifers... Who was it who said "It's not the destination that matters, but the journey"? You may not make as much money if the calves are a bit lighter, but for 4 head, it's not going to make or break you... you're going to learn, and you may well change your mind several times about the direction you want your breeding to go. [/QUOTE]
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