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To keep heifers back or not?
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<blockquote data-quote="Anguscattle" data-source="post: 918799" data-attributes="member: 18475"><p>With our registered herd we retain heifers yearly. I like to know how my registered cattle were raised etc.. And i have the records on the dams so I know how reproductive she is/was. Therefore I know that this said heifer I keep should produce. </p><p></p><p>As for our commercial cattle... A little different. I like to stretch a cow out as far as she'll go. In other words, as long as she is retaining and regaining weight before/after calving and is producing a calf within a year, keep her. When she hits 8 years old we start anticipating a heifer to be kept to replace her. The idea is to have that heifer calve before that cow is ready to ship. And 9.5 times out of 10 it works that way. When the heifer calves, the cow is 10. Maybe she's ready to ship, maybe not. But if she is, we have a cow in production to replace her. And my take is, if your cattle cant make it to 10 years old and still produce effieciently, you need to upgrade your genetics. There's NO reason why a cow shouldnt be able to produce at a high level at that age. 10 is our number. If we can get an extra couple years, great. If not, oh well, She earned her way those 10 years. We usually do get a couple extra though.</p><p></p><p>Although salebarn cattle have made some people rich. I get sick when I have to go get a cow to add to the herd from a salebarn. I hate bringing outside cattle in. Its a risk. There are so many diseases these cattle are exposed to. not to mention you have no idea where they came from, what type of management system they came from, their breeding history, genetics...etc. You ALWAYS have to think, this cow is being sold for a reason!! Usually either bc theyre sick, or werent producing etc. Every once in a while you can find that gold mine in the salebarn. Be prepared to look hard though.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Anguscattle, post: 918799, member: 18475"] With our registered herd we retain heifers yearly. I like to know how my registered cattle were raised etc.. And i have the records on the dams so I know how reproductive she is/was. Therefore I know that this said heifer I keep should produce. As for our commercial cattle... A little different. I like to stretch a cow out as far as she'll go. In other words, as long as she is retaining and regaining weight before/after calving and is producing a calf within a year, keep her. When she hits 8 years old we start anticipating a heifer to be kept to replace her. The idea is to have that heifer calve before that cow is ready to ship. And 9.5 times out of 10 it works that way. When the heifer calves, the cow is 10. Maybe she's ready to ship, maybe not. But if she is, we have a cow in production to replace her. And my take is, if your cattle cant make it to 10 years old and still produce effieciently, you need to upgrade your genetics. There's NO reason why a cow shouldnt be able to produce at a high level at that age. 10 is our number. If we can get an extra couple years, great. If not, oh well, She earned her way those 10 years. We usually do get a couple extra though. Although salebarn cattle have made some people rich. I get sick when I have to go get a cow to add to the herd from a salebarn. I hate bringing outside cattle in. Its a risk. There are so many diseases these cattle are exposed to. not to mention you have no idea where they came from, what type of management system they came from, their breeding history, genetics...etc. You ALWAYS have to think, this cow is being sold for a reason!! Usually either bc theyre sick, or werent producing etc. Every once in a while you can find that gold mine in the salebarn. Be prepared to look hard though. [/QUOTE]
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