Ton cow

[Schnurrbart]

About 900# too much for my tastes. Nice looking but way too heavy.

 

[Brandonm2]

the way i see it if a 2000lb cow can wean say a 750lb calf.its the same as say a 1200lb weaning the same 750lb calf.so i fail to seen your point.1 calf weans at 35 to 40% of the cows weight.the other at 50 to 60%.so the upkeep on both cows would just about be the same,the ton cow wont pull down near as bad as the 1200lb cow.the 1200lb cow will require a good deal of feed after weaning a big calf.so its all about 50/50 to me.

What world are you living in??
The only way a typical 2000 lb cow is in better condition than a typical 1200 lb cow of the same age, breed, days of lactation, and milking ability is if you aren't putting out enough hay rings and the moose is kicking the smaller cows out of the ring and she is getting all the food.

(and Jean is right you weigh cows TYPICALLY when you work the calves at ~90 days. A bunch of us MIGHT have had cows that weighed 2000 lbs 8 months bred if we had run her across a scale then.)

 

[Aero]

(and Jean is right you weigh cows TYPICALLY when you work the calves at ~90 days. A bunch of us MIGHT have had cows that weighed 2000 lbs 8 months bred if we had run her across a scale then.)

i think the Angus Association wants cow weights and condition scores collected w/in 30 days of weaning.

 

[Schnurrbart]

Oh it can get even more confusing... The US actually uses the short ton for its ton (2000 pounds)... Here is something from on line conversions

The British ton is the long ton, which is 2240 pounds, and the U.S. ton is the short ton which is 2000 pounds.

Both tons are actually defined in the same way. 1 ton is equal to 20 hundredweight. It is just the definition of the hundredweight that differs between countries. In the U.S. there are 100 pounds in the hundredweight, and in Britain there are 112 pounds in the hundredweight. This causes the actual weight of the ton to differ between countries.

To distinguish between the two tons, the smaller U.S. ton is called short, while the larger British ton is called long.

There is also an third type of ton called the metric ton, equal to 1000 kilograms, or approximately 2204 pounds. The metric ton is officially called tonne. The SI standard calls it tonne, but the U.S. Government recommends calling it metric ton.



Clear as mud? I don't know why for the brits the 100 weigh was 112 pounds, I'm sure their is a reason for that somewhere in time..

And then there is the troy system although it doesn't go to tons.

 

[Pegram]

A cow that big eats alot of feed, and if you are hurting for pasture, because of drought, (or what have you),big cows could break you. I prefer smaller cows, but i do admit I have cows that are close to a ton.

 

[Brandonm2]

(and Jean is right you weigh cows TYPICALLY when you work the calves at ~90 days. A bunch of us MIGHT have had cows that weighed 2000 lbs 8 months bred if we had run her across a scale then.)

i think the Angus Association wants cow weights and condition scores collected w/in 30 days of weaning.

I don't know what any association wants. Here we calved in February and needed to deworm everything in the spring as well as vaccinate the calves for Blackleg while we were tagging and castrating. We also liked to vaccinate all the cows before turning the bulls in. IF you preg check all the cows, doing it in the fall would be just as convenient. Of course condition scoring doesn't require the cow to be in a chute.

 

[bigbull338]

the way i see it if a 2000lb cow can wean say a 750lb calf.its the same as say a 1200lb weaning the same 750lb calf.so i fail to seen your point.1 calf weans at 35 to 40% of the cows weight.the other at 50 to 60%.so the upkeep on both cows would just about be the same,the ton cow wont pull down near as bad as the 1200lb cow.the 1200lb cow will require a good deal of feed after weaning a big calf.so its all about 50/50 to me.

What world are you living in??
The only way a typical 2000 lb cow is in better condition than a typical 1200 lb cow of the same age, breed, days of lactation, and milking ability is if you aren't putting out enough hay rings and the moose is kicking the smaller cows out of the ring and she is getting all the food.

(and Jean is right you weigh cows TYPICALLY when you work the calves at ~90 days. A bunch of us MIGHT have had cows that weighed 2000 lbs 8 months bred if we had run her across a scale then.)

im living in the same world as you are.an we have our own opions an thopughts.an i dont conform to your thoughts.i treat cows the same weather they weigh 1200 or 2000.an the upkeep for both is the same to me.they are both fed the same.no special treatment.

 

[Wewild]

the way i see it if a 2000lb cow can wean say a 750lb calf.its the same as say a 1200lb weaning the same 750lb calf.so i fail to seen your point.1 calf weans at 35 to 40% of the cows weight.the other at 50 to 60%.so the upkeep on both cows would just about be the same,the ton cow wont pull down near as bad as the 1200lb cow.the 1200lb cow will require a good deal of feed after weaning a big calf.so its all about 50/50 to me.

What world are you living in??
The only way a typical 2000 lb cow is in better condition than a typical 1200 lb cow of the same age, breed, days of lactation, and milking ability is if you aren't putting out enough hay rings and the moose is kicking the smaller cows out of the ring and she is getting all the food.

(and Jean is right you weigh cows TYPICALLY when you work the calves at ~90 days. A bunch of us MIGHT have had cows that weighed 2000 lbs 8 months bred if we had run her across a scale then.)

im living in the same world as you are.an we have our own opions an thopughts.an i dont conform to your thoughts.i treat cows the same weather they weigh 1200 or 2000.an the upkeep for both is the same to me.they are both fed the same.no special treatment.

In golfing terms "4".

What you gona use Brandonm2. I think I would use a driver????

 

[KenB]

SA went over to the metric system in 1961, I wasn't even born then

I've got socks older then that!

dun

:lol: You too.

 

[Beef11]

im living in the same world as you are.an we have our own opions an thopughts.an i dont conform to your thoughts.i treat cows the same weather they weigh 1200 or 2000.an the upkeep for both is the same to me.they are both fed the same.no special treatment.

So you regulate the intake on the bigger cows so that they only eat as much as their smaller friends? How do you do that on pasture?

 

[bigbull338]

im living in the same world as you are.an we have our own opions an thopughts.an i dont conform to your thoughts.i treat cows the same weather they weigh 1200 or 2000.an the upkeep for both is the same to me.they are both fed the same.no special treatment.

So you regulate the intake on the bigger cows so that they only eat as much as their smaller friends? How do you do that on pasture?

they can have all the pasture they want.the management skills are the same.the feed isnt adjusted up or down.its clear that we dont see eye to eye on things.an we both know it.so no need in trying to kick up dust on the subject.

 

[Aero]

im living in the same world as you are.an we have our own opions an thopughts.an i dont conform to your thoughts.i treat cows the same weather they weigh 1200 or 2000.an the upkeep for both is the same to me.they are both fed the same.no special treatment.

i will give this one more shot

imagine human A weighs 200 lb and human B weighs 500 lb. (a fair comparison)

assume you feed both humans the amount of food human A needs and they have the exact same activity, what is going to happen to human B?

human B is going to lose wight (quickly). why? because their nutritional requirements are very different.

what would you have to do to keep them both at the same weight? feed human B quite a bit more than human A.

if their cow equivalents are producing the same size calf, and the 2 calves bring $500 each, which will make you more money?

imagine cow A (1200 lb) eats $100 of feed in a year and cow B (2000 lb) eats $200 per year. the cow A made you an extra $100 that year.

if they both weaned 50% of their weight, the story changes quite a bit.

cow A weans a 600 lb calf @ $95/cwt = $570
cow B weans a 1000 lb calf @ $75/cwt = $750

cow B generated $180 more for her calf and pulled her weight.

the chances of her weaning a 1000 lb calf without heavy creep feed is quite unlikely (nearly impossible). 50% weaned from a 1200 lb cow is routine in many places.

it's about efficiency. if you arent interested in making money, that's your path. i choose a different one.

 

[Aero]

they can have all the pasture they want.the management skills are the same.the feed isnt adjusted up or down.its clear that we dont see eye to eye on things.an we both know it.so no need in trying to kick up dust on the subject.

the amount of pasture they consume costs you too... (hay, stocking rate, etc)


no more from me. yall have a good time.

 

[Brandonm2]

im living in the same world as you are.an we have our own opions an thopughts.an i dont conform to your thoughts.i treat cows the same weather they weigh 1200 or 2000.an the upkeep for both is the same to me.they are both fed the same.no special treatment.

So you regulate the intake on the bigger cows so that they only eat as much as their smaller friends? How do you do that on pasture?

There are people whom I respect who like big moosy cows that you almost can't see over the top of and they have their reasons (which I disagree with but I still respect). This string is the FIRST place where anybody has ever suggested that their big cows didn't eat ANY more than their moderate cows, both groups wean off the same VERY impressive 750 lb calves (I assume that is an adjusted 205 day number), and the 40% smaller cows are the skinny ones at the end of the year.

 

[MountainFarmChar]

What do you think of a cow that weighs a ton? She is a 3 year old Simmental about to have her second calf. We put her on the scale and she weighed just over a ton. I would not say she is too fat, either. Just a big cow. Big boned and a lot of meat. I'm not sure what her frame score is. Need to measure her. Anyway, what are the advantages and disadvantages of a large cow? A couple of commercial cattlemen have seen her and said "Forget those small Angus cows - I like HER!" However, I know that most want a moderate frame. Her first calf, a bull, weighed 80 lb at birth and weaned at 875 (205 days). He is a 7 frame. Thanks for your comments.

By looking at the picture I would have never guessed her to weigh 2000# :shock: . I have had a few big cows like that in the past but have gotten away from that size cows for different reasons. I must say a 875# calf at 7 months is a lot of beef :nod: .

Good luck with her, I hope you wean another 900# calf!

 

[blk mule]

Reading these post about big cows reminds me, in June 2006
Angus breeder few miles up the road ask me to stop by. I did and while i was there i noticed a huge cow ask, what did she weight he said, don`t know but, we will find out. We put her on scales and her wt. was 2180 lbs (open). she was 4 yrs. old.

Just way to big. She hardly got inside the scales. Don`t remember her Sire or Dam. (really didn`t care)

blk mule

 

[movin' on]

The upkeep for a 2000 lb. cow is the same as the upkeep for a 1200 lb. cow??????? I guess by this logic a big truck engine would get the same mileage as a volkswagon, right?

 

[DOC HARRIS]

the way i see it if a 2000lb cow can wean say a 750lb calf.its the same as say a 1200lb weaning the same 750lb calf.so i fail to seen your point.1 calf weans at 35 to 40% of the cows weight.the other at 50 to 60%.so the upkeep on both cows would just about be the same,the ton cow wont pull down near as bad as the 1200lb cow.the 1200lb cow will require a good deal of feed after weaning a big calf.so its all about 50/50 to me.

did you forget to take the crazy pills this morning?

the cow has to be fed year-round... not just after weaning.

a calf that weighs 700 lbs requires the same nutrition no matter what size its dam is. the only reason the 2000 lb cow is in better shape is because she has consumed much more than her fair share of available resources. the 1200 lb cow used much less of the resources throughout the year.

do you think your land will support just as many 2000 lb cows as 1200 lb cows? 1000lb cows?

:shock: :shock: SAY WHAT?? :shock: :???: The upkeep on both cows would definitely NOT be the same!! :roll: In addition to that, in light of one cow being 800# to 1000# HEAVIER than the other, you could increase the NUMBER of 1200# brood cows in your same land area by 35 - 40%! Increase you calf production by even 25%, and you could put some BIG wheels on that 2000# "bunk hog" (pretty darned good phenotype, by the way!) and make a Profit of about $75.00 per cow by using a lighter (1100#) momma cow instead!

If you keep accurate records - you should realize that you will reduce your COW SIZE - no matter how good her phenotype "LOOKS"!

DOC HARRIS

 

[Aero]

OK, i said i was done with this thread but i received an email regarding this area i am just learning about: metabolic weight.

the nutritional level for animals is not rated on their weight (aka a 2000 lb cow does not consume twice as much as a 1000 lb cow); it's roughly determined by their metabolic weight.

metabolic weight is calculated by (animal weight)^0.75

metabolic weights calculated
1000 lb cow = 178
1200 lb cow = 204
1500 lb cow = 241
2000 lb cow = 299

comparing the 1000 lb cow to the 2000 lb cow, the larger cow must only wean a calf that is 1.68 times heavier than the calf of the smaller cow.

if the 1000 lb cow weans a 500 lb calf (50%), the 2000 lb cow must only wean a 840 lb calf to be just as efficient.

equivalent weaning efficiencies
1000 lb cow - 500 lb calf
1200 lb cow - 573 lb calf
1500 lb cow - 677 lb calf
2000 lb cow - 840 lb calf

 

[mwj]

Nice set of figures but we need to see where they came from! :cboy: