Limomike, those are indeed 2 decent looking 12 year olds!
StockerSteve... I know what you mean! At one time most of our herd was from 1 cow, but I've been culling them off slowly because a lot of them are troublesome. After this fall I'll be down to about 3 cows from them down from 8 or so.. One of the one I'll keep I don't think i'll retain offspring from, but she is a good cow otherwise, Another seems to make bomber steers but can't make a decent looking heifer, and the 3rd... well, she's had 5 calves, and all of them bulls... I think she is the best of the bunch and have been waiting a long time for a heifer from her.. She's missed her chance to make a Gelbveih cross daughter, so now we'll see how she does with a Limo.
I have another line that has been increasing in strength, with one half of the line being the weight producers, super heavy milkers and stay in decent enough shape, but had trouble breeding, which I attributed largely to a very inadequate mineral supplement (AKA, none.. blue blocks) and they've done better since then... The other half of the line have been structurally more correct, and very long lasting animals... Current oldest is Caddy at 8 years old, her mother had 16 calves and grandmother had 13, I don't see any reason why she shouldn't get in that range either. Caddy may not be have the best topline, but I'd put her udder under any cow, she has outstanding calving ease (usually about a minute after the nose shows it's all over), she stays FAT and made a 740 lb bull calf last year. She has 2 daughters, one is raising her second calf, a heifer that is a replacement candidate, and the other didn't breed on time last year, (due in august), I might keep her until next spring and sell her as a bred cow, and she should get a decent price, she's a very nice looking animal.
