Udder Topic

[Bright Raven]

As a herd, I am pleased with the udders I see. I have one cow that I plan to cull at the end of this calf season because of udder.

Here are some pictures:
Miss Mo. Second calver:

Tatum. Grandmaster her 5th calf.

Love My Heart. Second calver out of my Flying B Cut Above cow.

Alice. Shear Force. Heifer due Nov. 1.

Optimum Price. First calf. Sired by Cowboy Cut.

 

[Redgully]

Nice udders. Excellent teats. I like udders like that because as the cow ages you don't end up with a saggy baggy udder.

 

[Nesikep]

yep, teats the size of a thumb are just perfect.. This is the cow I lost this spring at 12 years old.. probably as perfect as it gets for a beef cow.. Mother of my last homeraised bull, so hoping his daughters carry some of that on.. She was Shorthorn Saler

 

[TN Cattle Man]

I have always liked cows that had white on their udders... not sure if there is a scientific explanation or not, but they just seem to have the best udders. That, and that is what my dad has always said. Anyone else have any insight to this?

 

[gizmom]

Mr. Winter was one of our mentors when we first got cattle, he always said white on the udder meant more milk. I haven't found that to be true but I can't disprove it either. Keep in mind this was before we had DNA on everything and folks had to breed based on eye appeal and performance, not by numbers. I understand progress in most cases is good but I do believe that having all this data has eliminated some cattle that were just bred to be good but get overlooked because they don't have big numbers. I still like seeing some white on an udder, it reminds me of Mr. Calvin and God bless him he is worth remembering. He sure had some fine Angus cattle over the years.

gizmom

 

[TexasBred]

I have always liked cows that had white on their udders... not sure if there is a scientific explanation or not, but they just seem to have the best udders. That, and that is what my dad has always said. Anyone else have any insight to this?

You probably weren't looking at herefords. :nod:

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I have always liked cows that had white on their udders... not sure if there is a scientific explanation or not, but they just seem to have the best udders. That, and that is what my dad has always said. Anyone else have any insight to this?

You probably weren't looking at herefords. :nod:

seen some that looked like a bundle of bananas...

 

[wbvs58]

Yes Ron, nice looking udders but how do they actually perform? You subsidise their performance by creep feeding and early weaning.

Ken

 

[Bright Raven]

Yes Ron, nice looking udders but how do they actually perform? You subsidise their performance by creep feeding and early weaning.

Ken

They perform well under the demands of my system. If I kept the calves on longer, it would put more stress on the udder.

 

[Nesikep]

I have always liked cows that had white on their udders... not sure if there is a scientific explanation or not, but they just seem to have the best udders. That, and that is what my dad has always said. Anyone else have any insight to this?

You probably weren't looking at herefords. :nod:

seen some that looked like a bundle of bananas...

better than a bundle of turnips, which I've seen

 

[Nesikep]

Speaking of, brings up the Jim Lentz video I saw on linebreeding... shame he paid so much attention to frame score and none to the the udders.. I like the cattle looking at the top half and shudder when I see the udder
[youtube]https://youtu.be/FXFZRfh571c[/youtube]

 

[holm25]

Overall I have been pretty happy with the overall udder quality in our herd... Have culled out some cows with bad udders and only been keeping heifers from our cows with better udders.. I know a lot of people say that the sire influences the udder more than dam but a lot of our heifers udders turn out just like moms..

Both these cows have decent udders but I prefer the red cows udder over the tan cow...

 

[Nesikep]

both of those have perfectly functioning udders.. I certainly wouldn't have any reservations about keeping calves from the red.
I've found maternal lines very important for udder traits.. after 4 generations of breeding to similar bulls, the maternal lines that started with good udders still have good udders, the ones that didn't, well, they're hit and miss.

 

[holm25]

Nesi this is the udder on a heifer we kept from that red cow. She's a smaller heifer with a smaller bag but she must make ALOT of milk as she is doing good her first year. I imagine her bag will be bigger and so will her tests come next calving but if it stays as nice and uniform as it is it should be good.. I found heifers usually have smaller bags their first year and then come second year they have bags that are noticeably bigger?

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Yes Ron, nice looking udders but how do they actually perform? You subsidise their performance by creep feeding and early weaning.

Ken

They perform well under the demands of my system. If I kept the calves on longer, it would put more stress on the udder.

how will you ever find out if their udder will stand up under stress? I've had cows into their Mid 20s that their udders look like heifers...

 

[Bright Raven]

Yes Ron, nice looking udders but how do they actually perform? You subsidise their performance by creep feeding and early weaning.

Ken

They perform well under the demands of my system. If I kept the calves on longer, it would put more stress on the udder.

how will you ever find out if their udder will stand up under stress? I've had cows into their Mid 20s that their udders look like heifers...

How will I find out if my cow's udders will hold up "under stress"? That implys that the udders of my cows do not have any "stress". I don't think Ken is implying that they have "no stress". His implication is that they are not tested to the extent that they might be under conditions where I leave the calf on the cow longer.

Maybe we need to reset. I wean my calves at six months of age. I have a simple philosophy: a 600 to 700 pound calf does not need mommy's milk. In regard to creep feeding: I halter break all my calves. I set feed troughs up in an area separated from the cows so the calves will come into an area where they can be trapped and moved to the halter area. Perhaps my cows udders are not "tested" to the maximum under those management practices.

What is perhaps more important is that I have FAITH, Not in a spiritual sense but in the men who spent their careers in the breeding of the cows that stand in my pastures. And in the breeders of the bulls I use in my program. I have faith in the pedigrees and bloodlines of the cattle accumulated from Rocking P Livestock, Maple Leaf Farm (Roy Canada), Double Diamond Farms and Fire Sweep Simmentals. The original nucleus of my herd was started with cattle off the Rocking P farm. Their genetics run through 65 % of my herd.

Finally, your question can be asked of every heifer that every producer retains. How will that heifer's udder hold up? How will her udder be 20 years down the road? As producers who retain heifers, all we can do is have faith in the bloodline that produced that heifer.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Speaking of, brings up the Jim Lentz video I saw on linebreeding...

Grind the works of them. Hereford - the race to the bottom.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

They perform well under the demands of my system. If I kept the calves on longer, it would put more stress on the udder.

how will you ever find out if their udder will stand up under stress? I've had cows into their Mid 20s that their udders look like heifers...

How will I find out if my cow's udders will hold up "under stress"? That implys that the udders of my cows do not have any "stress". .....my reply was to what was originally said.. creep feeding and ". early weaning"" ..weaning at six to seven months..is not early weaning...

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Speaking of, brings up the Jim Lentz video I saw on linebreeding...

Grind the works of them. Hereford - the race to the bottom.

hope not, I got a line one bull in the pasture... :cowboy:

 

[Bright Raven]

how will you ever find out if their udder will stand up under stress? I've had cows into their Mid 20s that their udders look like heifers...

How will I find out if my cow's udders will hold up "under stress"? That implys that the udders of my cows do not have any "stress". .....my reply was to what was originally said.. creep feeding and ". early weaning"" ..weaning at six to seven months..is not early weaning...

Ken may not know that I don't wean early by most standards. I think seven months is standard.