Udder

[MurraysMutts]

No wonder she grows such a big calf...

 

[SBMF 2015]

Angus cows with just a touch of white on their udder are usually milking machines.

 

[76 Bar]

Thats been my experience with RA as well.

 

[76 Bar]

No wonder she grows such a big calf...

Nice udder on your cow Murray.

 

[MurraysMutts]

No wonder she grows such a big calf...

Nice udder on your cow Murray.

Thx!

Anyone notice the extra teat?
Lolz..

I need to get a pic of shirley too. Pretty sure shes just as good. Both those cows always have a surplus of milk, even when a calf is on em.

 

[76 Bar]

Anyone notice the extra teat?

Yes superficial & adjacent to left hind teat. When I mark I remove extraneous ones and note it my records.

 

[Katpau]

Anyone notice the extra teat?

Yes superficial & adjacent to left hind teat. When I mark I remove extraneous ones and note it my records.

At what age do you remove them? When I select replacements, it is generally based on the quality of her mother and her own pre-weaning performance. I hadn't thought much about her udder at that age. Is it possible to judge the udder on a 6-7 month old heifer? I haven't done that, but maybe I should.

I too have noticed that some of my Angus cows that raise the heaviest calf, have some white on their udder. It also seems like the best milkers often have extra teats.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I've heard its genetic.
I guess to some folks it is a culling offense..
Reminds me, I need to check her first born daughter.
She just weaned a calf, but I never looked that hard at her udder. She did a good job. She had a heifer too.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I have been told on good authority that back in the 70's a very prominent Angus line had a trace of Holstein blood in their back ground, and that white on their udder is just a little of that Holstein poking through.

 

[Dsth]

Nice looking udder on that cow Murray. looks like that extra teat isn't functional in the pic. when I was milking Holsteins it was common practice to remove extra teats when running heifers through the chute. when I switched to beef I asked vet about removing the extras but he said for beef cows "the more the merrier." Seems like my beef cows that have extras have 2 behind the 4 normal ones and have seen newborn calves suck on them and seem to be functional. Once the calves get old enough to rob from other cows, I suppose they could feed 6 calves at a time.

 

[farmerjan]

Those extra teats that seem functional have milk coming from the quarter they are closest to. There are only 4 quarters... so they are getting milk from the same quarter as the "normal teat" that they are closest to. So you might have 6 sucking in a strange way... although they could not all get their heads under/in there.... but will be getting it from the 4 "wells" (quarters)...

 

[WFfarm]

I have been told on good authority that back in the 70's a very prominent Angus line had a trace of Holstein blood in their back ground, and that white on their udder is just a little of that Holstein poking through.

I had heard the same thing. It was said that Holstein was used to increase the frame size and milk capacity from the boxy little Anguses from the 40s and 50s.

 

[76 Bar]

Some big Angus boys from pardon the pun height of the frame race era in the late '80's:
https://msu.edu/~ritchieh/historical/dameron_linedrive.jpg
https://msu.edu/~ritchieh/historical/cobblepond_newyorker.jpg

 

[Nesikep]

I called Mega a cow-and-a-half.. she had 6 teats, and they all had milk, though the hind pair it wasn't much, she did milk very well
I look at teat spacing early on, 4 or 6 and evenly spaced usually makes for a nice udder, odd numbers or "twinned" teats not so much
https://youtu.be/xAHocPZnhQQ

calve could poke an eye out on these.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Some big Angus boys from pardon the pun height of the frame race era in the late '80's:
https://msu.edu/~ritchieh/historical/dameron_linedrive.jpg
https://msu.edu/~ritchieh/historical/cobblepond_newyorker.jpg

A lot of soup bone with that kind. Need a char X to avoid a big discount at the sales barn.

 

[farmerjan]

Alot of those "mega tall angus" had some Chi in them too. Not acknowledged, but as a relief technician for a local AI guy here, you would be surprised what I wound up using on a few of these super tall cattle. Alot of the beef farmers would have their own tanks, and get semen they wanted and store it, but did not do their own breeding. Hate to tell you some of the straws of semen that was put into those cows.... they thought I wouldn't pay attention to the printing on the straws, as they would want me to just give them the straw after the cow was bred and "they would record it" in their records....As long as I didn't sign a breeding slip for them, I could not be held liable for any "mistakes"...... Of course, they didn't do DNA like they do today....
I often wound up standing on a milk crate to get up high enough to get the right angle and all to get some of them bred... you can't breed cows that you can't get your arm into because they are above your head....LOL

 

[MurraysMutts]

This girl is SUPPOSED to be out of a chi influenced bull. I have a half sister too. She isnt quite as tall. Probly my 2nd gentlest cow. She the one with the hat on in another thread. Good Milker too! She dry right now. Weaned a good heifer.

 

[TCRanch]

What are your thoughts on an old swing bag? She's 10 1/2, excellent condition (prob a good 1700 lbs), raising a very nice heifer calf and zero health issues. On the one hand, it kind of concerns me. On the other hand, I don't know why. Probably not unusual for a dairy breed but she's all beef. Bag gets huuuuge before she calves but not her teats.

 

[MurraysMutts]

What are your thoughts on an old swing bag? She's 10 1/2, excellent condition (prob a good 1700 lbs), raising a very nice heifer calf and zero health issues. On the one hand, it kind of concerns me. On the other hand, I don't know why. Probably not unusual for a dairy breed but she's all beef. Bag gets huuuuge before she calves but not her teats.

My Bertha (sevens mama) is pretty close to that!
Maybe a bit more level, but just huge. Huge. Huge.
She ain't that old. 7 or 8 I think. As long as she keeps doing her job, I'm gonna keep her a while.
She should be calving any freaking second. I keep waiting. She let's anyone nurse that has a desire to.

 

[TCRanch]

76 Bar posted this link in another thread. My old swing bag is looking like a 4. Evidently that's what has been worrying me.

http://www.angusjournal.com/articlepdf/udders%2008_11%20aj.pdf