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I'm not usually without something else that I could put with her. But, since selling off the commercial girls my cow count is down. I've pretty much decided that I will start bringing all my weaned calves to the house and taking care of them over here until they are big enough to hang with the bigger girls. Her problem is she is a 6/700 pound girl in with 13/1400 pounders.
 
slick4591":2wy9zmgg said:
I'm not usually without something else that I could put with her. But, since selling off the commercial girls my cow count is down. I've pretty much decided that I will start bringing all my weaned calves to the house and taking care of them over here until they are big enough to hang with the bigger girls. Her problem is she is a 6/700 pound girl in with 13/1400 pounders.
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I'm with you on this one slick. I don't think that it is fair for a single to have to try to fight off a group of older, bigger cows. If there was at least one other she could keep company with they would probably sort it out a little better. And I do not agree with the comment that you will have to baby or make excuses for her daughters. I don't think it is fair to her to have to try to be more than she is until she gets some growth. I would try to find someone to run with her, like Kenny said, and then sell it down the road when she is big enough to fight for her place in the herd. She needs a chance to get a decent meal to grow. I do not believe in raising my 300 lb weaned calves with the 700 lb calves. We raise all our similiar sized heifers together, and calve them together, so they don't have to fight off bigger more aggressive cows when they are just getting started. I'm not saying they get babied, they just don't have to try to compete with older boss cows until they figure out what is what.
 
farmerjan":2lh70a8e said:
slick4591":2lh70a8e said:
I'm not usually without something else that I could put with her. But, since selling off the commercial girls my cow count is down. I've pretty much decided that I will start bringing all my weaned calves to the house and taking care of them over here until they are big enough to hang with the bigger girls. Her problem is she is a 6/700 pound girl in with 13/1400 pounders.
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I'm with you on this one slick. I don't think that it is fair for a single to have to try to fight off a group of older, bigger cows. If there was at least one other she could keep company with they would probably sort it out a little better. And I do not agree with the comment that you will have to baby or make excuses for her daughters. I don't think it is fair to her to have to try to be more than she is until she gets some growth. I would try to find someone to run with her, like Kenny said, and then sell it down the road when she is big enough to fight for her place in the herd. She needs a chance to get a decent meal to grow. I do not believe in raising my 300 lb weaned calves with the 700 lb calves. We raise all our similiar sized heifers together, and calve them together, so they don't have to fight off bigger more aggressive cows when they are just getting started. I'm not saying they get babied, they just don't have to try to compete with older boss cows until they figure out what is what.
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Wished I had more places to put them at the farm, but I'll do what I have to. This girl came from an online sale and was just the wrong age in order to fit in a little better. That's my fault and I'll have to bear the expense for compulsive shopping. This is kinda like the thread I started about raising baby bulls, only it looks like I'm going to have to start with a heifer.
 
slick4591":3hvw2a4a said:
I guess I just decided to buy one for company and move my heifer to the house. I'll pick up this girl tomorrow.

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Slick, I've always liked girls with long legs :)
 
Txpiney":2zggr4yb said:
slick4591":2zggr4yb said:
I guess I just decided to buy one for company and move my heifer to the house. I'll pick up this girl tomorrow.

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Slick, I've always liked girls with long legs :)
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:lol: In this case it doesn't matter to me what length they are. The price is right and she is ambulatory. Good enough for my purposes right now.
 
This brings up a question that I've had about one I've got. She's really, really timid and is always the last to eat or drink. She's a full LH, so she's gone after she has a calf this next year and I can wean it. However, b/c of this, will her calf suffer growth-wise b/c she's the last to eat? I always spread out hay when we feed and we've got a pattern down for graining so she gets some, but I've always wondered how much this will affect her calf. Anyone have any experience with this?
 
In my case I throw out 25 lbs of cubes at each feeding for a young bull, three cows and this heifer. She wouldn't get much at a time because of having to run from the cows. Same thing at the hay rings. I wouldn't be so worried if she was able to stay at the hay, but once they all finished and leave I watch her walk up, take a few bites and leave to join the others. One year is crucial time for Pieds and their development, so that's why I'm taking action now. Sure don't want to end up with a stunted heifer and I'm pretty sure I will at this rate. I've read it here that they can't grow on air.
 
slick4591":19iks5g9 said:
In my case I throw out 25 lbs of cubes at each feeding for a young bull, three cows and this heifer. She wouldn't get much at a time because of having to run from the cows. Same thing at the hay rings. I wouldn't be so worried if she was able to stay at the hay, but once they all finished and leave I watch her walk up, take a few bites and leave to join the others. One year is crucial time for Pieds and their development, so that's why I'm taking action now. Sure don't want to end up with a stunted heifer and I'm pretty sure I will at this rate. I've read it here that they can't grow on air.
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If you picked that babe up at the stockyard. You might need to quarantine her a few days...
 
Hope she helps your heifer to get used to being somewhere besides the bottom of the pecking order. Nothing else matters except she is basically healthy and not a bully. 2 weeks should have showed if she had any major problems, and if yours is vaccinated she will hopefully have some resistance to "germs".
I've never really thought about it before, because we have never put a single in with an established group; never put a younger one in with an older group. We have always made sure there are at least 2 together when they go in with any new ones and we don't mix sizes when one size is "growing" because they can't get far enough away to eat in peace. Whether it is cattle or the sheep or hogs or anything. We don't put different age chickens together either. The young ones will get introduced into the mature birds when we set up breeding pens. Then there is alot of mixing and after breeding season is done, then they seem to be old enough and mature enough to be able to figure it out and claim their own "spot".
 
Mine are all up to date on vaccinations so that's not a major concern. I'll hit the little heifer with them today or tomorrow. I guess we'll know in a week or so just how it all works out. My plan is to leave them at the farm about a week penned together so they'll hopefully bond, then move them to the house and turn them loose on what grass is left. They'll get hay and creep and I figure they'll make it here just fine.
 

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