Unweaned bull calves

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That's an interesting thought. Both my char calves have done notably better, thinking about that.

Most of my cows are are 1100lbs. No real emphasis on birthweight right now. No heifers to worry about. This last group, a bunch were out of first calve heifers! Same bull I used on my cows tho.
Are they bigger mamas up north?
My cows generally run 1250 lbs some smaller, some bigger.
 
I can't speak for them but here it seems the first thing everyone goes after here is a small birth weight for especially heifers. But they breed 4 heifers and then breed 30 cows with the same bull year after year.
It's tough for a calf to overcome being born too small or fine boned.
 
That being said, my Hereford is definitely putting growthier calves out compared to my ol bwf mutt bull.
I dont want a cow killer, but I do want good moderate born calves that grow well.
Not dissatisfied with him so far.
 
Mature cows here would weigh 1300, heifers calve at mostly 850 to 1000 lbs. We do use light bw bulls on heifers, a little heavier on second calf and 85 to 100 lb bw bulls on mature cows. An 1100 lb cows should be able to have a 90 lb calf unassisted.
We sell cows at 8 and 9 years old while they are still worth a good dollar to others. Due to this fact there are a lot of heifers and young cows in our herd. Our ten year overall average is about 470 lbs across the board at an average of 180 days of age.
Our summer feed is less than excellent and exercise by predators helps keep weights down also.
 
I'm seriously considering going back to Charolais bulls or at least Simmental. The weights are so much better.
I am crossing some Charolais with a Simmental Bull right now and have been pleased with the growth. My Bull could use a little more frame on him, but that is the trade-off I made to not have to worry about pulling calves.
 
I'm seriously considering going back to Charolais bulls or at least Simmental. The weights are so much better.
Would a Black Simmental not be the way to go with the bias for black cattle down there? We're lucky to have good demand for Charolais cattle here.
 
Would a Black Simmental not be the way to go with the bias for black cattle down there? We're lucky to have good demand for Charolais cattle here.
Yes. Char Xs get docked here.

It is hard to sell straight Simi bulls to the Angus cult, so many seedstock producers offer growthy sim angus crosses. The problem with that is retained heifers can become 1600# cows. Terminal vs. maternal confuses many US producers.
 
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Gotta share, speaking of bulls....
I watched a BUNCH of 16-1700 pound cows sell yesterday. Glad I dont have to feed em!
Id like an an 1100 1200 lb cow that raises a 650 pound calf every year. Black ones or bwf ones. And i want them to calve early fall on time every year. Demand is so high in the spring for those calves! Even the 450 to 500 pounders are doing great.

I think what i have will do it. The 500 pounders anyway. Mutt cows and my hereford bull. When all the animals are black and look the same I think it takes something away from it.. a few white faces and an occasional red dont bother me. But spots, roans, and exotic colors ain't working for me here. Too much discount!

I havnt seen enough charolais or charolais mix around here to decide, but I think if they did really good, more people would be doing it.
 
I drove by the neighbors bull pasture the other day. I counted 42 bulls. 2 Red Angus, about a dozen Black Angus, and the rest are Charolais. He doesn't keep any of the Char cross heifers as replacements. It is strictly a terminal cross.
 
I was gonna put this in my weaning for dollars thread, but these were not weaned. Right off mama.
The char cross bull calf and the red white face bull calf were docked for no reason other than color. They were every bit as good a calf as the black white/mottled face bull calf. He topped it. Whaddya do?
The second bwf bull took a hit for his left front wheel. I should've held him til he healed up. I didnt notice it swollen. Just skinned a bit.
20210719_160613.jpg
 
Try making steers next year and add 20 cents.
That was the main reason I hauled em out. That red one especially, he was trying to breed EVERYTHING!

A bit more weight would've been nice too. But not too bad for a bunch of mutts. 1000 to 1100 lb cows. 6-8 month calves. The bwf was the oldest and smallest. Same sire. So if his mama dont do better next time, she on the list....lol
 
We all want as much weight as possible at weaning/sale time, but if the mamas are 1000-1100 pounds, it sounds like the first 3 did their job with calves half their body weight or better.
 
We all want as much weight as possible at weaning/sale time, but if the mamas are 1000-1100 pounds, it sounds like the first 3 did their job with calves half their body weight or better.
O yeah!
The 3rd was heifer calf. Her mama is a lil 850 lb sale barn cow that I bought bred. I call her Rosy. I think shes like a mini angus, but shes kinda got bug eyes like a jersey.
And I stand corrected. She was the oldest calf. Big ol fat thick short stack heifer. Lol
That lil heifer brought quite a bit more than I gave for her bred mother!
Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut...
 

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