Variables for picking potential replacement heifers?

[mitchwi]

Here's a recap of my situation....

All the calves 450# to 550# heifers purchased this fall are Angus to Gelbveih (red and black and smoky) of varying percentages (I do not know the %). Some were backgrounded more than others, I did not buy any "fat" calves and the total of them came from 8 different farms.

I would like to keep for breeding 15 to 20 so that equates to about 1 out of 3 as a keeper. Without much thought I can easily toss out 1/3 to feed out. So that leaves me with choosing about 1 out of 2.

1st I would choose on structure and even at this early stage they are in the 7 to 9 month stage, I can start picking things out on them that I like or dislike.

My question on the structure side of it probably coincides more on the BCS.... I do find some of them are gaining more than others. Should this be a factor in my evaluation process? Does how well or not they are doing their 1st winter off of momma be an indicator of keeping the BCS in following years? And, has anyone tracked this in their own herds?

As always I appreciate everyones input...Thanks!

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Another good reason we cull...disposition. If we've got a heifer that keeps her head up high all the time and balks at us we'll get rid of her in a heartbeat. One wacko will get the rest of the group stirred up. And boy what a difference in the herd as soon as you cull the wildcats. The balance will be nearly eating out of our hand.

 

[Frankie]

Here's a recap of my situation....

All the calves 450# to 550# heifers purchased this fall are Angus to Gelbveih (red and black and smoky) of varying percentages (I do not know the %). Some were backgrounded more than others, I did not buy any "fat" calves and the total of them came from 8 different farms.

I would like to keep for breeding 15 to 20 so that equates to about 1 out of 3 as a keeper. Without much thought I can easily toss out 1/3 to feed out. So that leaves me with choosing about 1 out of 2.

1st I would choose on structure and even at this early stage they are in the 7 to 9 month stage, I can start picking things out on them that I like or dislike.

My question on the structure side of it probably coincides more on the BCS.... I do find some of them are gaining more than others. Should this be a factor in my evaluation process? Does how well or not they are doing their 1st winter off of momma be an indicator of keeping the BCS in following years? And, has anyone tracked this in their own herds?

As always I appreciate everyones input...Thanks!

The ability to grow and gain is a very important trait. I've found that BCS in our management system is tied more to milk production than anything else. We run our cows on grass all summer, standing grass or hay and cubes during the winter. Those heavy milking cows sometimes have trouble maintaining their body condition. With heifers it's even more difficult.

 

[dun]

Are you saying that these heifers are 450-550 at 7-9 months of age?

dun

 

[CattleAnnie]

It's probably a bit redundant, but sometimes it seems that finer, feminine heifers get passed by in favour of meatier, faster gaining animals.

Made the mistake of buying a few really heavily-muscled bred heifers a few years ago, and they sure didn't end up being much in the way of cows. Not overly attentive to their calves, low milk production, and one didn't even rebreed. They would have probably done better in a feedlot heading for the hook than placed in a replacement program. Expensive lesson for me.

Deep-bodied, wide across the hips, long, but most importantly, a replacement prospect should look like a cow - not a steer. Just a thought, as I've seen some folks repeatedly keep back heifers that look like steers over some that are a bit finer built, and they ended up being poor cows in the end too.


Take care.

 

[mitchwi]

Are you saying that these heifers are 450-550 at 7-9 months of age?

dun

No Dun, sorry about my description.... when I bought them in Sept they were 450 - 550....but now they are in the 7 to 9 month range....

 

[la4angus]

Are you saying that these heifers are 450-550 at 7-9 months of age?

dun

No Dun, sorry about my description.... when I bought them in Sept they were 450 - 550....but now they are in the 7 to 9 month range....

7 to 9 mo. range or 7 cwt to 9 cwt range.

 

[mitchwi]

Are you saying that these heifers are 450-550 at 7-9 months of age?

dun

No Dun, sorry about my description.... when I bought them in Sept they were 450 - 550....but now they are in the 7 to 9 month range....

7 to 9 mo. range or 7 cwt to 9 cwt range.

I purchase calves in Sept and avg weights on them were 450# to 550#, these calves were born between late March to Mid May...(give or take) I think the lightest calf purchased was 430# and the heaviest one purchased was 660#....majority fell about 500# avg...

 

[hillbilly]

Gelbveih cross are good cows,
good milkers good maternal traits.

Watch out they don't get too big.
As cattle anne was saying earlier more femine heffers make better cows.
If you pick a big corse boned heffer you better save back extra hay.

Greed was a part of our decision to sell our cow herd of 18 years.
We raise our own replacements. We kept a Gelbvieh bull in our
fields 6 years straight when we were supposed to be roatating
in british bulls.
Our hay consumption went from 3.4 to 5.7 bales per winter.

hillbilly

 

[Chuck]

It's probably a bit redundant, but sometimes it seems that finer, feminine heifers get passed by in favour of meatier, faster gaining animals.
Deep-bodied, wide across the hips, long, but most importantly, a replacement prospect should look like a cow - not a steer. Just a thought, as I've seen some folks repeatedly keep back heifers that look like steers over some that are a bit finer built, and they ended up being poor cows in the end too.

I agree. If you have to look too close to make sure they are females, they should likely be in the feedlot, not the replacement pasture.

 

[JHH]

It's probably a bit redundant, but sometimes it seems that finer, feminine heifers get passed by in favour of meatier, faster gaining animals.

Made the mistake of buying a few really heavily-muscled bred heifers a few years ago, and they sure didn't end up being much in the way of cows. Not overly attentive to their calves, low milk production, and one didn't even rebreed. They would have probably done better in a feedlot heading for the hook than placed in a replacement program. Expensive lesson for me.

Deep-bodied, wide across the hips, long, but most importantly, a replacement prospect should look like a cow - not a steer. Just a thought, as I've seen some folks repeatedly keep back heifers that look like steers over some that are a bit finer built, and they ended up being poor cows in the end too.


Take care.

Take this advice. I bought some heifers last year and really liked the bigger ones. Turns out the smaller ones seem to be turning out the better calves and keep their body condition better than the 2 bigger ones. JHH

 

[mitchwi]

It's probably a bit redundant, but sometimes it seems that finer, feminine heifers get passed by in favour of meatier, faster gaining animals.

Made the mistake of buying a few really heavily-muscled bred heifers a few years ago, and they sure didn't end up being much in the way of cows. Not overly attentive to their calves, low milk production, and one didn't even rebreed. They would have probably done better in a feedlot heading for the hook than placed in a replacement program. Expensive lesson for me.

Deep-bodied, wide across the hips, long, but most importantly, a replacement prospect should look like a cow - not a steer. Just a thought, as I've seen some folks repeatedly keep back heifers that look like steers over some that are a bit finer built, and they ended up being poor cows in the end too.


Take care.

Take this advice. I bought some heifers last year and really liked the bigger ones. Turns out the smaller ones seem to be turning out the better calves and keep their body condition better than the 2 bigger ones. JHH

I'm just wondering why this works out this way, only because it seems contradictory (spelling) :?:

 

[Dana Kopp]

Not really contradictory, just nature. Smaller cows reach maturity faster, breed back faster and carry better condition than bigger cows because their bodies aren't using all the nutrition to grow in height, etc this is probably most noticable when they are young. Smaller cows don't need as much feed for themselves to be better conditioned and therefore extra nutrition can be passed on to the calf. Of course there are always the exceptions depending on milking ability, feed, etc.

 

[mitchwi]

ok, I guess I was looking at it, based on my original posted question.... BCS at this stage of development... variable to consider or not?

From the answers I was getting, I thought I should be looking for the keepers that weren't putting on the weight as fast, but I guess I should change my thought process to......

Look at the keepers as the more structurally sound, feminine animals that are also keeping up a better BCS........