Watcha think?

[robert]

given your criteria houstoncutter would you ever buy an animal out of a purebred breeding stock sale?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Trust me, we don't do much primping in this weather.

what's the weather got to do with it? we have to hold a gun to your head to let us fit them for show in summer for goodness sakes!!

I love those maines too :lol2:

ROTFL :lol: you got me! For others not in on his comment - we "blow & show" our cattle, and Robert sometimes helps us - he LOVES to fit cattle! says they should be dressed up for the "prom".

Brafordman - for a young kid - those were some pretty common sense remarks. Thanks

Kenny - yes, we have 4 cow/calf pairs, the 2 fall bred heifers, 1 fall heifer calf & 3 embryo lots in the Gettysburg Stars & Stripes Sale May 7 (PA)

The black 2-yr old had just calved 5 days prior to pics - she still had some edema all the way to the naval. Her udder is beautiful now, has dropped down a little & has more definition without the edema.

(Houston) I have a whole herd of cows that look like that - on grass or hay - far from welfare cases. That's called "a breeding program" for easy keeping cattle. Very few of my cattle are shown. Like last year, we kept 11 spring heifers & only one has been shown. So next year, when the other 10 have a calf, you are going to call them spoiled show cattle too?? My girls calve between 21 & 24 months of age and rarely take longer than 30 days to come back into heat. My replacements get 4-5# of shell corn/hd/day during our winter months, with no barn and actually no shelter. It is pretty brutal - not like your Houston winters. No, she's not related to Meyers 734.

Thanks for all the nice comments. I always have a hard time NOT posting my pics after all the work we go thru to get them to STAND "just right". And then I can expect the "show" comments. I've posted pasture pics of my herd. Different colors & sizes - but all pretty much cookie-cutter "style" of cattle - big guts & butts! with clean front ends - easy keeping cows.

 

[Dylan Biggs]

Wow!! Those girls are not wanting for much. Any guess what they weigh?
They have been taken very good care of. you should be proud.

Would I ever like to have some of that hay here> The dairy guys here are very hard to compete with though.

 

[JHH]

Jeanne I really like the first one, But we have all just seen one pic. I wish that fall heifer was a tick longer. She may be longer and it doesnt show because of her depth, I really like her to. They are all nice.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

JHH - yes they are all plenty long enough, but are really deep. We breed for that - just easy keeping cows.
Dylan - we worked all our cattle thru the chute on 3/19
Red 2-yr old Wildfire - 1200# 50.5" (hasn't see corn/grain since about 5-1-10)
Blk 2-yr old Wisdom - 1300# 51" (hasn't see corn/grain since about 5-1-10)
Fall BWF Watcha Doin - 1275# 52"
Fall solid blk Whoopi - 1100# 50"
The 2 & 3 yr olds are kept seperated from the mature cows all winter so they don't have to compete against them for hay.
The 2 fall heifers were on the corn with the spring heifers. Normally, we would have put them with the fall calved cows for the latter part of winter, but since they were earmarked for this sale & we wanted to get them bred for this coming fall, we kept them up front. Oh, shoot - we pampered them. :bang:
Yes, I realize that 5#/hd/day adds up, but, believe me, I will get my investment back - vs having them in border-line condition for a sale.
We put our hay up mostly as baleage. Try to time it so it is peak "quantity" with still high quality. So, it's usually about 15-16% protein.

 

[cbcr]

Jeanne,

Your cows look nice.

It doesn't make any difference if they are show type animals or not. Selective breeding and the genetics definately show.

Good luck with your consignments!

 

[Bonsman]

I like the red one the best. However, I must admit I am partial to red animals.

 

[3waycross]

It really cracks me up that Jeanne has to get on here and explain why she tries to maximize her profits on her seedstock quality cattle. The same folks who would critisize her for trying to put out a well made, well groomed, consistant product are the ones who sit at the sales looking for bargains(cattle who don't look as good as the rest). Then go home and bytch that those pampered "show types" never make real world cattle.

I see it all the time at Bull sales. The bottom 1/3 contingent. They sit there and quible over 3 to 5 hundred dollars on a bull then go home and complain that the quality of bulls at XYZ sale ain't what it used to be. I know a fella who bought a Balancer bull for $1750 at a sale a few years ago the bull was nothing to look at, had terrible EPD's and a crappy disposition but he satisfied one big criteria he was CHEAP. He now loves to go around and tell everyone who will listen how bad those balancers are. He consistantly pays the least he can for a bull and then complains that he was cheated.

 

[showing71]

I like the first one, although I am partial to red cows anyway. About them looking like 'show stock,' I don't care what people say, but the ones who are eye appealing always sell well.

 

[cbcr]

Good post 3waycross,

I hear it all the time, producers only want to spend a certain amount for a bull, trouble is with the way the market is today they aren't even to pay market price. They fail to realize that the bull may ony be one animal but he makes up 50% of the herd. One wrong dicision and it can be pretty costly.

I sometime wonder what era these guys are in, it sure isn't 2011!

 

[KNERSIE]

Curiosity is just about killing me, Houston show us what you've got! Maybe Jeanne can even learn something in the process.

 

[randiliana]

Curious why you say these must be show stock? Because some one took the time to clean them up, set them up and take good photos of them? Or because they are in good condition? You saying that working cattle can't look that good or what????

No Randiliana, real working cows are not clipped or grain fed...I am looking for a heifer that was weaned, not grained fed, not pampered, and calved as a 2 year old... That is what i am looking for in a cow...She may not be the biggest or be pretty...but she has one thing going for her that is $$$$$ sign all over her...Give me a pasture full of em......If things get tough that fitted animal will be a the barn bawling. Sorry some of us call that type of cow.... welfare girls.....always looking for a hand out.

Well, I guess our commercial heifers wouldn't work for you either.... They get grained from weaning to spring turn out too.

 

[hillbillycwo]

I feed mine the same amount of corn and distillers grain mixed 50/50. Not everyday but 3 days a week and it really helps them through the winter. Keeps them gentle and it is not near the 3% body weight ratio so therefore in my opinion Jeane's feed program isn't doing much more for those girls either, just a little energy boost. Her good quality hay, mineral program and selective breeding produced that quality. They all look great Jeane. I would take her botton cattle any day as they are some real genetics that produce. All you have to do is look at the pics on here of the rest of her herd to see the consistency across it. Hope to get there myself one day!! jmho

 

[3waycross]

I think houstoncutter needs to go spend a winter @ Jeanne's house and see how much extra calories he needs to survive those winters. :nod: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

You've all been GREAT (well almost ALL) appreciate your support & compliments.
Let's get real. I post pics because I'm proud of them. They represent a lot of years of breeding and I personnally think they are pretty darn good.
Don't tell my cows they're pampered, they think I'm pretty mean to them. You should see the mature cows that come up front when they are close to calving. They stand at the gate at night, hoping they are close enough to calving that I will let them in the barn, so they can get out of the weather.

 

[houstoncutter]

Curiosity is just about killing me, Houston show us what you've got! Maybe Jeanne can even learn something in the process.

I am out of the Biz rite now Knersie, I do have one....very old cow and four bulls... I will try to get a pic of the cattle...I have posted pics of some of the bulls. I guess those pics can be found somewhere on this board

 

[houstoncutter]

I like all of them!
The red cow the most. Nice udder and great body conformation.

@ houston cutter

What is wrong with showstock? Some of the best cows and bulls of the many breeds of cattle were "show stock".

Feeding grain to a heifer from weaning to breeding age just helps push them a little to help them reach their max size.
When they heifer is bred the grain stops. She has a 9 month period to re adjust to an all hay and/or grass diet. And will be able to raise her calf on grass alone.
Just because a cow looks good coming out of the winter does not mean she is showstock.
It is called GOOD GENETICS!!!!!

GOOD GENETICS!!!!!! is a cow that can live on grass and bring in a good calf....not a feed bunk, With your example you have a heifer who may or may not be a good bloodline, hard to say because you have pushed her on grain to get her bred. Are you gonna grain here after she has calved, to get her rebred? If I was to consider grain, it would only be after she has had that calf and is still growing herself... Mother nature intended for range cattle to eat grass, not corn.


As for some of the show stock being the best cattle....you are right some where.....BUT some of the worst cattle have been show stock....I think some of the Angus Mafia on this board would agree with that statement

 

[houstoncutter]

given your criteria houstoncutter would you ever buy an animal out of a purebred breeding stock sale?[/quote

Robert I buy my bulls from purebred breeders, and yes I am picky about who I buy from. I try to find animals that have not been pushed... but thats a hard thing to find....I will feed cubes to my bulls because of that. I have bought many purebred cattle in the past...during the 80,s some of my herd was used for producing show calfs... MainexAngus or ChiXangus cows bred to fullblood Limi bulls..It was a lot of fun and we made a little money but not a lot more than my commercial cows were making.....As for the last 20 years its been F1 Brangus or F1Brafords for the cows..... Most of the cows were covered with Limi bulls or Gelpvieh.

 

[houstoncutter]

You've all been GREAT (well almost ALL) appreciate your support & compliments.
Let's get real. I post pics because I'm proud of them. They represent a lot of years of breeding and I personnally think they are pretty darn good.
Don't tell my cows they're pampered, they think I'm pretty mean to them. You should see the mature cows that come up front when they are close to calving. They stand at the gate at night, hoping they are close enough to calving that I will let them in the barn, so they can get out of the weather.

I never meant for these comments to be negative about Jeanne,s cattle...For show stock they are some of the best that you will see on this board!!!

 

[KNERSIE]

Curiosity is just about killing me, Houston show us what you've got! Maybe Jeanne can even learn something in the process.

I am out of the Biz rite now Knersie, I do have one....very old cow and four bulls... I will try to get a pic of the cattle...I have posted pics of some of the bulls. I guess those pics can be found somewhere on this board

Yup, its a whole lot easier to talk the talk than walk the walk.