Weaning

[Dave]

One of the neighbors is weaning 150 calves today. It is supposed to be 102 degrees today. Hmmmm. Don't ask me I am just along for the ride. Well actually just along to haul the calves about 5 or 6 miles to a corral. My pickup has good working AC and I packed a cooler full of water etc on ice.

 

[Rafter S]

One of the neighbors is weaning 150 calves today. It is supposed to be 102 degrees today. Hmmmm. Don't ask me I am just along for the ride. Well actually just along to haul the calves about 5 or 6 miles to a corral. My pickup has good working AC and I packed a cooler full of water etc on ice.

Good luck, and make sure you're through hauling before getting into the "etc".

 

[GoWyo]

We weaned ours Saturday. It's going to be 90+ the rest of the week and probably through next week. March and April calves. We would usually wait another month, but we are bone dry and the calves were starting to go backwards and pulling the cows down with them. There is plenty of dry matter in the pastures, but nothing in it. They perked up on high quality grass hay and look better already.

 

[faster horses]

Supplementing hay is the cheapest supplement there is.
Did you mean your calves look better or your cows look better?
I would think both of them would.

It takes 80# to change a body condition score on a cow. Just a little trivia.

 

[Dave]

Good luck, and make sure you're through hauling before getting into the "etc".

The Etc. Was soda, Gatoraid, and ice tea. 4 or the 6 people involved don't drink. Me included.

 

[Dave]

I knew this would be a rainbow herd. As they lined out down a lane past me while I was blocking off a potential turn I noticed it was a rainbow bull herd. The first 4 bulls to go by me were, a black Angus, a red Angus, a horned Hereford, and a Charolais. Two more black Angus and another Charolais came later.

 

[GoWyo]

Supplementing hay is the cheapest supplement there is.
Did you mean your calves look better or your cows look better?
I would think both of them would.

It takes 80# to change a body condition score on a cow. Just a little trivia.

Cows are back on pasture and I haven't seen them, but they had not dropped off much yet - old cows are in BCS 5-5.5 and two-year olds are 4.5-5 BCS, so it won't take much to improve a condition score by November. I like to roll into winter with them in 5.5-6 range and not have to feed much til calving in March. Calves weaned off real well. Bull calves adj 205 at 650-760 and heifers 50# back is right where they should be. Just takes an extra month of hay for calves.

 

[faster horses]

Cows are back on pasture and I haven't seen them, but they had not dropped off much yet - old cows are in BCS 5-5.5 and two-year olds are 4.5-5 BCS, so it won't take much to improve a condition score by November. I like to roll into winter with them in 5.5-6 range and not have to feed much til calving in March. Calves weaned off real well. Bull calves adj 205 at 650-760 and heifers 50# back is right where they should be. Just takes an extra month of hay for calves.

You are correct in that now is the time for cows to put on weight. If they can do it before cold weather, it costs much less to maintain that than it does to try to add condition during the winter. 6 BCS going into winter works really good cost-wise and cow-wise.

Congratulations!! Your calves did well!! I used to give each calf a birthweight (we didn't weigh them, I just guessed at 80#.) I knew what they weighed when we preconditioned them because we had a scale under our chute. I knew the day they were born and the day we preconditioned them so I knew their actual age to figure daily gain of each calf. It was enlightening. You are probably doing something similar to know their 205-day weight. You'll have to share some photos of them.

 

[GoWyo]

The cows are all in the AAA Maternal Plus program and the calf data is entered in the AHIR, so as soon as they are processed I can pull up their EPDs and AHIR data through weaning before registering them.

Sorry for high jacking your thread Dave.

 

[Dave]

I don't know why they were weaning. There sure looked to be plenty of grass and everything was in good shape. I was told to be there at noon. I got there at 11:50. The cattle didn't arrive until 12:30. Then they had to sort off the cows. That went fairly quick. Two guys horse back and one guy on foot guarding the gate and turning back any calves. But it was still 2:00 by the time I got my first load out. It was 102 degrees. I spent most of the time in the pickup with the AC on full blast. But the sun shining through the windows still made it hot. No shade in sight.

 

[Dave]

I at least partially figured why we weaned. Neighbor has a pretty good program of Wagyu cows. Having contacts in that world he has a market for F-1 Wagyu calves. He breeds his replacement heifers to Wagyu for the calving ease. He must have a shipping date for those F-1 calves. Anyway a bunch of those calves came here today to join with the calves out of the BM cows. I am now over run with just weaned calves. Thankfully the weather is cooling. These 50 degree mornings and 100 degree afternoon sure put me on watch for pneumonia.

That red brockle faced steer in the front of the last picture. As a new born his mom put B up on top of the Jeep. She was objecting to her calf being tagged.

 

[Katpau]

Weaned on the second and shipped them off yesterday. Oldest calf was 7 months and youngest 5 and 1/2 months. Steers averaged close to 600 pounds and heifers were about 40 pounds less. 9 of my last 10 born were heifers, so more light heifers. They gathered at the gate when we went to bring them up to the corrals and I snapped a picture. They have been a really good bunch of calves. It was hard to make a decision on replacements because I had 25 of the nicest Angus heifers we have ever raised. I finally selected 3 and then just before loading noticed one of the ones I had really wanted to keep had a tiny cloudy dot in the middle of her eye. I don't like to sell anything that isn't perfect, so she stayed behind to get some LA 300, and now I have 4. I think the guy that buys my calves will keep a few because he commented when we were weighing and working the calves at their new home about a couple. He said "Why would you let this one go". I told him "It wasn't easy but I promised my husband we would reduce the herd size so he can do more fishing. I'm going to register and transfer papers on anything he wants. He raises some registered Angus and Red Angus in addition to his commercial herd.