What's Her BCS

[inyati13]

This cow came to me as a heifer. She is about 4 and a 50/50 Registered simangus. Her breeding came out of the Hudson Pine/Rocking P Partnership. Interesting note: She rarely eats the pellet mixed feed when it is put out. This condition is 100% grass based. She does have access to Vitaferm mineral and a salt block.

 

[Lucky_P]

8, approaching 9

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Is obese a score?

 

[inyati13]

8, approaching 9

That is what Shannon said (UK Extension Agent). She said separate her and put her in a dry lot with limited hay. What a pain!

 

[dun]

8, approaching 9

That is what Shannon said (UK Extension Agent). She said separate her and put her in a dry lot with limited hay. What a pain!

In her younger years Granny was exactly the same wy, always looked like a fat toad with fat pones all over. She never had a day that the weight affected her moving/walking and it didn;t hurt her fertility. The standardjokes was all I had to do was tell her I was getting semen out of the tank and she would settle. It was unilt her late teens that she started losing condition and got down to maybe a 5 by the time she would wean her calf. Her calves always weaned in the upper 5% so other then mentioning her fatness I just considered her an easy keeper. With luck this old girl will live long life and provide you with excellent daughters with the same traits.

 

[Chuckie]

She sure is a pretty cow. If you have good grass and are taking care of her, and that is her body score, I would leave her alone. My cows are fat, and they get it from the grass and clover in the summer time, no feed. I have a about three that carry the pones, and I am not going to put them in a dry lot on hay. They raise good calves; go into the winter time in good shape and come out of the winter in good shape.

You have such pretty cows.

 

[inyati13]

8, approaching 9

That is what Shannon said (UK Extension Agent). She said separate her and put her in a dry lot with limited hay. What a pain!

In her younger years Granny was exactly the same wy, always looked like a fat toad with fat pones all over. She never had a day that the weight affected her moving/walking and it didn;t hurt her fertility. The standardjokes was all I had to do was tell her I was getting semen out of the tank and she would settle. It was unilt her late teens that she started losing condition and got down to maybe a 5 by the time she would wean her calf. Her calves always weaned in the upper 5% so other then mentioning her fatness I just considered her an easy keeper. With luck this old girl will live long life and provide you with excellent daughters with the same traits.

Thank you very much. A welcome thought.

 

[Jake]

Ron, what do your cows look like in the winter? With the kind of flesh they carry I wonder if you could use a little higher milk and more performance to put that extra into a calf instead of on their back.

 

[inyati13]

Ron, what do your cows look like in the winter? With the kind of flesh they carry I wonder if you could use a little higher milk and more performance to put that extra into a calf instead of on their back.

Glad you ask, Jake. They came throught the worst winter in 40 years and they looked like they did going in - including the ones with calves that nursed all winter. I had good quality hay last winter. That is not the case this year. Due to the late cool temperatures, my yield was down so I bought 50 rolls about a month ago. I had it tested and it is lower quality.

 

[Jake]

Ron, what do your cows look like in the winter? With the kind of flesh they carry I wonder if you could use a little higher milk and more performance to put that extra into a calf instead of on their back.

Glad you ask, Jake. They came throught the worst winter in 40 years and they looked like they did going in - including the ones with calves that nursed all winter. I had good quality hay last winter. That is not the case this year. Due to the late cool temperatures, my yield was down so I bought 50 rolls about a month ago. I had it tested and it is lower quality.

I've thought quite a bit about the BCS conversations around here lately and then comparing to what I am seeing in the country. While a fat cow is pretty she is wasting your resources, our environments are very different and require much different cattle. It appears to me you could stand to have some extra milking ability and a higher nutritional requirement in your cows as your forage produces so well. The answer IS NOT necessarily more cows as that will/can hurt your forage instead of solving the actual problem which is under-utilization of the available nutrition.

 

[inyati13]

Ron, what do your cows look like in the winter? With the kind of flesh they carry I wonder if you could use a little higher milk and more performance to put that extra into a calf instead of on their back.

Glad you ask, Jake. They came throught the worst winter in 40 years and they looked like they did going in - including the ones with calves that nursed all winter. I had good quality hay last winter. That is not the case this year. Due to the late cool temperatures, my yield was down so I bought 50 rolls about a month ago. I had it tested and it is lower quality.

I've thought quite a bit about the BCS conversations around here lately and then comparing to what I am seeing in the country. While a fat cow is pretty she is wasting your resources, our environments are very different and require much different cattle. It appears to me you could stand to have some extra milking ability and a higher nutritional requirement in your cows as your forage produces so well. The answer IS NOT necessarily more cows as that will/can hurt your forage instead of solving the actual problem which is under-utilization of the available nutrition.

Jake, thanks for the suggestion. However, one would not want to put any breeding into more milk production in my herd. These cows are big milkers. I have planned to even moderate it in future retained heifers.

 

[Hook]

I would say you have too much grass then and need more cows.

 

[inyati13]

I would say you have too much grass then and need more cows.

x2

 

[Chuckie]

Very nice!

 

[dun]

I would say you have too much grass then and need more cows.

I've never figured out this concept. A cow is going to eat the same amount whether there is too much grass or just enough. Too many cows and they all will run out of grass sooner. With the grass he has he could add more cows, but that isn;t going to affect the BCS of them unless he overstocks.

 

[Jake]

I would say you have too much grass then and need more cows.

I've never figured out this concept. A cow is going to eat the same amount whether there is too much grass or just enough. Too many cows and they all will run out of grass sooner. With the grass he has he could add more cows, but that isn;t going to affect the BCS of them unless he overstocks.

Completely agree. Basically the same point I was trying to make.

 

[dun]

You've got the milk and the forage. How about breeding to a growthier bull, someting that can better utilize the milk and forage.

 

[Nesikep]

Ron, she's a lot fatter than the one I posted!

Here's a question.. How heavy are the calves from the fatsos at about 205 days? With cows that are good milkers, easy keepers, and the grass to feed them, I'd expect 750+ lb bulls and 700 lb heifers routinely.. if you're not getting close to that, I'd say you're cows aren't matched for the area/feed you have.

Dun, unless you're talking about getting replacement's bred by a growthier bull, I don't think growthier calves alone are going to do much for the cow's condition.

perhaps go to the sale barn and get some orphan calves, give her two to take care of!

 

[dun]

Ron, she's a lot fatter than the one I posted!

Here's a question.. How heavy are the calves from the fatsos at about 205 days? With cows that are good milkers, easy keepers, and the grass to feed them, I'd expect 750+ lb bulls and 700 lb heifers routinely.. if you're not getting close to that, I'd say you're cows aren't matched for the area/feed you have.

Dun, unless you're talking about getting replacement's bred by a growthier bull, I don't think growthier calves alone are going to do much for the cow's condition.

perhaps go to the sale barn and get some orphan calves, give her two to take care of!

That's exactly what I mean.

 

[Nesikep]

Good, we're on the same page then