What's Her BCS

[branguscowgirl]

I have easy fleshing cows also Ron! :hide: Another thing here though is the quality of my grass. I could pen my cows up 12 hours per day, and they would still be fat. They really don't graze all that much. I have to dry lot the horses, but I darn sure wouldn't want to dry lot the cows to keep them from getting fat. And as some of you have said, they wont loose weight by adding more cattle until the pasture is over grazed. :roll:

 

[Nesikep]

Perhaps you should invest in a treadmill for them.. Has anyone made a hamster wheel for cows yet?

 

[Hook]

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.

If they don't have to work very hard to get that belly full they will get fat. He could either get more cows (enough for the land but not too many ) or cross fence his place and rotate them making them work a little harder.

Unless I'm not thinking right.

 

[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.

If they don't have to work very hard to get that belly full they will get fat. He could either get more cows (enough for the land but not too many ) or cross fence his place and rotate them making them work a little harder.

Unless I'm not thinking right.

One of the points of MIG is so that the cows don;t have to travel (I think its) more then 500 feet from the furthest point. When we did range stuff they would have to travel a lot more then that to reach water. When they had to travel a half mile or so they would come to water once a day and loaf around the watering area move out a little and graze the foliage to the dirt, lay around some more then drink again and finally dispurse. Of course they all did stay thin but that was as much because it was high desert and all they had to eat was scattered switch grass mostly growing under the grease wood. Calves weaned off small too.

 

[inyati13]

My cows and bull carry extra condition. Not all are 8. Probably 2 are 8. The rest run from 6 to 7. The bull I used for the last two calf crops was Casper (Angus 17061926). I sold him to slaughter last October so no more calves will be from him. He did not produce blocky, muscular calves. They are lanky and leggy. The current bull along with the AI program is going to produce different results. I see that in Linus.

Nevertheless, Casper's calves on average wean at about 550 to 770 pounds at about 6 months (some weaned at 5 months, a few weaned at 7 months). They average 670. I know I can put more of that condition into future calves.

One thing that I have wondered about. The breeding on most of my cows goes back to a Rocking P who puts a lot of cattle on much less grass than I do. When I look at the Rocking P cattle in their pastures, they do not carry the condition that mine do. It is simple to see why. Their pastures are eaten short. I have talked to Larry Phillips. I think his philosophy is different from his sons, Chan and Keith. Larry has told me he has pastured cows all winter and fed hay only when the weather conditions dictated. Over his lifetime of breeding, no doubt he has selected for the characteristic of doing well on minimum pasture and input.

Another thought I have had. I have a rigid vaccination and parasite control regimen. My cows do not get stressed by being sick or being parasitized.

Here is an intangible. It is an interesting factor. My cows get a lot of care and attention. They get handled, groomed, and treated well. I don't think this is a big factor but it sure makes them look better. Three people who know infinitely more than I do about cattle have commented that they do not see cattle with the "demeanor" my cows have. My vet, Darin Stansfield said, "I don't know what you do but I do not see cows this content looking anywhere I go. Shannon Ferrell, UK Extension Agent, BS in animal science, and part owner of Double Diamond said "Your cows look like they all have smiles on their faces". Shannon said at her last visit, "You have the best looking herd of cattle in the county". Keith Phillips, co-owner of Rocking P tells me everytime he delivers one that the cows are looking good.

 

[dun]

We also pasture all winter but n stockpiled fescue and onl feed hay wehn the grass is real short or we have ice or fairly deep snow. Our cows stay in BCS 5+ to about 7, only Granny and her daughters ever rolled into the 8-9 range. To my mind, stressing the grass is worse then stressing the cows. The cows will recover a lot faster. If we didn;t have these drought periods every couple of years I might manage different. If the pasture gets too far ahead of us we rent pasture to the vet for his cows. They just fall in with ours and go through the rotations with them. We've rented pasture to some others but I prefer dealing with the vet. The other farm (160 acres) is all rented out for grazing in the spring and summer.

 

[Hook]

At least I'm earning my avatar today

 

[Chuckie]

Hook, that is one weird avatar! :lol2: Sometimes I have to stop and look at it again.
When you posted jumping out of the plane, the first thing I thought was, "This is going to be very difficult for him to do" with the way he is standing." It is so funny.

 

[Hook]

Thanks, I'm getting kind of attached to it

 

[cazzhrdwd]

Very nice cows Inyati13, have you ever had the carcasses graded. I have to feed mine a lot of grain and some hay, but I consistently get choice + and better carcasses. If yours grade well, seems you'd be ahead of the game.

 

[inyati13]

Very nice cows Inyati13, have you ever had the carcasses graded. I have to feed mine a lot of grain and some hay, but I consistently get choice + and better carcasses. If yours grade well, seems you'd be ahead of the game.

Thank you. No. I feed a minimum amount of a pellet feed mixed locally. It is a low grade feed. 11% crude protein.

 

[cazzhrdwd]

It would be interesting to see what the carcasses grade. If they truly marble, you really have some great genetics.