Whats the oldest??

[slb714]

Kinda new to cattle bought 22 head half angus and half black baldies, just had our 2nd calf, and was wondering, whats the oldest age a cow will still be healthy enough to have calves at, just wondering because my uncle told me a cow usally has around 11 to 12 calves in her lifetime, and I thought that number was kinda low!!. thanks ahead for the info this is a great site, I watched my first calf being born 2 days ago and I saw when her water break and about 1 hour later she had the calf, but in that hr I thought it looked like she was having troulble passing the calf so I came and did a search on calving and found alot of helpful info, and just let mother nature take its course...thx

 

[dun]

A heifer will only ever have one calf in her life time. But if you add that one calf as a heifer to those she will have as a cow 10 to 12 seems about right. That would make her 12-14 years old. While some cows go on longer, the majority probably don;t last near that long, more like 9-10 years of age. That would translate into 8-9 calves in a lifetime.

dun

 

[slb714]

Sorry, I edited my question and changed from hiefer to cows...we had our cows aged when we bought them and the cow that had the calf 2 days ago was aged at 17yrs old, is this possible?

 

[dun]

It's possible but unless they have a bangs tag or a regitration number tattoed in their ear it's awfully hard to tell a cows age at that point. Oncethey get to short and solid, usaully an older cow, it's hard to tell years of age. After S&S comes broken mouth and that's generally an old cow.
If she raises a good calf, breeds back, maintaines her condition without supplement, is sound in feet &legs and has a good udder/teat structure, age isn;t that big of a deal. With all of the above her calves may not do as well as they did when she was 5-7 years old but the reliability factor has a lot going for it.

dun

 

[Caustic Burno]

Sorry, I edited my question and changed from hiefer to cows...we had our cows aged when we bought them and the cow that had the calf 2 days ago was aged at 17yrs old, is this possible?

Got an old brammer gal that is 22 that is leaving this spring with her calf, now she earned her keep.

 

[Rustler9]

Ranger's Princess turned 18 on 2/13/06. She raised a nice bull calf last year and is bred for another spring calf. Yes, she's old and doesn't have the figure of a young gal anymore but she still does a good job.

 

[Susie David]

Our old boss cow voted for Bill Clinton...the first time. She's due on Mar 9th and has a BCS of 5-6. As long as she rebreeds and maintaind her condition she's on the payroll for another year. DMc

 

[Workinonit Farm]

The oldest I have recently had her 14th calf at the age of 16.

Have a friend with a 20 yr old due to calve this spring.

Like dun said, as long as they can maintain condition, breed back in a timely fashion and raise a good calf, they stay. I personally like longevtiy.

Katherine

 

[dun]

Cows are a lot like people in as much that some of them are old at a young age and some of them are still young (or at least middle aged) when they're old

dun

 

[Anonymous]

Our old boss cow voted for Bill Clinton...the first time. She's due on Mar 9th and has a BCS of 5-6. As long as she rebreeds and maintaind her condition she's on the payroll for another year. DMc

I would have sold here for voting for Clinton no matter how old she was!!!!!

 

[lakading]

The oldest I have recently had her 14th calf at the age of 16.

Have a friend with a 20 yr old due to calve this spring.

Like dun said, as long as they can maintain condition, breed back in a timely fashion and raise a good calf, they stay. I personally like longevtiy.

Katherine

Yup, every year boosts your return on investment. Longevity = Profit.

 

[slb714]

thanks guys and girls, I've been watching her the last few days and shes still doing great, seems to be a great mom, and looks like she has alot of milk, thanks for all of the replies!!

 

[LonghornRanch]

A friend of mine had a Longhorn cow that live to 29 years old and dropped 28 calves! She died of old age and was buried on the ranch.

 

[AngusSenorita]

You need to watch how well they hold their weight when they are bred and when they are nursing. If the start to loose to much fat then they are probably near the end of the road. The man I bought my heifer from had a 12 year old cow that had twins that year(she was angus too)

But we have a few commercial cows and some are 10-12 and are doing better then our younger cows

it all depends on if they can support themselves and a calf

 

[coolwater]

Sorry, I edited my question and changed from hiefer to cows...we had our cows aged when we bought them and the cow that had the calf 2 days ago was aged at 17yrs old, is this possible?

Got an old brammer gal that is 22 that is leaving this spring with her calf, now she earned her keep.

my paw paw had an old brammer/red pllod cross in her late 20s still calving.we called her granny.she wasnt for production though she just filled the freezer and she always did it well.my maw maw sold her when paw paw passed away.sure hated to see her go.

 

[stocky]

12-14 years old is a reasonable expectation if they are treated right. We have had some that were still raising calves at 20, but that is about the extreme