Whopper calf

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aussie_cowgirl

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Got these from my friend down home. Pulled him from a small heifer who wasn't over fat at all. Red Angus sire normally throws moderate calves so the heifer is on the cull list. 60kg so... 132lb.
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I don't think I've ever heard of a calf that big! Looks like it is doing well though, how is the momma cow?
 
Faith":3tze8uiz said:
I don't think I've ever heard of a calf that big! Looks like it is doing well though, how is the momma cow?

Surprisingly ok apparently. They got the vet out and I know they pulled but I'm not sure what other tricks the vet may have done to get the sucker out.
 
Faith":mfwuigcn said:
I don't think I've ever heard of a calf that big!

i saw some university research report that showed 1 calf at 170 lbs. : )
 
Aero":2lbqnc2l said:
Faith":2lbqnc2l said:
I don't think I've ever heard of a calf that big!

i saw some university research report that showed 1 calf at 170 lbs. : )

Oh Yeah!! I had a black baldy I pulled out of a 4 year old hereford cow that weighed 148 lbs-- and I know of some others that have had them over 150...

Why cull the heifer? Sounds like if she can have them that size without a zipper in her side she'd be the perfect one to keep..... :???: Good chances with the next one she will have no problems...
I'm convinced that some matchings nick better/worse than others- and being this is a crossbred- often heterosis sits in before the calf is born...
 
I had a cow drop a purebred polled Hereford calf that weighed 143# in the early 90's. Sired by a Raceway son named VLBT Juice 12Y. She had it herself and bred back and had twins the next year. The 143 pounder didn't grow out well at all.
 
Oldtimer":2hswb7ia said:
Aero":2hswb7ia said:
Faith":2hswb7ia said:
I don't think I've ever heard of a calf that big!

i saw some university research report that showed 1 calf at 170 lbs. : )

Oh Yeah!! I had a black baldy I pulled out of a 4 year old hereford cow that weighed 148 lbs-- and I know of some others that have had them over 150...

Why cull the heifer? Sounds like if she can have them that size without a zipper in her side she'd be the perfect one to keep..... :???: Good chances with the next one she will have no problems...
I'm convinced that some matchings nick better/worse than others- and being this is a crossbred- often heterosis sits in before the calf is born...

I agree. Keep the heifer. There are apparently heifers out there that can't even have a 90 lb calf without problems. Those are the ones that need to go. One of my friends used to calve 130-160 lb calves regularly out of Simmental cows.
 
If the heifer is'nt hurt,keep her and see if she breeds back,she will always be able to calve,you would think. The real problem with these big calves IF they get born is they usually don't get up and get going like a normal calf do'es and in cold or snow'y weather they are a terribull problem. No place for them in a range situation. As it has been mentioned they are not necessarily the best doing or the top calf at weaning. I do beleive that sometimes they are the result of just being left in the oven to long! Have had 1 or 2 in the past out of Ai that run way over term and out of very easy calving heifer and bull and were quite big. Nature works in wonderous ways and just goes to show us that no matter how great our technology is there will always be unansured questions. Thats what makes life interesting!!
 
Aaron":kj633a68 said:
I agree. Keep the heifer. There are apparently heifers out there that can't even have a 90 lb calf without problems. Those are the ones that need to go. One of my friends used to calve 130-160 lb calves regularly out of Simmental cows.

wow 160lbs calves. I can't imagine a calf that size. I don't think its unreasonable for a heifer to need assistance with a 90lb calf. There are a lot of grown 1200lb cows that will have problems with a calf that size. how big are these simmental cows?
 
MF135":1nw947wb said:
Aaron":1nw947wb said:
I agree. Keep the heifer. There are apparently heifers out there that can't even have a 90 lb calf without problems. Those are the ones that need to go. One of my friends used to calve 130-160 lb calves regularly out of Simmental cows.

wow 160lbs calves. I can't imagine a calf that size. I don't think its unreasonable for a heifer to need assistance with a 90lb calf. There are a lot of grown 1200lb cows that will have problems with a calf that size. how big are these simmental cows?
I've never heard that before, do you think 90 lb. is big? Most of my angus cross cows are in the 12-1400lb. range. I want them to have 80-90 lb. calves. My heifers will usually have them no problem, in fact out of the 10 I keep every year, it's been 3-4 years since I helped one, maybe more. My "heifer" bull is a plus 5 on BW. In my opinion, I don't like small BW bulls, calving ease doesn't always mean they gotta' have runts. I thought you had a bunch of brangus, with a Blonde bull. Surley you see 90lb. calves. gs
 
Guess we've haven't had a 'good' calf here for a longgggggg time-had a whole bunch of live ones that we didn't have to monkey with though.
 
The have Welsh Black calves out of our hereford cows have weighed up from 103 to 149. Havent had to pull one yet over 5 years and 150 cows a year. First year we had the Welsh Black calves I came over a hill with the quad and saw a little black dot so I drove over to make sure he was ok. His momma came running as I got close and the little guy stood up and I swear she had given birth to a small horse!! He weighed 149 and was up and sucked when I found him. Biggest calf we have ever had natural birth. Had a bunch of heifers bought from a neighbour in our feedlot and somehow they were bred while in the feedlot and we still cant figure out how they got bred. Pulled 16 calves, most had to come out with a come-along because we ran out of calf puller, had to cut a few out in pieces. None survived, smallest calf was 117, biggest was 160. Guess thats what happens when you have a pregnant heifer on full feed!
 
MF135":29zt2q8u said:
Aaron":29zt2q8u said:
I agree. Keep the heifer. There are apparently heifers out there that can't even have a 90 lb calf without problems. Those are the ones that need to go. One of my friends used to calve 130-160 lb calves regularly out of Simmental cows.

wow 160lbs calves. I can't imagine a calf that size. I don't think its unreasonable for a heifer to need assistance with a 90lb calf. There are a lot of grown 1200lb cows that will have problems with a calf that size. how big are these simmental cows?

He liked big everything. His smallest cow was a little over 1500. Most were 1700-1900 lbs. :cowboy:
 
Speaking of birthweights,I sometimes wonder what kind of scale some seedstock breeders use. Have purchased supposidly light b.w. bull and wound up with a whole lot of problems, ofcoarse, the mama has some important influence in this equation. This being the case I'm still confused when a calf with a plus 4--5 EPD above breed average shows a actual b.w. of 75--80 lbs. Got so we breed our own heifer bulls and they work well for us.We have always weighed everycalf born her the first 24 hours,tattoo both ears,tag and dehorn the heifers and any bull calf that has a big b.w. is also dehorned and willmake a super steer. But just when we feel we've got it figured out we make a misque on a bull and here we go again. One other thing b.w. is not the only question as bodytype and shape are of equal importance and maybe in some cases moreso. Had a direct son of D4 that was a hard calving son of a gun and used 2 grandsons and never had a problem. Once bought a bull with avery moderate bw and he nearly put us out of biz.Son of a tremendous show bull that 26-- used a long time and sold bulls all over the US. This is all long ago history but just goes to show no matter how much change there is there will always be somethings that remain the same. Anybody ever her the thoery that a cow should and indeed could have a calf that is 8% of her body weight. Do'nt know if its indeed true but it is reasonible as the cattle got bigger so fast that bw went along and as we go back to more moderate sized cows it also will change. sorry im so longwinded.
 
Actual BW of a bull has little bearing on the calving ease he throws. There are way too many variables to pinpoint the actual BW as the main criteria for what the calves will come out as. I've had plenty of higher BW calves come out on their own. The key is selection for build rather than weights. Smooth shoulders and head shape will play a big part in how many calves need to be pulled.
 
Beef Man":54mewh9m said:
If the heifer is'nt hurt,keep her and see if she breeds back,she will always be able to calve,you would think. The real problem with these big calves IF they get born is they usually don't get up and get going like a normal calf do'es and in cold or snow'y weather they are a terribull problem. No place for them in a range situation. As it has been mentioned they are not necessarily the best doing or the top calf at weaning. I do beleive that sometimes they are the result of just being left in the oven to long! Have had 1 or 2 in the past out of Ai that run way over term and out of very easy calving heifer and bull and were quite big. Nature works in wonderous ways and just goes to show us that no matter how great our technology is there will always be unansured questions. Thats what makes life interesting!!

Sorry for the hiatus everyone. Was at a campdraft where I caught up with my friend. She said it almost tore her from vulva to anus. They got the head out and had to twist the calf because it hip locked too.

The gestation point is a good one though, and probably a plausible reason. She's got one more season they say because they are culling a few oldies and not replacing them until next year. I dare say she'll go on the truck after the next calf though. If only because she is small.
 

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