why do you cull

Help Support CattleToday:

plbcattle

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 14, 2004
Messages
682
Reaction score
1
Location
arkansas
I know certian people that have strict culling practices. I know others that give a cow a little longer. what measurments must be met to keep a cow/bull/heifer on your farm. I like my bulls to wean weight to be around 625 and yearling weight to be around 1050. my heifers need to wean at around 580. i am not as concerned with there yearling weights. I cull all calves born over 90 lbs. I cull cows on milking and udder structure. a good disposition is a must. what makes you cull. Thanks
plbcattle.com
 
We raise registered cattle, so we tend to give a cow more "benefit of the doubt" in some circumstances than a lot of commercial breeders.

We cull on disposition, feed, and udder primarily. If we have a cow that doesn't get bred back right away, we'll haul her in to be checked before we ship her. We only have one bull on 75 head, so it's possible that he'll miss one or two. Birth weigths are not a culling issue here.. we use EPD's when selecting a breeding bull, so rarely have calving problems because of birth weights

We sell the best at the registered sales, or for show calves.
 
Disposition, although that hasn't ben a problem for many years, failure to settle by the second service. She must wean at least 50% of her weight. The intangible is the cow just just irritates the snot out of you. We have one that bellers her head off, she'll stand at the fence and look towards you and just carry-on something awfull. She also happens to have a very irritating, loud strident beller. She's heading down the road as soon as we wean in September. Our uearling heifers kept for replacments have to weigh at least 700-750 at spring workup. All of this on strictly pasture ( high endophyte fescue, clover and OG mix), loose mineral, white salt and water. To make a replacement a heifer has to be out of an easy calving, good milking cow/heifer and be sired by a bull that has those same characteristics.
She also has to have "the look", can't really describe it but you can tell if she has it or not.
Udders, feet and legs have never been a problem but they would also be reasons to have one of the girls grow wheels.

dun
 
plbcattle":3rkqlxrb said:
I know certian people that have strict culling practices. I know others that give a cow a little longer. what measurments must be met to keep a cow/bull/heifer on your farm. I like my bulls to wean weight to be around 625 and yearling weight to be around 1050. my heifers need to wean at around 580. i am not as concerned with there yearling weights. I cull all calves born over 90 lbs. I cull cows on milking and udder structure. a good disposition is a must. what makes you cull. Thanks
plbcattle.com

A cow must deliver a live calf every 12 months with no help, if she requires help to the salebarn she goes. She must wean a calf 45% or better to body weight. Disposition will get you culled faster than anything.
I have not had a problem in years on calves being to large, since I went to the bllodlines I run now. The cows must be able to deliver on grass only with mineral supplement.
 
We raise registered cattle, so we tend to give a cow more "benefit of the doubt" in some circumstances than a lot of commercial breeders.

As a registered breeder myself, I have been harder on my registered stock than when we had commercial cattle. The only ones that get a second chance are heifers it they do not calve at 2, I give them until the next breeding season to calve, and it not they are gone. No excuses for cows.
I would hope that other registered breeders do the same. This is where people go to buy bulls and quality cattle. If there are problems in fertility or whatever, it is more than likely hereditary and that is not what cattle producers need to be producing.
Just my 2 cents...
 
greatgerts":1f015hz6 said:
We raise registered cattle, so we tend to give a cow more "benefit of the doubt" in some circumstances than a lot of commercial breeders.

As a registered breeder myself, I have been harder on my registered stock than when we had commercial cattle. The only ones that get a second chance are heifers it they do not calve at 2, I give them until the next breeding season to calve, and it not they are gone. No excuses for cows.
I would hope that other registered breeders do the same. This is where people go to buy bulls and quality cattle. If there are problems in fertility or whatever, it is more than likely hereditary and that is not what cattle producers need to be producing.
Just my 2 cents...

Fertility and inheritence.
For the first time since we've been raising cattle, one of our prospective replacments has not matured. Growth is good, from a long line of fertile cows and bulls, she's 15 months and still has an infantile repro tract. It's slightly more developed then at 12 months, but she's been moved to the feed out pen. Even if she cycles now I sure don;t want her or her offspring in the herd.
She's just a fluke, but who's to say if she'll pass it on.


dun
 
I call it my three F rule. My cows have to be Friendly, (I've shipped a couple of very good producers because of disposition)have good Fertility, (probably the most economically important trait) and have a good concept of Fence. (I have a neighbor whose cows don't really believe in the concept of fence, guys around here are getting pretty tired of it). Besides that cows that consistently don't produce good calves, or produce funny colored calves don't stay around long. Of course as you can see by my avatar, I have a soft spot for a few that are a little offbeat but I do some special marketing to get rid of those calves.
 
Campground,

I went to the site and put in info on a cow I want to cull, but I don't understand the resulting graphs? Could you explain how to read them. The one I got was all black.
 
We cull based on several things, and i am less tollerant than most

Here are some criteria I use,

Bulls: sub optimal performance, based on breed standard expected, always wan't better than the breed standard, anything over 90lb birth weight, they make great steers, any testicular malformations

Everthing is culled with poor temperaments, 0 tolerance

Cows: open, get culled, unless it is my fault then they go after three tries if pregnancy is not achieved by natural service after 60 days, also with anual physicals, if teeth are missing which will cause cow to have sub optimal performance she is sent packing, no hard feelings but one poor doer will look bad when you have a customer come out, and they ask, why are you keeping that one, our oldest cow is 14 years, some last longer, but when it is time, they go into the food chain, I can't see letting them go to waist rotting in the ground, not fair to them either.
 
We call it the 3 strikes and your out rule. Doesn't matter if we are talking my goats or husbands cows. Our big things are if they shove the other ones around too hard, get out of their pasture, or so antique they no longer hold condition. Things that bring them to 3 strikes immediately; they are open after a summer with the bull, they threaten us or visitors (even if they have just had a calf), they are sick or injured with no hope of repair, such as severe mastitis or a broken leg.
 
I'm alot stricter than the rest of my family, but they have to have a good udder, easy fleshing, and decent disposition. I can handle one that gets a lil goofy when she gets crowded too much or get over handled, but I"m tryin to get my grandpa to either sell or slaughter one of our replacements for this year because she is just a nut.
 
It's alwasy interesting to see what different people classify as poor disposition. From nutty but they don't attack to have to come like a dog and stand around to be petted. Just goes to show that one mans meade is another mans poison

dun
 
We cull cows on performance of offspring, feet, udders, failing preg checks, or not calving on a yearly basis, poor disposition and health. Potential bulls are culled on lack of performance, disposition, dams performance record, health, and looks. Space and pasture also influence how strict the culling process is.
 
sidney411":tlmmgbha said:
Campground,

I went to the site and put in info on a cow I want to cull, but I don't understand the resulting graphs? Could you explain how to read them. The one I got was all black.

Hey Sid I don't know what you input was but if it came up black it saying cull and don't replace.
 
Temperament in my herd means they don't pop their head up and run, they don't get wild when crowded in the working pen, and they don't run you over because they have no respect for you,

I do use a hot shot from time to time, just to increase my comfort zone so I don't get knocked into the feed bunk, which has happened, and I don't like to be crowded around my tractor, while filling buckets from the grain bin, I like my personal space and expect them to give it to me or I zap them, it does not hurt them, it surprizes them, I have have zapped myself, and if I can take it so can they, there is a difference between abuse and correction
 
Hey Sid I don't know what you input was but if it came up black it saying cull and don't replace.


It is saying cull and don't replace with anything based on the prices entered, or replace w/ something younger and of different genetics?

That could prove to be a useful link. Thanks Campground!
 
No matter what price range one plugs in on any of the areas, or even with or without a calf, it seems to say cull. I could not get yellow to ever come up. Guess that means we should all sell out.
 

Latest posts

Top