Would you cull her?

[Beefy]

correct me if im wrong but what are her teeth like? or is that not a concern?

I need to get her up and check her teeth again, last year they looked good but I failed to look at them this spring.
She has a calving interval of 353 days, average ww of 616@210 days on her calves, avg. bw of 86.
Sometimes hse worries me about how she gets around, seems tenderfooted on hard and frozen ground.

thats the part that concerns me. she is slightly roach back. but she's standing like she got problems..

thats the only part that concerns me too, her stance. it wont improve so you should probably get rid of her in the next couple of years before it gets to be much of a problem and she starts falling off. have her calves had good feet and leg structure?

 

[dun]

We had one cow that was like that when her belly was full but when she wasn;t stuffed she stood fine. Finally had to get rid of her because she had bad arthritis in her hips. But from the time she started standing sort of hunched up like that she gave us 7 darn calves. She was on of those cows that was old as 5 year old.

 

[holly heifer]

:nod: keep her another year ;-)

 

[tom4018]

thats the only part that concerns me too, her stance. it wont improve so you should probably get rid of her in the next couple of years before it gets to be much of a problem and she starts falling off. have her calves had good feet and leg structure?

I have only kept one heifer out of her, she is a 3 year old now and she seems to be ok. Her and her heifer are actually larger framed than I like. This cow is one I kept, she was on a cow we bought back in early "98, her momma gave some foot troulbe as did one of this cow's sisters.

 

[TexasBred]

Tom if she's bred and sound I'd keep her. I have to 13 year olds, one shows her age, moves slowly and even more slowly when long bred. The other still looks like a young cow. Both have udders that are better than the one on your cow but unless those teats get real big and the bag gets really long I don't see why she couldn't raise you another good calf.... maybe more. Looks like her last one did well.

 

[TheBullLady]

Keep her.... you know what she'll produce! And her udder isn't bad at all. Anything you buy to replace her with is an "unknown" until she starts producing, and the calves may not be as good.

 

[Joy of Texas]

I would keep her. I am known to keep old cows. My oldest one will be 17 in Jan. As long as her teeth are good and she doesn't have trouble getting up and down. My old cow does move slower ,but she is as big as a horse. I keep her here at my house ,so she does not have to fight to be queen.
I listen as they walk,as long as you do not hear any type of popping or grinding they will be ok. My vet says the noise has to do with their tendons and joints. I've sold a few oldies when I hear that noise. Also when they start losing alot of weight. Their teeth are not so good. Also ,she is still breeding that is a major plus.

 

[tom4018]

We mouthed her and her tooth still look pretty good. We decided to try and let her calf next year and wean one then go from there. I guess if hay get tight this winter she might have to go. Anyway now she can't go to the slaughter pen for 2 months as she just got her booster shot and has 60 withdrawal.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Tom if she is in a terminal operation I never cull a cow that produces a calf every 12 months as long as she can raise a calf and stay low maintainence. Eleven isn't old I have girls here pushing 20 still producing every year.
It still boils down to grass, good grass good teeth, good condition, good conception.

 

[tom4018]

Tom if she is in a terminal operation I never cull a cow that produces a calf every 12 months as long as she can raise a calf and stay low maintainence. Eleven isn't old I have girls here pushing 20 still producing every year.
It still boils down to grass, good grass good teeth, good condition, good conception.

I guess sometimes we cull some cows to early, I just like for them to not be on their deaf bed going to the slaughterhouse.

 

[shorty]

As long as she keeps raising calves like that one I'd keep her.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Check her teeth each year. You could get 8 more calves out of that gal if her teeth hold out. When her first calf appears to decline a little, it is a sign that she can no longer produce the milk they need. Cull her then.

You could replace that gal with something that doesn't do nearly as well, is not familiar with your rotation routines, and may not even produce 5 calves before something happens to her.

There is no need to fix something that isn't broken.

 

[CattleHand]

We mouthed her and her tooth still look pretty good. We decided to try and let her calf next year and wean one then go from there. I guess if hay get tight this winter she might have to go. Anyway now she can't go to the slaughter pen for 2 months as she just got her booster shot and has 60 withdrawal.

Id keep her then if the teeth are fine. She may stand a bit funny but her calves stand just like the rest.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

We mouthed her and her tooth still look pretty good. We decided to try and let her calf next year and wean one then go from there. I guess if hay get tight this winter she might have to go. Anyway now she can't go to the slaughter pen for 2 months as she just got her booster shot and has 60 withdrawal.

Id keep her then if the teeth are fine. She may stand a bit funny but her calves stand just like the rest.

standing funny is a good indicator she uncomfortable, when she's older and heavy bred it well worsen...you might look in to copper deficiency

 

[tom4018]

Sold the calf today, 660# for a 2.4 adg.

 

[mnmtranching]

Heck keep her, she's well along in her pregnancy. Let her raise another calf, wean the calf early and sell the cow then. Hit the higher Sept kill cow market.