At the yards..........Denver 2008

[Anonymous]

By breeding for "bigger, better, and faster" growth traits in cattle we have inadvertedly been breeding for "Efficiency" traits also because they are highly correlated.

If you think cows are that much more efficient because they are smaller, go ahead and purchase you some "Lowlines"........ :lol:

Those little short pudgy cattle stay in the ponds here all summer and have to be fattened in the Fall to be able to make it through Winter...... :lol:

You better go help the AAA rewrite their energy efficiency EPD then :shock: :wink: ....Because most the framier and higher production (higher WW, YW, Milk EPD) cattle are usually the lowest on their EN $ EPD.... And they don't have to be short pudgy cows to be quite a bit less framier...Some 3 and 4 frame bred angus heifers I saw sell at a sale this fall had some of the nicest muscling I've seen in cattle....

 

[Yanuck]

I have a question... I posted some pictures of the Denver Stockyards from 1981 in the Photogallery.... I'm not smart enough to get them over here! I tried the Photobucket thing and again... not smart enough, can someone help me? in really simple easy to follow language?!!!!

 

[WB]

It seems this topic of cow size gets debated here quite a lot. I think it is fun to hear ones opinion from different areas of the country. FWIW I feel that if you follow the highest EPD cattle for growth traits it is enevitable that your cow size will increase because frame size and growth are related. The secret is to get cattle that will grow fast and stop growing by age 2. This way we can get cattle that will grow and not end up with huge mature weights and larger maintenance costs.

FH: I have some 5204 granddaughters out of a Tehama bull that are really nice to be around so not all of them are problematic. In fact they are tamer than my 6I6 cows. It is interesting the way some genetics reveal problems in some herds and in some they don't. I agree with you that those bigger heifers at weaning don't have to end up as the largest mature cows.

 

[kolanuraven]

By breeding for "bigger, better, and faster" growth traits in cattle we have inadvertedly been breeding for "Efficiency" traits also because they are highly correlated.

If you think cows are that much more efficient because they are smaller, go ahead and purchase you some "Lowlines"........ :lol:

Those little short pudgy cattle stay in the ponds here all summer and have to be fattened in the Fall to be able to make it through Winter...... :lol:

Says a man who prob has those white ' Chevy's' that are 6' tall at the hipbone!! :lol: :lol:

 

[CKC1586]

Great pictures, thank you for sharing. Hopefully I can get out there before they move it to another location. Why do they want to move it?

My understanding is because the back yards are in such poor condition they have to fix them or build new. One person out there said that they sell property in that part of Denver by the square foot so that they would make a lot of money and be able to build new.

Too bad that the dollars will be the motivator, too much of our history gets destroyed or left to rot. New is not always better.
Thanks again for the great pictures.

 

[Red Robin]

You better go help the AAA rewrite their energy efficiency EPD then :shock: :wink: ....Because most the framier and higher production (higher WW, YW, Milk EPD) cattle are usually the lowest on their EN $ EPD.... And they don't have to be short pudgy cows to be quite a bit less framier...Some 3 and 4 frame bred angus heifers I saw sell at a sale this fall had some of the nicest muscling I've seen in cattle....

It's pretty much the same with the RA "ME" epd. The trouble with putting a linear number into a complex equasion like efficiency though it that the ME epd was set up to sort against gut mass. Gut mass (liver mostly) is an large user of energy. That's all well and good but for me here on fescue I have to have gut mass (digestion tract) to function. What is efficiency? Efficiency in the feedlot on high energy rations as Mike proposed?I certainly think that the feed lot cattle owners would prefer the high growth individuals because of feed lot conversion. If you are going to hard grass country, like yours oldtimer, smaller cattle in general will work fine. Here it kind of takes a mix of both. I have to have gut mass to get enough energy in the early part of summer when fescue is the worst so that cattle can hold enough sorry roughage to breed back. It's very inefficient if the don't have a calf next year. I also can't have too much extra daylight under the cattle. Those leggy , high growth cows, can't get enough energy to express their potential on fescue. The happy medium I find here is bigger cattle in a smaller frame. I want lots of width and base, plenty of length of spine, large roomy rib cages and a little shorter necks and legs. There won't be an epd that will tell me what's efficient here. The large majority of the epd data is collected in the west on better pasture. When you bring them here, all bets are off. It's tough country in it's own right.

 

[Yanuck]

These are some pictures my husband took the 1st year he went to Denver in 1981, the cattle were unloaded and driven up the ramps across the railroad tracks and in the plant by guys on horseback. None of the ramps are there anymore.

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[CKC1586]

Neat Pictures! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW

P.S. OT, N Bar Prime Time has been in ABS line-up for a long time.
I rather like the bull, but I worry about his dispostion. We kept heifers directly out of 5204 and we got rid of them all, because of disposition.
And they aren't really thick cattle either. So, although I like some things about Prime Time, I still have questions.

Anyone have any photos of Wye cattle to post here?

That was one of my worries too-- then when AAA released their docility ratings on progeny of some of the top bulls-- he was in the top 25%... :shock: :???:
So I'm going to try him on two larger framed registered 2nd calf heifers I have that I bought ....As I told you before- I bought a Bannon of Wye son- and a Legacy son(son of Rito 707) out of a Viking bred cow that goes back several times to the old Shoshone Viking GD60 bull....
http://abs-bs.absglobal.com/beef/angus.asp?CodTouro=29AN1695
I'm going to use them as cleanup on all the heifers and some cows...If it doesn't moderate some size- maybe it will slow the upward creep that has been happening with the semen pimps "Bull of the Year" "bigger, better, faster" bloodlines.....

Faster Horses--Took me a couple of days to remember where I'd stuck this picture :roll: Oldtimers disease :wink:
This is the old Bannon of Wye UMF 8420 bull-Reg #: 13560373 -- that is owned by Whitney Creek Ranch and Horse Butte Ranch....He is 8 years old and about a 5 frame....Hopefully the son of his I bought will produce some good momma cow potential...
I think he looks better in person than in this picture (most bulls do)- as this picture doesn't show one of his stronger traits-good looking good sized feet ...
Hopefully in the years to come I'll have some pictures of lots of calves and cows that have his influence...
I really enjoyed the Hould boys sale this year- and I got to see my first true 3 frame bull (I've had several 4-5 frames- but never a 3)...They really had some nice looking bulls and heifers- and if I hadn't been trying to skimp every lb of hay I got this year- I'd of owned a couple of those bred heifers.....