Wow, interesting thread! Well, I guess Ill say this. First, there is no dumb question. I'm glad the original poster asked his question. I'm on several different forums. When you cant here the tone of voice as to how something is stated, someones comments can very easily get misinturpeted. Ive been the insulte & the insulter. I know Beef Arm said he feed mineral and some other things, indicating that you are trying to follow protocol. Yet then you make a comment about over feeding grandpa. I can see both sides of this. Life is too short to get worked up.
I'm from Nebraska, just like Brad S. I'm from Chambers...Holt County. I'm guessing from knowing who soap weed is Brad is from Cherry Co. There is a vast difference in protocol just in Nebraska. Up in our country....yes cut at birth, dehorned, several rounds of shots (I have given 3 sets of respitory/pasturllia) weaned, most set breeding season etc. I don't know if Id say Beef Arm is a hobby farmer. I have around 180 cows, my neighbor has 600. Am I a hobby farmer???? I don't think the "bashing" is because of your size, its your husbandry. So, I have 180 cows. I give a prebreeding shot to my cows before I turn the bull out. My neighbor that has 600 gives a prebreeding shot at pregcheck time. I have another neighbor that has a herd size between these tow & gives no prebreeding shot at all. I'm not bragging, but Id like to say I feel we are all successful. I somewhat agree with Brad S. that some people that don't follow protocol give a bad reputation. For instance on a Facebook forum a person asked if the modified vaccine that his neighbor used 2 days ago (had some left) would work on his calves. Now anyone that know anything about vaccine would modified has an optimum shelf life of about an hour. Now is it killed vaccine is good for who knows how long. There is more this, but what I'm saying is if your not informed, its easy to get confused.
Not pumping, or as faster horses put it...no cost producer isn't a bad thing. I view a lot of this stuff like an insurance policy. For instance, UNL did some research in my area on mineral content of the grass & water in our area. According to them, all we need to feed is a very little phosphurse, copper & zinc. Extension agent said you could have some A, D, & E if it helped you to sleep at night. As he explained it....you can run with a more expensive mineral program (lower insurance deductible) and have to doctor less. In the long run, if you have potential issues, it wil be less. If you have no issues, well its money spent that you didn't need to. If you went with a cheaper mineral, (higher deductible) if you have a problem it will cost you more (labor, antibiodics, lost gains, etc.) but the odds are less that you will need the extra "coverage". Well that year phos went sky high for the time, so I tried it. There is no corolation between what I had for mineral (according to them) yet I had the worst year of foot rot & pink eye ever. I never had problems that bad before or after. Also towards the end of the year, Id go down to check cows & Id see a new cow ridding. Well, it was a "on par" preg check. I do agree with the university that maybe we don't need "top coverage", a bigger feed supplier sells a lot of mineral with oxides (less absorbable/cheaper/poorer quality) and the people that use it have good results. Myself and others spend a little more to have better coverage...sleep better at night. Yes, if we bought every product possible we should have 200% preg check & wean off 900# calves. You can "pump" them full of stuff. If cattle isn't your main income source, yes you can cut some corners. Not pump them full of stuff & if they don't wean off at an optimium weight or optimium breed back your not going to go broke. For others like myself if you put your percentage of breed back on our scale my banker would sell me out in a heart beat. A person can be kinda loose about things or anal. For instance, I know a father & son operation. The son wanted to precondition. The father said in the local gas station "we could just put it on their backs and it would do as much good". Then I know of a story that one producer changes needles between each animal. I think you get my point here. People use to not vaccinate, feed just salt, etc. They didn't just start doing to because they felt sorry for the feed salesman. Yes you can over due it. You can get lucky. As one person said, I think being a no cost producer has caught up with you.
Ive been to sales in eastern Nebraska where they aren't dehorned, cut, etc. In an up market people will pay for anything. Like I gave my calves a respitory shot in the spring, then mid October, weaned first part of November, then the Tuesday before Christmas I gave them a shot again. Ive never done it before this way. I don't expect a $50 dollor a head premium. When the vaccine is $1 a head, if I can get one person to bid just one more time, even if its just 10 cents a hundred per pound Ill get my vaccine money back and then some. Your the only one that knows what your time is worth. No disrespect intended, just being bluntly honest, if your going to do something, why do half a job? It might be somewhat geographical specific, but around here, if its not cut/dehorned, they beat the sh!t out of you.
Well, back to the original post. You have been kinda vague for much help. Your neighbor has a strung out calving period. He could have bad nutrition or tric. Tric is not hard to test for, but not easy either. Borrowing isn't the best thing, STD's. They can be "lazy" too. You might awesome nutrition, but if your heifers aren't fertile, you have an uphill battle. You talk about "pumping", if you have to feed really well due to them not being fertile your "pumping" them. Have you tested your feed or water? Do you know what your grass & water has for minerals? Does your mineral compensate for what your short on in your area? Is your mineral available? For instance a cheap quality mineral might use oxides which is poor quality. If its there, but not available (digestable) its just going to go out the butt. Chealates is the other end. Its expensive. If your having issues or are really low on say zinc, maybe you need to feed chealates. If you don't know your mineral composition, you might be feeding chealates and "pumping" them. Not trying to insult, just you have been kinda vague. Ive heard fescue is hard to deal with. If that what you have to work with, well that's what you have to work with. Some vaccines are better than others. Some are worse. For instance I hate killed. Yet some vets will swear by them. It all depends on what your trying to tackle. I had a friend that had a bad breed back. He did a good job protocol wise. He never did figure it out. You might not either.
Id be interested in more information as to your protocol. Also the other forum's comments. There is a vast spread of opinions on the net. Nobody ever says their wrong! I'm not familiar with fescue. That sure could be some of it. Could be tric. Could be just flat poor fertility. I know some people that if they don't calve in 265 days, they go to town. No exceptions. To some that could be considered anal, others not. Every operation has different goals and different management. In all honesty, if your going to do something the better of a job you do the better you will be paid. Weather that's on a scale of 10 cows or 10,000. I'd talk to your vet. He should be somewhat knowledgable as to if tric is around or not, what kind of minerals your environment has, etc. Easiest/cheapest might be to just sell all and start over verses test for this test for that etc. It sure could be poor fertility. If you have a car where the engine burns a lot of oil, the tranny slipps, and rear end leakes. Its cheaper to get a new car than add oil, put lucas in the tranny, and fix your rear end seal...if you get what I mean.
Good luck