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Cows of moderation (photos)

Soapweed

Well-known member
Callingcowstoanewpasture.jpg

Calling cows to a new pasture
Justregularoldranchcows.jpg

Just regular old ranch cows
Cowsoncake.jpg

Cows on cake
Cowsofmoderation.jpg

Y920, a cow of moderation
NumberY921followsthelastcowY920.jpg

Y921 follows the last cow Y920
Agoodproductive10-year-oldcow.jpg

A good productive ten-year-old cow
Acouplemoreaveragetypecows.jpg

A couple more average type cows
Alineupofladies.jpg

A lineup of ladies
Theredbunch.jpg

The red bunch
Moreoftheredswhichbythewayareforsal.jpg

More of the red bunch, which by the way are for sale
 

movin' on

Well-known member
Soapweed, what do you base your keep/cull desicions on? Does body type play any sort of role or do you go strictly on performance? Did I read somehwere that you pretty much keep all the bred cows? If so, how do you choose which heifers to keep back?
 

Jassy

Well-known member
You've sure got them cows trained good Soapweed...come when ya call em...(I've had dogs that won't do that) form a circle...form a straight line....very talented critters I'd say...lol I see most of your snow is gone..we've lost alot in the last few days, but we still have ground cover.
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
Mike said:
You need a Kickass Char bull on those red ones soap. :wink:

That does make a good combination. Back in the late 'eighties and early 'nineties, my dad used Charolais bulls on his red cows. He would sell yearling steers off of grass, weighing over a thousand pounds. These steers would have been born in March of the previous year.
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
movin' on said:
Soapweed, what do you base your keep/cull desicions on?

Mostly eye appeal.

Does body type play any sort of role or do you go strictly on performance?

The big horsey ones I don't keep, and the little insignificant poorer quality ones get to hit the road.

Did I read somehwere that you pretty much keep all the bred cows?

Usually if a cow is bred and has all her teeth she gets to stay. If she has a noticeably poor calf, or has a poor attitude, bad bag, eye trouble, etc. she doesn't get to hang around. In the spring of the year, if we lose a calf out of a nice young cow, we'll rob a calf out of an older blemished type cow to graft onto the young cow. The other cow gets sold after she has had a chance to go dry for about three weeks.

If so, how do you choose which heifers to keep back?

I like to sort replacement heifers while they are still sucking their mothers. We put a herd of cows with their calves into a fence corner, and do our sorting horseback, one pair at a time. Eye appeal is the single most used factor in our decisions. We can also tell by the top number of the calf's ear tag the chronological order in which it came. Each calf should be the right size for the time period in which it was born. This becomes part of the criterion for the selection process.
 

movin' on

Well-known member
I see. Do you ever elect to keep a heifer that looks really good on momma and then kind of falls apart a few months later? I have the luxury of being able to keep my calves on wheat pasture for several months after I wean calves. It seems to me like I always change my mind a time or two on several heifers each year as they develop.
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
movin' on said:
I see. Do you ever elect to keep a heifer that looks really good on momma and then kind of falls apart a few months later? I have the luxury of being able to keep my calves on wheat pasture for several months after I wean calves. It seems to me like I always change my mind a time or two on several heifers each year as they develop.

Sometimes, before turn-out time in the spring and before the yearling heifers are bred, I'll pick out some that I don't like too well and sell them.
 

jigs

Well-known member
it almost appears that you have taught your cows to square dance.... I bet if I cut and pasted enough of your photos into a power point slide show it would sure look that way!
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
jigs said:
it almost appears that you have taught your cows to square dance.... I bet if I cut and pasted enough of your photos into a power point slide show it would sure look that way!

It would be fun to try. You have my permission.
 

Bward

Well-known member
I can't imagine your calving season. You must have an explosion of calves. What is your record of births in one day? How do you get enough rest ? How will you have time to post pictures of it? :shock: :D
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
Bward said:
I can't imagine your calving season. You must have an explosion of calves. What is your record of births in one day? How do you get enough rest ? How will you have time to post pictures of it? :shock: :D



Hahahaha :lol: @ How will you have time to post pictures of it? :shock: :D[/quote]
Have no fear....I'm bettin Soapweed won't let us down...there will be pictures of calvin season.
 

Jinglebob

Well-known member
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:
Bward said:
I can't imagine your calving season. You must have an explosion of calves. What is your record of births in one day? How do you get enough rest ? How will you have time to post pictures of it? :shock: :D



Hahahaha :lol: @ How will you have time to post pictures of it? :shock: :D
Have no fear....I'm bettin Soapweed won't let us down...there will be pictures of calvin season.[/quote]

He'll just post them as he's waiting for another one to calve, he's keeping watch on.

Hey! Maybe he just needs to move his computer to the calving barn? :)
 

efb

Well-known member
Bward said:
I can't imagine your calving season. You must have an explosion of calves. What is your record of births in one day? How do you get enough rest ? How will you have time to post pictures of it? :shock: :D


We have friends in Throckmorton, Tx that A.I. 200 heifers per day. If I remember the American Rancher show on Stevensons in MT. they A.I.
2000 head in a 7 day period. You talk about a calving explosion.
 
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