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Fly control

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bar o ranch

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Location
ohio
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Had a few cases of pinkeye :( so we bought this mineral feeder for our heifer herd. They're not sure they want to stick their heads in there. we vaccinated them about 2 months ago but some still got pinkeye. We used Alpha 7 mb1 and had quite a few injection site reactions. We treated the ones who have pinkeye, and revaccinated with Maxiguard.
 
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This is our first calf heifer herd, 16 heifers had 16 HEIFER claves! We told the bull we'd like some bulls next year!

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My husband says this heifer has a "K" on her, she's a keeper.


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This is our only retired cow, Pinto. Everyone else works for a living.We bought her in 1994 when we were just starting our herd. She had a 4 month old calf on her when we bought her, so we know she's at least 17.


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We'll have to retire this guy soon, Leroy. He is such a good bull, gentle, throws calves with great dispositions and growth.
 
I had feeders like that for several years and really liked them but I have not seen one aound here for several years.

I found they really helped out on the face flies but I still had to spray for horn flies.

Good looking cattle.

Must have been something in the water last year as I had 15 hiefer calves and 6 bulls. I might try to trade a couple of the bulls to a neighbor for a couple of hiefers as I Only have 2 that I want to keep and I would like to keep back about 4

Keep posting and showing how your operation works.
 
Some of the old boy's around here say a good thunder storm really knocks the flies down. Sometime I think there is something to it.
Anybody heard of that before?
 
Nice looking cattle, bar o ranch. That is quite remarkable to get 16 heifer calves from your 16 two-year-old heifers. That should give you great selection for retaining replacement heifers for your herd. Thanks for the pictures.
 
If you ae not to far away and you need to trade bulls to keep fom breeding daughters I like the looks of him - - - I'm about 35 miles from the Ohio line 2 miles north of I 70
 
Good looking cattle. Maybe ol' Mother Nature is trying to tell us all to expand the cow herd. We had 35 heifers and 5 bulls this year. Only 2 of the bulls are purebreds, so the bull market is going to be a small influence to the budget around here in the next couple years. We were short bulls last year as well.
 
PureCountry said:
Good looking cattle. Maybe ol' Mother Nature is trying to tell us all to expand the cow herd. We had 35 heifers and 5 bulls this year. Only 2 of the bulls are purebreds, so the bull market is going to be a small influence to the budget around here in the next couple years. We were short bulls last year as well.

I think we got your bull calves PC, we're about 30 over compared to heifers. :D
 
Thanks for the compliments on our cattle. They are looking pretty good this year but we're struggling trying to keep pinkeye at bay. We don't normally have too much trouble with it but this year we've already had several cases. Found 2 new cases this morning and treated them, so hopefully we caught it early enough they will be OK. We bush hogged some yesterday but need to do ALOT more. We also had to wire saw an older cow's horn a bit - it was curved around and growing into her face. We've done this to her before and she stood like a trooper in the headgate. We are planning to raise some of those 1st calf heifer calves as replacements, not sure yet how many. We run 7 different herds all on leased land. Makes it a bit unhandy but unfortunately it's a bit built up around here and the agricultural sector is shrinking. Thanks again for welcoming us on board. We've enjoyed reading ranchersnet for years but only recently joined up. Still learning, tried to post a picture here of the cow whose horn we wroked on, but couldn't for some reason. :oops: Happy 4th to all.
 
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Got it! Here's the cow who needed work on her horn with her heifer calf. Wish I'd brought my camera to the headgate but I forgot it. Looks much better after we sawed the tip off.
 
Thanks George, he is a nice bull, but we are in eastern OH. My husband has said each year we need to cull him because he's getting so big, but each year he stays - he's just a pleasure to have around. Are you ex-marine?
 
Yes I was in 1967 thru 1971 and my daughter is currently in the USMC Reserves - - - you can see a picture in her dress blues at www.greensboro-sand-gravel.com

I kept my last bull longer than I planned ( he weighed 2,200# when I got rid of him - - still could jump! ) but he was good around people and I kept having a 100% calf crop each year but he found out he could clear a pipe gate anytime he wanted ( stayed away from hot wires ) so the owner of the local sale barn bought him to use on a bunch of cows. He said he was going to ring his nose and hang a 24" chain so that he would not jump any longer - - - I have not ask if it worked. He was 1/2 Angus and 1/2 Charolis.

The bull I have now ( with only 21 cows one is all I need ) is 3/4 Angus and 1/4 Charolis. I halter broke him as a calf and walk thru each day so they all stay calm.
 
I once bought some fly tags from a rancher with a business and he said "I spend a lot of money on fly control. I put in fly tags and I put on pour-on and I feed fly mineral."

He didn't say it, but you know what he could have said next?

"And I still have flies."
 
It's not that you don't have flies, it's how many flies you have that
makes a difference. We are NEVER going to get rid of all the flies,
but the numbers can be controlled.

Know how to tell if you fly control is working?

See if your cows are out grazing and not bunched up.
That's how you tell.

Cows can stand a certain amount of flies without bunching,
that's why it's important to keep the numbers low.

The biggest problem with IGR is that producers don't start feeding
it early enough in the spring and keep it out late enough in the
fall so the flies don't overwinter in the manure. IGR interrupts
the life cycle of the fly. Causes them to hatch early and they
can't fly and die...it is very effective but sometimes two
products are needed in areas where flies are really bad. One
to kill adult flies, and IGR to keep the fly load down. When cattle
are bunched and not out grazing, they are costing the producer
money.
 
We love and honor all our servicemen and women. George your daughter looks great. Guess we'll keep chugging away spraying our cattle for flies and treating the mineral feeders. We put out some Rabon blocks but we were probably late in doing so. We rotate as much as we can which helps, but it's true we'll never be without flies. It does seem like an unusually bad year for them here - long time 'til frost.
 
FH, have you ever heard of high humidity as another cause for cattle bunching up?

That seems so counter-intuitive as to be not true, but it sure appears to be so.

Yesterday, when gathering some hiefers for A-I work, from a pasture that runs maybe 100-150 or more elevation variation from lowest to highest points, they found them in a washout in the nw corner of pasture all clustered together, panting from the heat. Got them to the corral, SLOWLY, and sprayed them down a bit before doing whatever the day called for, preparing to inseminate Tuesday.

I think the flies were not much in evidence, at least I heard no comment on that score.

mrj
 
It has been cool and damp all along untill last week - - - now hot and humid and the cattle have adjusted by standing in the creek or ponds - - - not on fescue pasture either.

In the early mornings and late evenings they graze - - - I have been staying on top of the flies as they do not need more agravation.

The german shepherds have been in the creek behind the house quite a lot as well - - - It is so hot I set up a wading pool for my grand daughter in the sun room - - - she told her little friend I'm rich as I have an indoor pool ( $9.00 for a "Princess Pool " from WalMart )

My vet said the cattle can drop several degrees in body temp by keeping their ankles un cool water as the blood flow there will cool the entire animal. I have a small creek running thru 4 of the small pastures and ponds in the other two. I feel if I was a cow I would like to live here as the seasons are not normally to extream and I keep a stocking rate low enough that they are rarely in grass under 8" tall so they don't have to work to hard or long to be content. That is probably why I love twins but I have not had any twins for two years now.
 

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