Larrry
Well-known member
I get it now, I am going to go and get a big birthweight bull just to prove I can live with the cows and pull big calves. yep thats what I'll do. :wink:
andybob said:Low birthweight is not the whole picture, conformation of the calf is also important, heavy shoulders in a relatively small calf can cause problems in heifers. Another consideration in low birthweights, is how well will the calf gain weight? (the Jersey certainly won't)
When I first started keeping cattle I was at school with nobody to check them during the day, so my breed choice was based on minimal calving problems, later I had a demanding military commitment, the ranch was in an area infiltrated by insurgents, so my wife had limited access to the herd while I was away, so the breed choice remained a priority, average calf weight of 75 lbs, and long/thin conformation, their being able to be up and active quickly was important with a large leopard population on the ranch.
Faster horses said:Many think that heavy bw problems can be solved by using a light
bw bull. NOT SO! BW is more heritable from the cow than from the bull.
Once you get big birthweights in your cow herd, it takes a long time to
eliminate it. And it can pop back up anytime.
We did not want to assist anything. Our night calver, who worked for us for 10 years,
says he can count on one hand the heifers he had to help or
the calving problems he had while working here. That's just the way we like it.
I am totally with NR in his assestment.
Our weaning weights did not suffer
because of not having heavy bw calves.
Sure, we didn't sell 700 lb. calves in the fall...nor was that ever our goal.
600+ pound calves worked for us. We started calving March 25
and tried to get the calves off the cows by Oct. 10th by selling
to a country order buyer. Most of the time, that worked.
It has been mentioned here about calves that get up and go by themselves--
that's been really important to us as well. An old friend
had a theory that the "big, dumb calves" were that way because they
suffered lack of oxygen in the birth canal because of taking too long
to be born. I think he had something there.
littlejoe said:Faster horses said:Many think that heavy bw problems can be solved by using a light
bw bull. NOT SO! BW is more heritable from the cow than from the bull.
Once you get big birthweights in your cow herd, it takes a long time to
eliminate it. And it can pop back up anytime.
We did not want to assist anything. Our night calver, who worked for us for 10 years,
says he can count on one hand the heifers he had to help or
the calving problems he had while working here. That's just the way we like it.
I am totally with NR in his assestment.
Our weaning weights did not suffer
because of not having heavy bw calves.
Sure, we didn't sell 700 lb. calves in the fall...nor was that ever our goal.
600+ pound calves worked for us. We started calving March 25
and tried to get the calves off the cows by Oct. 10th by selling
to a country order buyer. Most of the time, that worked.
It has been mentioned here about calves that get up and go by themselves--
that's been really important to us as well. An old friend
had a theory that the "big, dumb calves" were that way because they
suffered lack of oxygen in the birth canal because of taking too long
to be born. I think he had something there.
I sure agree with you about maternal contribution--I remember weighing the calves from 50 straws of EXT---who at that time had enuf on the ground for his epd's to be fairly accurate---calves varied from 68# to 108#
A point on heavier calves: Say there's a 6 cent spread between 600 and 700 pounders. When you sell the 700#, you're actually getting 36$ less for the first 600# than if you had all 6 weight calves. So how much are you actually getting for the extra hundred pounds?
Guys promoting creep feed didn't use to like it when I'd help them 'do the math' on how much i'd actually be making with their 'cheaply put on added weight'
Faster horses said:Many think that heavy bw problems can be solved by using a light
bw bull. NOT SO! BW is more heritable from the cow than from the bull.
Once you get big birthweights in your cow herd, it takes a long time to
eliminate it. And it can pop back up anytime.
We did not want to assist anything. Our night calver, who worked for us for 10 years,
says he can count on one hand the heifers he had to help or
the calving problems he had while working here. That's just the way we like it.
I am totally with NR in his assestment.
Our weaning weights did not suffer
because of not having heavy bw calves.
Sure, we didn't sell 700 lb. calves in the fall...nor was that ever our goal.
600+ pound calves worked for us. We started calving March 25
and tried to get the calves off the cows by Oct. 10th by selling
to a country order buyer. Most of the time, that worked.
It has been mentioned here about calves that get up and go by themselves--
that's been really important to us as well. An old friend
had a theory that the "big, dumb calves" were that way because they
suffered lack of oxygen in the birth canal because of taking too long
to be born. I think he had something there.