May/June Calving Update

[jeff in ca]

I loved this conversation on this subject. We moved out of the February calving war zone ourselves. Man and his need to manipulate things is wrong at times. Not too sound like a Granola Crunching Left I mean West coaster. I looked around and found no fawns or coyote pups being born in February. Why would I force my cows to do calve then? April is working beautiful for me......

 

[gcreekrch]

I can't figure any WDA's because I don't record their birth dates gcreekrch. I quit tagging calves 2 years ago. All I know is that those calves never had a bad day.

On the tagging topic, if a guy is a Type A personality and a little anal, it would be had to quit tagging. What I decided was that I was doing more harm than good. It took a lot of time and all I was doing was stiring up the whole herd. In this system tagging is optional. My two cents worth.

I wasn't trying to get real technical.

You have an average birth date and an average birth weight in your head and a date that you weaned. It's all the information a cowman needs to make a semi-educated calculation.

I can loan you my North Dakota computer if it helps.

I hear you on the tagging but as you know I'm still a little anal. :lol: :lol:

 

[katrina]

Where I come from, we never tagged calves. Our calving pasture was prolly 4 sections we rode horseback three times a day... As long as dad didn't run out of hankies that we took off at branding we did very well.. No scours and very few problems... I guess we were just lucky....

 

[Faster horses]

Gee Katrina, I remember when we didn't tag ours, too.
And after we did tag, Mr. FH
never looked at the tags.(He can't remember numbers).
I asked him once why he even tagged them... :???: But then I caught on and used them for data and it sure helped with that
and when sorting for age.

Those were the days!!!! :nod:

 

[Big Swede]

OK gcreekrch here is a semi educated calculation for you. Average birth date:May 15, average birth weight:85 pounds, average weaning weight:500 pounds, weaning date:Oct. 28.

That gives them a WDA of just over 3 pounds and an ADG of just over 2.5 pounds. I tried to weigh my second bunch but my scale took a crap for some reason. I tried it again today and it works just fine. Go figure. :?

 

[gcreekrch]

That's great!

Our neighbors that start calving in mid February sold their calves a week ago. Add back in the shrink from the sale barn and all other considerations and their ADG would be roughly 2.1 lbs on RA/Sim. cattle.

We are selling next week but in years past with the same calculation ours would be a touch under 2.5. Start date April 10, and ours are heavier to Angus breeding.

Glad I asked this question, it got me thinking. :lol:

All I need now is a place with earlier grass and no wolves. :?

 

[BRG]

We are weaning a group of our May/June calvers today. We did a group last weak as well, and will have one more smaller group after today.

It is hard on my eyes as we also have a group of March calves we weaned early who have been on feed since mid Sept. These May/June calves come in and they are quite a bit smaller than that group is now. It just takes a bit for me to adjust I guess.

But their dams sure are alot less work! We calve them in a 1120 acre pasture and ride on them once a day to way and tag. I like it, but some of our bull customers want yearling bulls so we have both groups.

 

[Big Swede]

OK, final update on the year. We ultrasounded today and the results were about normal. We preg checked everything from the coming 3's to the coming 13's, with a 6.9% open rate. I was disappointed in the coming 3's though. The last few years the pregnancy rate on them has been great but this year it was not nearly as good. I don't know if there is any correlation but these were the same group of heifers that we had the wreck on when we tried to AI them as heifers. These were all AI bred but the rebreed was proably only 80%. I'll know for sure when I get a good count on the 3's.

Another big disappointment was in the Ritchey ear tag retention. Every cow was tagged last spring and I replaced about 60 tags today. I am now trying Z tags with hopefully better results. At least all the cows have a freeze brand so I knew what tag to put in but man, what a pain in the butt. I won't buy another Ritchey tag as long as I live.

Oh and by the way the fenceline weaning project went off without a hitch. If you haven't tried it I would definately recommend it.

 

[George]

I still love my "Temple Tags" made in Temple Texas.

I know with just 25 ( counting bull ) adults and 21 calves I don't have a big herd but the only tag I replaced this year was on the crazy ( #15 ) cow and it was because the ink had worn off. I checked the computer and she was purchased ( and tagged ) in 2003. She is still # 15 but I cut the button shank on her old tag and replaced it in the same hole. Reinking the tag was out of the question unless I wanted to nose snub her but in the chute I used side cutting pliers to cut the shank and replaced the tag in seconds.

Cow #15 showing blank tag ( and muddy head as she is constantly butting the ground! ) Crazy cow!

I did reink # 16 #18 and #20, both #16 and #18 tags were incerted in 2000 and could be read but barely. #20 was tagged in 2006 as a calf ( now in left ear ) and 2007 as a cow.

I tried the "free" Z tags a couple of years ago and lost about 9% within 6 months! I do still have 1 hiefer with a Z tag and it seems to be fading as bad or worse than the Temple tags. I found most of the Z tags around the round bale rings so I'm assuming they get rubbed off there and with the larger base to the buttons the Temple tags seem to stay better.

Yes I have to keep track of both a tag and a button but that is not a problem with me.

They also help me keep track of ancestory in the herd as when a hiefer gets bred the yellow calf tag is moved from her left ear and with a new button goes in her right ear and she gets a new "cow" tag ( red ) in her left ear ( same hole where the calf tag was )

This shows cow #2 was born in 2002 to cow #8

This shows cow #20 out of cow #3 in 2006

I now have several in the herd with yellow tags in the right ear showing who their mother is ( all males get perminent tags in the right ear ) and they seem to fade about the same as the red tags. Easily read for about 5 years then as they come thru the chute I start reinking them. The reink job ( with permenant tag markers ) seems to need a touch up about every 2 to 3 years.

But lost tags are just about none! I do try to make sure to place the tag close to the head and about 2/3 up in the ear ( feel for veins ) but I did the same with the Z tags.

I seem to have more pictures of white cows but I'm down to only 6 Charolis cows and they are not being replaced as they eat to much for the pounds of beef they produce. In about 5 or 6 more years they should all be repalced as the calves out of the much smaller black cows weigh just as much and I can run several more blacks on the same pasture. I proved that to myself when I devided the herd for winter feeding.

 

[Big Swede]

The fading ink thing is why I went to Rithcey but the buttons break. These cows never eat out of a bale ring. I have been replacing about 10% a year and that is just not acceptable. Hope the Z tags are better.

 

[Nicky]

We've had good luck with the Ritchie tags

 

[rancherfred]

Are you using Ritchey buttons or another brand? Last time I ordered tags from Valley Vet they told me that they had a lot of complaints about a certain brand of buttons breaking. It was either Allflex or Y-tex buttons and they claimed that it was just the black buttons. The other colors seemed to be fine. I had never had any problems with either. I did use Ritchey buttons one year and I wasn't real happy with the damage it did to the ear. Ritchey buttons are supposed to be some of the best for retention there is but with the all plastic design I had more lumps on the ear from tearing the skin instead of puncturing it cleanly. I have been using all three brands and have had much less problem with retention with the Ritchey tags than I ever had with the Z-tags.

 

[Big Swede]

After preg checking cows this week I was reminded of this thread from a few years ago. I'm not sure there is any correlation to the change I made in my mineral program but it is the only thing I can think of that may have improved my pregnancy rate this year. I started feeding a chelated mineral called Availa 4 to my cows about a month prior to calving through weaning this year and my open rate was half of normal. I'm not sure what else to attribute the improvement to as it was the only thing I did differently. My open rate has consistently been in the 7% range for as long as we've been checking them and this year it was less than 4% and the coming 3's was less than 5%.

I just thought this might be some helpful information for someone who might be searching for a possible solution to a higher than normal open rate.

 

[Soapweed]

After preg checking cows this week I was reminded of this thread from a few years ago. I'm not sure there is any correlation to the change I made in my mineral program but it is the only thing I can think of that may have improved my pregnancy rate this year. I started feeding a chelated mineral called Availa 4 to my cows about a month prior to calving through weaning this year and my open rate was half of normal. I'm not sure what else to attribute the improvement to as it was the only thing I did differently. My open rate has consistently been in the 7% range for as long as we've been checking them and this year it was less than 4% and the coming 3's was less than 5%.

I just thought this might be some helpful information for someone who might be searching for a possible solution to a higher than normal open rate.

We also used the Availa 4 mineral this summer with good results. At the information meeting about the product, there was a feedlot operator who indicated if he had to choose between buying calves on a good nutrition and mineral program, or those having the preconditioning vaccinations, he'd go for the good nutrition. Of course, ideally calves at weaning time should be on both good nutrition and a preconditioning vaccination program.

 

[Silver]

After preg checking cows this week I was reminded of this thread from a few years ago. I'm not sure there is any correlation to the change I made in my mineral program but it is the only thing I can think of that may have improved my pregnancy rate this year. I started feeding a chelated mineral called Availa 4 to my cows about a month prior to calving through weaning this year and my open rate was half of normal. I'm not sure what else to attribute the improvement to as it was the only thing I did differently. My open rate has consistently been in the 7% range for as long as we've been checking them and this year it was less than 4% and the coming 3's was less than 5%.

I just thought this might be some helpful information for someone who might be searching for a possible solution to a higher than normal open rate.

Sometimes I think it has a lot to do with the year. We haven't fed mineral in years. Our open rate has been similar to yours, including this year. In fact I didn't have an open heifer this year. I'm tending to think some years the environment is just more conducive to good results.

 

[WyomingRancher]

After preg checking cows this week I was reminded of this thread from a few years ago. I'm not sure there is any correlation to the change I made in my mineral program but it is the only thing I can think of that may have improved my pregnancy rate this year. I started feeding a chelated mineral called Availa 4 to my cows about a month prior to calving through weaning this year and my open rate was half of normal. I'm not sure what else to attribute the improvement to as it was the only thing I did differently. My open rate has consistently been in the 7% range for as long as we've been checking them and this year it was less than 4% and the coming 3's was less than 5%.

I just thought this might be some helpful information for someone who might be searching for a possible solution to a higher than normal open rate.

Sometimes I think it has a lot to do with the year. We haven't fed mineral in years. Our open rate has been similar to yours, including this year. In fact I didn't have an open heifer this year. I'm tending to think some years the environment is just more conducive to good results.

Ditto. These cows bred up very well also.

 

[Big Swede]

After preg checking cows this week I was reminded of this thread from a few years ago. I'm not sure there is any correlation to the change I made in my mineral program but it is the only thing I can think of that may have improved my pregnancy rate this year. I started feeding a chelated mineral called Availa 4 to my cows about a month prior to calving through weaning this year and my open rate was half of normal. I'm not sure what else to attribute the improvement to as it was the only thing I did differently. My open rate has consistently been in the 7% range for as long as we've been checking them and this year it was less than 4% and the coming 3's was less than 5%.

I just thought this might be some helpful information for someone who might be searching for a possible solution to a higher than normal open rate.

Sometimes I think it has a lot to do with the year. We haven't fed mineral in years. Our open rate has been similar to yours, including this year. In fact I didn't have an open heifer this year. I'm tending to think some years the environment is just more conducive to good results.

Ditto. These cows bred up very well also.

Maybe you all are right, it was a good grass year here, my Dad is 89 and he said he had never seen the grass so tall. We had over 30 inches of rain this past growing season. But, 7% was the number for years no matter when the cows calved, and then that big of an improvement? I guess in a true scientific test, you need to repeat your results, so I guess we'll see what happens next year.

 

[Faster horses]

After preg checking cows this week I was reminded of this thread from a few years ago. I'm not sure there is any correlation to the change I made in my mineral program but it is the only thing I can think of that may have improved my pregnancy rate this year. I started feeding a chelated mineral called Availa 4 to my cows about a month prior to calving through weaning this year and my open rate was half of normal. I'm not sure what else to attribute the improvement to as it was the only thing I did differently. My open rate has consistently been in the 7% range for as long as we've been checking them and this year it was less than 4% and the coming 3's was less than 5%.

I just thought this might be some helpful information for someone who might be searching for a possible solution to a higher than normal open rate.

We also used the Availa 4 mineral this summer with good results. At the information meeting about the product, there was a feedlot operator who indicated if he had to choose between buying calves on a good nutrition and mineral program, or those having the preconditioning vaccinations, he'd go for the good nutrition. Of course, ideally calves at weaning time should be on both good nutrition and a preconditioning vaccination program.

Texas A&M did a study on this several years ago, and their research found that calves that had not been fed mineral while on the cow had a much higher incidence of sickness when in the feedlot. It's nothing new, really, but good that information is getting out there. I have the study if anyone wishes to read it, just PM me.

Cow breed-up has been unusually good here too. Many have 85-90% bred in the first heat cycle. Lots of ultra-sounding here so that is pretty accurate.
It's certainly been a good year to be in the cow business.

Sheep business too.

 

[WyomingRancher]

These cattle don't get mineral while they are on the forest in the summer. I feel in our case, mineral does help when it's feasible to feed it. Our vet has reported high preg rates for this entire area this fall. Indeed, a great year for many...finally!