Hey ya’ll! How’s everyone doing?
August is rolling in HOT! It’s been a hot July, and August isn’t looking much better, lol. Of course, we know, especially here in the south, August is usually our hottest month of the year.
On a positive note, we HAVE had pretty consistent rain that has kept things from drying up too early! Pastures all still look pretty good for now.
Our crop of calves are mostly on the ground now. We had a late calving season this year, …..way late! We prefer them to be born January and February, but we had some things happen last year that just literally threw us way behind. We were switching over from our old Bull to a new one, and well, that’s just the way the cow pie crumbled!
We have 10 babies on the ground now. We should end up with 15 if everyone is doing their part, so we’ll see
So far we have 5 heifers and 5 bulls! Everyone was born healthy and we’ve had no problems with any of them except one baby girl, Lilly. Yes, she has a name, they ALL do! Lilly is healthy, but we’ve had to bottle feed her because, well, she was pretty small, and she refused to suck on the main nipples on mommas udder where most of the milk was, and so she just wasn’t getting enough. But, she’s doing well!
So, our oldest Momma cow, Dottie, is 12 years old this year. We have decided to stop breeding her after this season. She is one of our original cows we started our business with. She’s very much a part of our family at this point, and she will be the only one we will keep for the rest of her life. She has earned that, and deserves to live her life out here with us.
Anyway, we have a couple other mommas who are in the latter years of production, so we pick out new young ones to take their place in the business. A good rule of thumb is, 10 – 12 years of age will be retirement for most mommas.
They will leave us and young ones will take their place. It’s sad, and if I had my “ruthers”, I’d “ruther” keep em all! But, it’s a business, and I have to keep that mindset (in the back of my mind).
Mommas are with us a long time, and I do get attached to a lot of them, so it’s hard to let them go. I would rather see them leave here healthy though, than to keep hanging on to them until they get too old and broken down and end up dying on us. I don’t like to see any animal suffer!
So, back to happier things! So, it’s a lot of fun to see the new heifers born, see what they look like, what their personalities are like, see how they grow and develop and change colors. It’s just an all around fun and exciting time!
You always hope to produce some really good looking heifers with great conformation and good udders, and have really good momma traits. Believe it or not, just like with humans, there are good mommas and there a not so good mommas, and a good momma makes all the difference when you want a low maintenance herd.
There are a lot of Farmers and Ranchers who like to breed when the heifers reach a certain size. We, personally, go more by age. We have found, in our own experience, sometimes, breeding to young can invite “mothering” issues. We bought some heifers in the past who were a little younger than we like to breed them, and when they had their calves, they just didn’t seem to have the maturity to know how they ‘should’ take care of their calf.
So, we like to wait until they are AT LEAST 20-months old before we expose them to a Bull. We seem to have better luck with that. Not saying everyone should do that, but that is what works for us. The heifers are a little more mature, and seem to handle being a new momma a whole lot better.
We intend on keeping 3 heifers this year to grow to be new mommas here in our herd. I have 2 picked out already but I’m kind of waiting to see the rest that are born to decide on the third one.
I have learned, from reading articles, talking to seasoned Cattlemen, and taking classes what to look for when I’m choosing a good heifer for breeding.
First, temperament. We want docile mommas around us, but aggressive enough to run off predators. We want them to protect those babies! Most mommas have that naturally, but sometimes ya get one that don’t.
Next, good legs and feet. They need to be able to support themselves without getting broken down. They will spend a lot of their lives pregnant, so you want them to be able to stay healthy and upright without developing lameness.
Next, a good udder. Gotta be able to support those babies, because they eat….a lot! You want udders to be fairly compact and close to the body with a strong median suspensory ligament. It’s the ligament that runs up the center of the udder, viewing from the rear of the cow. It holds the udder up and in so the teats hang fairly straight down, which is ideal for the calf to nurse.
Now, that being said, for me, that’s not a make or break kind of thing. I mean, Dottie has a rather large udder that hangs down quite a bit and she still raised every one of her calves with no problems. So, I kind of take it case by case, or, udder by udder.
A big part of choosing a new heifer from our own stock is; what was her momma like? If the heifer’s momma was a great momma, then it’s likely that heifer will also be a good momma. Some things are hereditary, just like with humans. A lot of traits will be passed down, like it or not!
One thing I learned early on choosing cattle, was their back and hips. I like to see a nice straight back and hips that curve downward at the tail region. That conformation is ideal for calving. The calf is going to come out and curve downward, so that conformation helps make the birth smoother and easier.
I’ll keep ya’ll updated on who we decide to keep and add to the herd and give you the rundown on them.
If you have any questions or want me to elaborate on anything, drop me a line on my contact page and I will be glad to reply.
Until next time! Be Safe and be Blessed!