2019 spring calf birth weights

[CAB]

What's the consensus this spring so far in the mid & upper plains as far as calf birth weights are concerned? I'm just getting started but so far I think my calves are running on the heavier side compared to the last few years.

 

[hevmando]

Only 2 on the ground so far.  1st calf heifer, calving ease bull, not more that 65#.  9 yr old cow with known breeding never above 90 had one bred the same way that was closer to 120 than 110.

 

[aj]

48 calves...........running 65 to 82. I haven't run the numbers but I have not noticed a problem.

 

[cowboy_nyk]

We started below our normal average and then the weights jumped up.  Pretty much like the weather dropped. 30 days later BWs are higher.

 

[CAB]

Some of my surprises,
Insight x Mission Statement x N. Improvement, 96lbs Bull calf
Wide Range x Hobart x Driver 98lbs Bull calf
Wide Range x Grandmaster x HB Journey 99lbs Bull calf
Grandmaster x SAV Density x Bold Statement 94lbs Heifer calf
Grandmaster x SAV Density x Bold Statement 104lbs bull calf
Wide Range x Broker x Bold Statement 90lb Bull calf
Most of these were some overdue but the Insight was quite a bit early. It's been a cold long winter here in Iowa for sure!!

 

[cpubarn]

Some big calves here in NC Iowa.  Had a 130# simangus!  Been a rugged 12 months weather wise.  Ready for a change and something new to whine about.

 

[CAB]

Oh I think we'll be whining about something different here in a short time. It's going to be deep too!!! :-\

 

[RyanChandler]

What’s the body condition score on these cows that are having 120+lbers.    I’m not convinced it the temperature itself increasing bw as it is how much y’all feed them when it’s colder.  I could be wrong but my hunch is that if you’d get them down to a bcs 5, a lot of these monster calves wouldn’t come about.  Then again, there’s certainmy some cow killers out there that’ll still throw 120lbers when bred to light condition cows.  I’ve had one.  Makes me wonder how big they’d have been in Canada after being drylotted at a bunk for the prior three months.

 

[oakview]

If the rest of Iowa is like me, it's been difficult to keep any condition on the cows.  Cold for this long takes a toll.  On cattle and humans.  Thank goodness we're supposed to get freezing rain this weekend.  Nothing like ice on top of snow on top of ice on top of snow.  I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that I'm going to have to fix creek fence, if and when it thaws.  We just have two calves so far and am thankful for that.

 

[CAB]

I'm in the same boat as Oakview. My cows are not in as good of shape as I would like or normally are. if I were to score the whole herd, I'd have to call them a 4.5 BSC.

 

[nkotb]

It seems like a lot of producers here are talking about bigger calves, I would think largely due to the extra feed from all the cold/snow.  The other thing we are having trouble with is tiny calves.  Several producers here are having calves 3-4 weeks early based on AI date, with no bull exposure.  The vets seem to be of the consensus that its due to the extreme weather and moisture, the cows are stressing, and dumping calves to reduce that stress.  Some of the calve are surviving, some are not.  I know one operation that AI'ed heifers, due March 4, and as of yesterday, had 85% calved, the rest were called bull bred from the vet.  They were anywhere from 2-3 weeks early, little 40-50# jackrabbits.

 

[CAB]

I have heard similar stories about guys getting early calves out of heifers especially. Some of that is due to using CE bulls which are shorter gestation bulls which makes it make a little more sense. A lot of these AI heifer groups are synchronized also therefore grouping them early. In my own case my heifers and cows are seeming to run overdue, so far and heavy with bull calves so far. I had an early Boulder heifer calf born Sunday morning that weighed 78lbs out of a My Turn x Red Angus 2nd calver. 5 days early. Vigorous, short ears, -25 degrees wind chill, born outside. This old man is getting tired.