eskie
Well-known member
What a great set of heifers that were there, Left before it was over so I do not know who won. Had to be a record # I thought.
red said:wasn't there but heard that an April 08 heifer can weigh up to 900 pounds now. hummmmm.......
Red
vet tech said:So I'm curious what did yours weigh? Is 900 really a stretch. What was the breed.
red said:like I told you, I'm sure if i sold my Dec 07 heifer she'd be a March in cross bred classes.
Until judges wake up & realize that they are encouraging this it will only get worse.
I'd rather show by hip height or weight.
Red
Throttle said:We all know that some folks are being a little generous on ages on some heifers. Always have, always will, but you might be surprised on some of the bigger ones that are really aged right, or pretty darn close to it.
I have a good buddy who has a very nice Shorty Plus heifer. He had her at NAILE trying to sell her, showed her in the open show. Her reg. paper says something in the first week of Feb, like the 5th or 6th. I fit her down there and she looked good, huge in that class. One of the folks that was looking at buying her kind of discreetly asked me how old is she really, like he didn't think the Feb age could be real. I said well I don't know for sure but can say for sure that I was visiting there on the weekend of Jan 26-27 and her mother had not calved yet then. i don't think he believed me either.
I bought a 1/2 Sim heifer that was born about June 15. I was in IN clipping heifers for Junior Nationals for a couple guys and I went to a couple spots to see calves while in the area, this was like during the third week of June. At this place where I got this one, I saw this really cool looking little calf that was obviously only a few days old, no tag (all the rest had them), very small, navel wasn't even clear dry yet, close to mama who was still very protective, acted like a newborn in every way, uncoordinated and all. I asked about this one and the guy told me what she was and said she was just born end of last week, she's the last spring calf. I asked if he'd hold onto that one for me until i got back out in Sept, bc I thought she was very well bred and had the potential to be real good. I went back, she was very nice, very HUGE, and I bought her. She had not been pushed unusually hard and was not unusually fat, and she looked like a March easy. I got her broke enough to get on the scale about Oct 10 or so and she weighed 605 right before evening feeding. I'm sure that with a show day fill on her she'd weigh 100 lbs or more heavier than that right now and I'm sure she is a true June.
I know some of them out there are fudged a bit on the papers, but I also know that there are cattle out there with enough rib and mass and growth traits to be pretty crazy big right now if they've been pushed for it. I have a June heifer at home right now weighing 700 plus that is proof for me, and I'm also sure that she would've been a whole lot easier to break if she had been normal sized (hence, she was at he ome this weekend) :
Don't get me wrong, I know those are only two examples, and I know it is a problem at times. Does anyone have any ideas on ways to better age verifiy calves at shows or at registration time?
onthegofarmer said:I agree With Redwingfarmer. Does anybody have the run down of the winners? Who had the 900# April heifer?