"SCHOOL of HARD KNOCKS"...Contribute if U Can!

[jbh]

I thought this would make an interesting and EDUCATIONAL topic.....  What I'm looking for you to contribute is some of your VAST KNOWLEDGE of the cow/calf business TIPS and TRICKS that you've learned throughout the MANY or NOT SO MANY years of being around cattle....FROM EXPERIENCE, NOT NECESSARILY BOOKS! ABOUT ANYTHING!  I'll start with a couple examples.....

EXAMPLE #1:  Loin Eye Size

What got me started thinking about this, was a comment made by JBW about loin eye size.  MANY look at a steers top......and if he's REALLY WIDE, they assume he's got a HUGE loin eye, BUT,......MOST of the time a huge loin eye is actually really deep and only marginal looking across the top.....the best way of telling is simply by grabbing the loin edge and feeling it.

EXAMPLE #2:  Movement

When I'm evaluating movement of an animal.....I know that the MOST FAULT FREE animals are the "HEAD BOBBERS".  Watch a group of commercial cows walking to water.....about ALL of them are moving along, bobbing their head up and down.....they will last 10-12 years as a cow, generally.  Fast forward to the show ring and TRY and find an animal that does this (sometimes challenging)....and you'll find an animal that is comfortable in their skeleton and striding nearly perfect.

EXAMPLE 3#:  Front Feet

A person told me one time to watch a calfs front feet.....if they're reaching out and grabbing the ground like a leopard....that's as good as you can ask for.  You should ALSO be able to see the bottom of their hoof when standing behind them watching them move.


Now.......it's YOUR TURN!

 

[shortdawg]

No its " My Turn " - sorry couldn't resist

 

[drl]

Hairy Ears
If you are looking at a calf that is not real hairy at the moment, but has really shaggy ears they were hairy as a calf and should hair back up for you.

Stretching Calf
If you are checking for health in your calves and you have one that was laying down, when you get them up, they should stretch out their back. I was told that a calf that stretches has a full stomach compared to a calf not eating or not able to nurse. Not sure if this is a failsafe method but it seems to hold true around here. If a calf just gets up and stays hunched up, they aren't 100%.

 

[Bone2011]

I forgot about the hairy ear thing untill you just mentioned it, heard that one also a few years back.

 

[A.P.]

I was always told when trying to read skinny cattle always watch them track going away from you. Skinny cattle will still track wide even though they haven't filled out yet. I was told wide tracking cattle will be wide skeletoned and will have the room to put on muscle when they gain weight. On the other hand a fat hairy one that almost rubs his hocks togetther will be a counterfeit all his life.

 

[chambero]

A little different lesson learned - on how to not get a bull hurt.

We bought a couple of young bulls several years ago - paid several thousand a piece.  We brought them to town for a couple of weeks and were about to take them out to our bull pasture.  Both bulls got along fine.  To worm them, we were just going to run them in our loading chute together like we do with cows to work several at once when you don't have to catch their heads.  This particular loading chute is probably 20 feet long and just wide enough to get a mature bull down - but its made out of pipe and sucker rods.  Long story short - the one behind got a little pissy, ran up under and picked up the rear end of the front bull.  He came down funny with one leg through the fence and it got in a bind and broke/dislocated his ankle.  Sickest feeling I've ever had.  Because he was young, we were able to get it set and casted and we were able to actually get a couple of years of natural breeding out of him.  But we NEVER get in a hurry when working bulls again.  One at a time!

 

[KCK]

I have found that the more things you expose cattle to while breaking, the more docile they will be at a show. Loud music, running children, other animals might spook them at first at home, but once they adjust they seem to handle the road better. Or maybe I have just gotten lucky

How about believing in the use of the signs to casterate? Have seen people follow the almanac and there is much less blood. Could someone clue me in on to what part of the almanac, however!

 

[SKF]

When you calf can sit like a dog your in trouble. My daughters first steer many years ago would sit like a dog when he was getting up and not knowing any better we thought it was funny. As he got bigger we learned it was a sign of some serious structure issues. That steer was such a mess that we eventually donated him to the local homeless shelter for beef because he could not walk and was in great pain. so now when we buy calves I like to see them get up from lying down to see how they get up if they get up by having to sit like a dog I will not buy it no matter how it looks.

 

[ba]

follow the almanac  Go from the heart down closer to the feet the betterand dark of the moon is somewhat better than the light of the moon.
Every once in awhile I'll get a phone call when to wean or castrate.

 

[jbzdad]

if you are helping sort the sold cattle at your Dad's estate sale and someone (not you) sends a group of cows out to the wrong buyer it is OK to try to haul the correct cows to the buyer to fix the screw up.....BUT... make sure the trailer that you borrow(because Dad's trailer was sold) has a solid floor... because if the floor falls thru one of the baby calves will fall thru it and you will run over it with the trailer... then when you borrow a second trailer to haul the injured pair to the vet make sure the tires are inflated or you will have to borrow an air tank (Dad's was sold)... if all these things occur you will be late for supper and so discouraged you can't eat

Believe it or not this happened to us, when I was trying to catch up the wrongfully unloaded cattle also fell in the blackjack thickets and lost my glasses... and got poison Ivy... what a weekend

 

[trademark]

I used to work for a guy that had 250 cows that raised many champions and  promotion bulls. He told me lots of good tips. Wish i could remember some of them.
(dog)  (lol)

 

[hamburgman]

I know when we we have outside hogs that sick ones are the last ones out of the building when you do a morning walk through, cattle are not always reliable but if it is last and looks kinda, sorta, maybe sick I treat.

 

[yuppiecowboy]

When weaning you can take calves away from cows, but if you take the cows from the calves you better have them in a rhino proof guardrail lot or they will go looking for their babies.

have the cow in the chute before you thaw semen, or you might waste $100 straw if she pulls a houdini getting her in the chute.

Treat a trailer like a parachute. check hitch and latches yourself.

 

[shortdawg]

I found that if you wean calves where they can see their dams it makes it easier on both. The " Fence Line Weaning Method. I use a heavy corral in my pasture that the cows can't get into and the calves can't get out of. After a day or two I feed the cows hay out of sight and it's pretty much over after that. Out of sight - out of mind.

 

[VJ]

If two of your first five calves you have to jack out backwards and they both die two days later, it sure puts you in a pissy mood towards the cattle business.

 

[knabe]

a cow in better condition than her calf needs to go no matter how good she looks. (with only a couple caveats)

 

[farmershane3]

never use a brand new rope halter at weigh-ins, my heifer was flipping out and gave me real bad burns on my hands. life long scars

 

[Show Steaks]

More Effort= More Risk= More Reward

Calving Ease doesnt always mean calving ease

 

[justintime]

1)A fertile female will have a tail that hangs straight down . Sub fertile cows will have a tail head attached so that the tail is attached too far ahead so that the tail does not hang straight down.

2) In breeding stock, Quality starts from the ground up. If an animals feet and legs are not correctly formed and sound, it really doesn't matter as much as the longevity of the animal is greatly reduced.

3)A good disposition is a valuable asset. Quiet cattle make your work easier, and your pocket book thicker.

4)If you are trying to add muscle to your calves, you have to remember that you will also add muscle to every other part of the animal. For example, if you are trying to select for bigger REA, you will also have cattle that have a little more shoulder. The shoulder of an animal is the only major joint in the body that is held in place only by two large muscle masses, one on each side of the shoulder blade. By increasing the REA in an animal, the muscling that holds the shoulder in place will also increase. It is the angle of the shoulder that is important, more than the amount of shoulder an animal has.

5)The angle of the shoulder is always correct in true structurally sound animals. Animals that are straight shouldered, usually have many more reproductive problems than animals with proper shoulder angle. Straight shouldered females have many times more calving problems than females with proper shoulder angle ( does this suggest why so many clubby calves have to be assisted at birth? It could be from generations of selection of cattle with improper leg and shoulder structure)

6)Well muscled cattle will have their legs positioned under the corners of their body even when thin, if their legs are proper structured.

7)Age at puberty is probably the most important economic trait you can select for.

8) In the lifetime of an average cattle producer, he/ she will only purchase  7 herd sires. Therefore, the selection of your herd sires is one of the most important decisions you will make in your operation. Nothing retains it's value as much as quality, so don't skimp when purchasing your herd sires. In order to do this properly you must study your lessons and decide what your goals are.

9) if you learn what a proper head of a male and female of any breed should look like, and select your breeding stock with this type of head, you will add quality to virtually all parts of the animals in your herd. The head of an animal can tell you more than most any other part of an animal.

 

[Telos]

I have to agree with JIT about the head of  a bovine. Long narrow head equates to a long narrow body. Wide head with a stout/ massive look equates to a stout/massive steer. You can also see femininity and quality in a head and how it relates to the body. As a kid we would stall judge cattle at our state shows. We would often get word of who had the best steers and would go take a look. Most of the time they were laying down but their head  would tell us that was the steer everyone thought was a good one.

The swirl location in relation to the eyes tell you about the temperment along with hairy/fuzzy ears and hairy calf are also relationships.