First the Bad:
The law of averages catches up with you eventually. Had very minimal death loss during calving the last couple of years. None out of mature cows last year. Have never lost an AI calf before this year. Unfortunately, we've lost four this year - none of them for the same reason. Lost one during a breech pull (Bold Statement) , another calf wandered out into a stock tank and apparently drowned (Golden Child), and two appeared to have never moved aroudn much. One cow had a bad udder (we should have culled her a long time ago) and I suspect he calf couldn't really suck good and dehydraed. The other one lost her calf last year (he just disappeared) and I found her with her dead calf Friday. She's headed to the sale barn the time they are gathered.
I'm sitting at 41% success on AI and today is the actual due date. If we get about ten more calves we'll be sitting good. If not I'll be disappointed.
Now the Good:
Other than one breech pull (on a "normal" sized calf), we've haven't had any trouble with birth weights. We've had (or are expecting) calves out of Almost Famous, Bold Statement, Dr Who, Golden Child, Hannibal, Hard Core, Kadabra, Lights Out (1 cow), and Salute (1 cow). I was worried about it because this was the first wet year we've had in a decade and was curious how that would affect calving difficulty.
My initial impression of Bold Statement is great. Bred seven cows to him and have five live calves, one dead (from the breech), and one more cow that should be stuck to AI per palpation results. All five of the calves are jet black, nice sized, and quite lively.
Got my first "Shorthorn" calf (a bull) out of Lights Out and a Charolais-Maine cow. Perfectly marked and already looks pretty stout. His momma is quite proud of him. She keeps him hid out constantly. I went a couple of days without finding him after first being born and had really decided something bad had happened. Sat out watching her for two hours Friday evening before the calf finally stood up on his own. She immediately came back to him and gave him a good "chewing". I tried to tag him and she put me back in the truck. Nothing's gonna mess with her baby. Some old show heifers can make good mommas.
My son's first show heifer had her Hard Core calf just fine. He was actually born at 264 days and is doing fine. Momma doesn't want us messing with him yet either.
Running 50/50 exactly on bulls and heifers.
The calves we have on the ground look good.
The law of averages catches up with you eventually. Had very minimal death loss during calving the last couple of years. None out of mature cows last year. Have never lost an AI calf before this year. Unfortunately, we've lost four this year - none of them for the same reason. Lost one during a breech pull (Bold Statement) , another calf wandered out into a stock tank and apparently drowned (Golden Child), and two appeared to have never moved aroudn much. One cow had a bad udder (we should have culled her a long time ago) and I suspect he calf couldn't really suck good and dehydraed. The other one lost her calf last year (he just disappeared) and I found her with her dead calf Friday. She's headed to the sale barn the time they are gathered.
I'm sitting at 41% success on AI and today is the actual due date. If we get about ten more calves we'll be sitting good. If not I'll be disappointed.
Now the Good:
Other than one breech pull (on a "normal" sized calf), we've haven't had any trouble with birth weights. We've had (or are expecting) calves out of Almost Famous, Bold Statement, Dr Who, Golden Child, Hannibal, Hard Core, Kadabra, Lights Out (1 cow), and Salute (1 cow). I was worried about it because this was the first wet year we've had in a decade and was curious how that would affect calving difficulty.
My initial impression of Bold Statement is great. Bred seven cows to him and have five live calves, one dead (from the breech), and one more cow that should be stuck to AI per palpation results. All five of the calves are jet black, nice sized, and quite lively.
Got my first "Shorthorn" calf (a bull) out of Lights Out and a Charolais-Maine cow. Perfectly marked and already looks pretty stout. His momma is quite proud of him. She keeps him hid out constantly. I went a couple of days without finding him after first being born and had really decided something bad had happened. Sat out watching her for two hours Friday evening before the calf finally stood up on his own. She immediately came back to him and gave him a good "chewing". I tried to tag him and she put me back in the truck. Nothing's gonna mess with her baby. Some old show heifers can make good mommas.
My son's first show heifer had her Hard Core calf just fine. He was actually born at 264 days and is doing fine. Momma doesn't want us messing with him yet either.
Running 50/50 exactly on bulls and heifers.
The calves we have on the ground look good.
