I had heard that mules were good to keep the coyotes away. I have heard that llmas will work, too.
Phicks, my cows have some Charolais in them, most are white faced Angus. The white comes from the Charolais I think. The cattle buyers around here will pay a premium for steers that have a sire that has EPDs above the 50th percentile and is Angus. They don't care about the blood lines of the dam too much.
I also have a 'smoke' colored cow, she might be a Angus/Charolais cross.
Charolais are good cows, there are farms around here that are strictly Charolais, some are registered Angus, and there is one that is all Hereford. Those red and white Herfords make a pretty sight, standing out there in the pasture.
rolled the dice, bought some cows
yup they do down here most of the cattle have Brama in theam Makes theam better in the Humity here
The black whitefaced cows are most probably Hereford/Angus crosses. Charolaise angus crosses are almost always the smoky beige color. You will see black whitefaced cattle which are Simmental/Angus, but those often have color around their eyes (less pinkeye that way).
Spring calving is well under way here. Five new calves this week.
Robert
congrats on the five new calves Robert.
Spring calving should start here in about a month.
Virginian - enjoy reading your posts/progress. I agree that the white face are probably hereford/angus cross. Although we have some "baldy's" that have some Maine Anjou in them. It is always interesting to hear people say that black calves bring a premium and we have experienced that first hand when we've sold calves. However, my parents live in the 5th largest feedlot county in the U.S. and these lots contain a lot of white charolais.
We're waiting for our 6th heifer to calve. Need to go home and check her at noon today. However, I will bet that she will wait until Saturday, during a predicted blizzard, to do her job. So far calving has gone fairly well (big knock on wood). We did lose one twin - came home to find a heifer had twins and one was dead. Fairly sure the way the calf was laying, that it was probably born backwards. The other calf was pretty weak and dinky but we got the heifer caught and got the calf to suck her and all is well. One of our older cows had a huge heifer calf and it weighed 100 lbs.
WOW, 100 lb calf IS big.
Of the twin calves you had; was the one that survived a female by chance? I recently took a 'beef cattle 101' class and the instructor said that if a pair of twins were born that any females would be sterile.....they are called a 'free martin'.
Beef cattle prices have picked up in the last month, even with the feed prices going up.
We do have some people in this area that are strictly Charolais farmers. And some are partial to Hereford. Most want solid black stock. Have you seen Dept of AG's definition of 'Angus'......its just that the hide has to be black. Notice that Hardees doesn't advertise '100% Registered Angus'. Their version of Angus just has to fit the Dept. pf Ag's definition.
Virginian
Virginian - both twins were heifers so the surviving heifer should be okay.
Remember the movie about the horse whisperer. I can't remember the actress' name but she made a comment at the dinner table how Angus steak tasted better and the whole family snickered at each other.
We had an exciting night last night. Cow (Lily) calved during the middle of the snow storm. DH found the pair probably about an hour after birth. He carried the calf into the barn and we used our show calf blow drier and space heater to dry her off and tubed her with powdered colustrum. It was such a welcome site to see her sucking this afternoon.
I just found this thread. I'd like to pass on to CajuninKy some information I learned from the vets in two different practices. Each of the vets (Each with over 30 years as a large animal vets.)we have dealt with in the past nine years has stated that they have never encountered a case of a healthy calf falling prey to coyotes. A pack of dogs, on the other hand, is quite capable of killing a healthy calf. Old timers in the area swear that black panthers go for the abdomen first. I think black panther is the local name given to cougars.
I believe the USDA definition of the Certified Angus Program also specifies a certain percentage Angus and the seller has to be able to prove that. This is the program we would like to get into. We started out with a really mixed herd although the bull was Angus.
When we decided to improve our herd, we took the vet's advice about having fewer birthing problems by using an Angus bull. When we had to replace our old bull (He started breaking fences to get to the neighbor's Charolais cows.), we replaced him with a registered Angus bull with really good EPDs (We have some registered cows as well.). All our cows are now at least 50% Angus. Most are 75% or 100% unregistered or registered Angus. I've been keeping records of all births since 2002. We sell our bull calves at six months or five months if they are fast growers. Otherwise, we get penalized if the calves are too large.
Cow #259 had a calf last night. This is the cow that lost a calf last Spring. Both cow and calf are doing fine.
This calf was born a few weeks ago.
Awwww, nothing says springtime like baby calves. Those are mighty pretty ones too!
Pati
I'm glad things went well this time. They're so cute at that size :). I have a few head of "rescue" (don't ask) steers, a cow and her baby girl, and have been following off and on. It's always nice to hear good news. Hope things continue to go well for you,
Margo
Just found this thread.
Virginian I was so glad to read the new calf from your cow that lost it's calf '06 spring lived. I too would like to have some cows but for now will have to do with my dogs, cats, chickens, and garden on my little 1 acre. Eventually my Dh and I will get some more land! How is your herd doing? Did you sell any head? How many calves are you expecting in the spring? Too many questions? lol
Megan
congrats Virginian!
tf
chickenrancher: Yes, the next calf lived and the mother cow should calve again in a few months. She is starting to swell a little now even.
The 'herd' is doing great! We sold two 'cull' cows. They were getting old and one missed calving two years in a row so it was time for them to go. We added four heifers that were already bred by an registered Angus bull with good EPDs. I hope they will prove to be good producers, I needed to get some younger brood cows in the herd and this is how I am going to do it. If all goes well, we should have six cows calve here in about two to three months. Keeping my fingers crossed. This has been such a learning experience.
It was a struggle to get enough hay put up last summer due to the drought here. We had fertilized heavy in the spring and it paid off handsomly. Other farmers had to sell off livestock bacause of the hay shortage. I have enough to take me to late April and then I hope to move the herd to a neighbor's field. Keeping my fingers crossed on that pasture being ready, too. Calving will be over with by then, I like to keep them close to the house during calving; we have stray dogs roaming the area and they can cause a lot damage if they find my calf herd.
thanks TamaraF!
now if we can just get some relief on these corn prices......
Good luck with the calves!
As for the corn, its going up up up. You can always tell when corn prices go up, the local farmers flood the market with corn after the increase. Too bad that doesn't automatically lower the corn price. Chicken feed prices have gone up twice in 3 months! Chickens don't even eat that much but it caused me to raise my egg price.
Megan
Hi Virginian, just found this thread. How is your herd doing now? I'm glad that your cow that lost her calf did just fine the second time. With just finding this, when I saw that you might sell her to avoid any problems in the future, I was thinking......oh, I hope she didn't. Calves sometimes try and come out in all different ways and it's not usually the fault of the mama. When you didn't say she was bleeding heavily after calving, I figured she didn't have internal tearing or damage. I'm so glad you kept her and everything went well for her. Got anymore pictures? : )
We had a dairy herd, mostly Holstein, for almost 7 years. At one point we had 119 head....well, cows. The calves were all over the place in different age groups. When it comes to calving I have about seen it all, including prolapsed uterus. One time, our very best springing heifer was calving and her uterus completely flipped and twisted inside of her, clamping down on the calf. There was nothing we could do but wait on the vet........it was truly horrible. Mama ended up being ok, but we lost her very beautiful heifer calf. It was heart breaking.
Christy
glad you found this thread, Ladybug! when Molly started hers, this is exactly who i thought of...
edited to add, Virginian is a he...
This message was edited Jun 28, 2008 11:29 AM
oops........yes, I did realize that from the posts above, but you know me. I get on a role with with writing and I guess it slipped out the wrong way. Sorry Virginian! : )
Those are handsome cows, Keith. You seem like a very good owner, they will have a good life with you...