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Post by garyfunk on Mar 16, 2021 6:17:29 GMT -6
So if a guy was starting a herd from scratch today, what would you choose for cows? Bull? I'm kinda partial, but maybe this'll help, lol. "It was a normal enough year, (we were a month or so behind.) Needed an extra pair o’ hands An’ wanted the useful kind. Pat said he had some advice And, for sure, it was for free. Don’t hire a kid from an Angus place,” Was what Pat said to me. Now, I was a mite surprised, cause Pat, he’s an Angus man. But older, and wiser he explained How he’d arrived at his hiring plan. The kid from an Angus ranch, he said, Can’t do what he don’t know how. He’s never had to pull a calf Or range-treat an Angus cow! He’s never trimmed a curled up toe Or treated a pendulous bag. He don’t know how to dehorn a steer And a prolapse’d make him gag. He’s never helped a calf mother-up Or seen a sunburned udder Nor searched the range for a baby Abandoned by its mother. The Angus-ranch kid, he’s lazy His horse is downright fat. He’s great at yarnin’ and singin’ But you don’t want to pay for that. If you really want a bargain Get a kid from a Hereford place. He can do any vettin’ you need done, He’ll be thin, won’t take up much space. He’ll be lean and mean and rangy, And he’ll be grateful to ya, honey. cause he ain’t used ta reg’lar meals, And he sure ain’t used ta money!" "Pat’s Advice" by Phyllis Rathwell |
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Post by Beerwiser on Mar 16, 2021 6:40:55 GMT -6
You are absolutely correct snapper. Blacks were definitely docked before they even got on the truck. Even in 4H I don't recall anybody having blacks. Ha, that is a good one Gary.  |
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Post by snapper22 on Mar 16, 2021 8:41:19 GMT -6
Don’t laugh too much but if you want a docile British type with little troubles, a shorthorn works well. Our herd is black and red. Run black simmies and shorties. Colour of calves doesn’t change just the weights a bit better and better milking females.
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Post by SWMan on Mar 16, 2021 9:07:49 GMT -6
Meskie yeah this is for the kids, definitely not doing it for myself.....at least that's what I'm saying out loud. I do think there are a few of us that like animals and it's a good way to teach ownership IMO. But we definitely don't want a rodeo, so temperament is a major factor. Probably more important than even making money at this point. Gary that poem is pretty funny...  |
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Post by snapper22 on Mar 16, 2021 10:05:52 GMT -6
Meskie yeah this is for the kids, definitely not doing it for myself.....at least that's what I'm saying out loud. I do think there are a few of us that like animals and it's a good way to teach ownership IMO. But we definitely don't want a rodeo, so temperament is a major factor. Probably more important than even making money at this point. Gary that poem is pretty funny... I’m on the same page too. My youngest I fear is interested in the farm quite a lot now. They can change a lot by the time they grow up but he’s one of those types that jumps in there on his own accord to help out and do things. Tells me once he gets 5 head he’s going to change tag colours as what I have for him isn’t what he wants. So a number of years back we culled off the outlaws and the angus bulls left through attrition. Been using shorthorn and getting some shorthorn simmental angus cross females with great temperament and good udders. I have no time for wild or flighty cattle. Funny thing any speckles I’ve come across I’d swear are half grouchy like an angus. At least not dangerous nutty like a bald faced simmental. |
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Post by meskie on Mar 16, 2021 10:17:27 GMT -6
I’d trust a simmy cow over a angus one on our farm.
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Post by cptusa on Mar 16, 2021 10:57:02 GMT -6
Any cow of any breed can go batshit, just be ready to give her the walking papers sooner rather then later if needed. Too many nice cows in the world to tolerate ones that are not good citizens.
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Post by meskie on Mar 16, 2021 12:23:19 GMT -6
Any cow of any breed can go batshit, just be ready to give her the walking papers sooner rather then later if needed. Too many nice cows in the world to tolerate ones that are not good citizens. That can apply to more then just cows....... |
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Post by cptusa on Mar 16, 2021 16:07:20 GMT -6
I wasn't going to just come out and say pick your cows like you pick your wife but I see you've taken us there.
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Post by Beerwiser on Mar 16, 2021 22:43:59 GMT -6
Too tame of a cow is not always good either. I had one old herford that was always waiting for me to get out of the tractor for pets. I usually carry a carpet knife with me and she loved to be scratched with the back side of the blade. A few times she got me sort of pinned unintentionally against the tractor, so you still have to watch.
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nvw
Full Member
Posts: 105
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Post by nvw on Mar 17, 2021 9:11:23 GMT -6
I have several cows I have to push away when cutting twine off the bales
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Post by Albertabuck on Mar 17, 2021 10:25:57 GMT -6
I have never been able to understand this idea that angus cattle are mean or overly aggressive, it is not something I have ever seen and been around them since in the late 60s. Certainly some can be, but you get that in all breeds, and in my experience over all, breeds like limos, simms and even the chars are a lot worse. I never saw a cow go nuts after calving until the first simm influences were now in the herd, old man had never seen anything like it either, nor had we ever seen dumber calves. That experiment only lasted a few years for him. But I think that over years different breeds have evolved, and I don't think simms today for example, are the same as those back in the mid 70s. And this would play out across all breeds. Like with the simms, whatever they did to get them polled, something else changed as well, when they lost the horns, they lost some of that retarded temperament as well.
But I think more so, its all in how they are raised and handled. Most I know cull over things that give minor issues, like not the greatest teats ect., whereas of course I cull on major issues, but my biggest one is attitude, and that is already obvious when they are yearlings. But again, I am very hands on, in one form or another, every head around here gets some hands on interactions, be it feeding a bit of chop to spreading out bedding, I am in there with them on foot, no tractor, no horse, no dog, just me, and it is so easy to pick out the high strung ones, and around here, that is almost a guaranteed ticket to town. You will never see a cow around here standing there ready to run with head up ears forward, nor when you walk into a pasture do you see nothing but tails and assholes either, not saying that any of those will not raise a good calf, but handling and controlling them is a big enough issue for me, I do not want those high strung ones around. All it takes is one and screw the whole herd by leading them.
As Dave mentioned about the speckle steers selling for less, that is exactly what I have seen and what prompted this thread. Seems the chars, both white and yellow get hit the same, few others as well. It does seem the angus, simms, or a cross of the two are very much preferred, both red or black and even some white coloring don't really effect them much either.
Cows would be an expensive hobby IMO, other than the obvious amenities required, you need a bull and more too. Long and short, you can feed and keep 20 head cheaper per cow than you can five with about the same overhead other than feed.
And for the tame ones, well doing things how I do, oh yea, lots of tame ones here, and as Beer mentioned, they can get dangerous at times, I've been pushed into chop troughs and more in the past, and that was never more apparent than this winter with my buggered up leg. Being incapacitated like that really showed how bad those tame cows can be, they literally push you around like a bowling pin when you can't move fast enough. Things like pulling twines off bales before putting them in feeders and such becomes a real PITA when you can't walk proper and you got half a dozen or more "pets" showing their affection.
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Post by cptusa on Mar 17, 2021 13:46:28 GMT -6
Dad bought a bunch of limousine when I was in middle school yet, 10 I believe, just as tame and docile as could be. Then they calved. Their tameness turned to anger with the intensity of a thousand suns, they never back off and they fully intended to win. Think 5 made it back to sale barn immediately. One on pasture would always be out and couldn't figure where she found the hole. Well there wasn't. She would walk up to a tight 5 wire barb fence and jump it like a deer. Had to tranquilize her to get her on trailer. 7 of the 10 were gone eventually year one, the other 3 weren't too bad.
Had on calve here a couple days ago and is way to high strung for me. Moved the pair to another lot and had her head up looking to run when she got off trailer. That's a mistake I'll correct this fall. She's got a one way ticket to the sale barn.
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Post by snapper22 on Mar 17, 2021 20:20:31 GMT -6
This discussion reminds me of that story about the jet breaking the sound barrier over a ranch. The limo jumped over the fence never to be seen of again. The angus ran through the fence. The Hereford stood there and prolapsed.
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Post by meskie on Mar 17, 2021 20:28:29 GMT -6
Had an old guy tell me that his Hereford cows calves were the easiest to wean cause the cows hadn’t milked in two months.
If you guys think limo cows can jump you didn’t have any chianina cows in your herd.
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