Third trimester of pregnancy

[animalfarm]

I raise Black Angus, Black Simmental, and crosses of the two. I also have started to dabble in a few Shorthorns as a hobby. Had a red Simmental cow about 10 years ago, and decided to cross her with a Shorthorn. Got a heifer calf from her, and have been breeding her to a white Shorthorn bull (Homedale Blizzard), and have gotten 3 white heifer calves and 1 roan heifer from her. Kept 2 of the white ones and the roan one. Got a blue roan heifer from the roan last spring. Nice calf, but haven't decided what to do with her yet. One of the white heifers will calve in March, the other is to be bred in June.

I really like the disposition and growth of the Simmentals. The Angus are OK, but a bit more high strung. The crosses are good, and make great cows. The only drawback to the pure Simmentals is that I feel that they get too big when mature cows. I try to breed every cow at least once AI, and then turn in the cleanup bulls that I raise myself. Since I am an AI tech, I have a lot of flexibility in my breeding decisions. Get around 70 - 80% conception rate on first services.

My cows are Black Angus and I had a Black Simmental bull until recently. His heifers have been great but the bull calves were too big boned for what I wanted so I hadn't really had a replacement candidate for his untimely demise. I would like to try AI on the Black Angus cows and a few of their Simmental calves using a Black Angus bull.

Question: As an AI tech. are you able to AI not so tame range cows if they are in a basic headgate chute or would the ave. AI tech run for the hills?

 

[jhm47]

During my years of doing AI, I have bred some of the wildest cattle imaginable. I don't know about other AI techs, but I will "breed 'em if you can catch 'em". Most ranches here now have portable "tubs" which eliminate most of the danger, and allow us to handle even the most determined "chute rattlers".

Tha being said, it sure makes for a much better day when the cows/heifers are more docile, and the customer is also rewarded for his efforts with a higher conception rate for his $$$. Some of my customers are very rigorous in their selection for docility, and it shows in the disposition of their cattle. My company (Genex) has many of the more docile Angus bulls in their lineup, and also a few that are not so good. The catalogs list docility under the "doc" column. It is very accurate.

 

[animalfarm]

My cows came from the foothills of Alberta 4 yrs. ago. I have had them long enough to get rid of the aggressive ones and all of their offspring and also the poor milkers ect...Did not keep any heifers from such cows either. They are not dairy cows that have been handled so to speak, but there is a risk. They are wary but not attack cows. I also got rid of the ones that went rogue when being herded from place to place. Just not sure what they will do when someone sticks an arm up the wazoo. I will be doing another cull before AI so still more opportunity to even the odds.

 

[jhm47]

I wouldn't worry. Once the arm is inserted, they usually get REAL still. Oh---some still thrash around, but the majority settle down quickly.

 

[jhm47]

Walked through the replacement heifers and saw quite a few just beginning to bag up a bit. They all look very good, and I'm hoping that most of them are bred AI, and the cleanup bull didn't have to expend too much energy. Of course, the cows won't begin to show for 2 months yet. First calves due March 21st. We will be celebrating our 40th anniversary this May. Our children wanted us to go to the Bahamas. We were supposed to fly out on March 24th, but with 28 head due to calve that week, I'll stay home and let the wife go without me. Our daughter, son in law, and granddaughters will go with her. Seeing the new calves is much like a vacation to me anyway! Wife wants me to sell the cattle so we can travel a lot more. I wouldn't mind doing some traveling, but she always wants to come along! LOL

Planning to grind another batch of hay and spray syrup from the ethanol plant on it tomorrow morning. Makes great feed, and allows us to feed hay that the cows wouldn't normally touch. I mix about 3 bales of poor hay with one bale of good hay and a bale of straw. The syrup makes it all palatable and triples the protein and energy values. It begins to ensile a bit before it all gets fed, and this makes it even more tasty to the cows. Smells good enough that I'm even tempted to try some. Doing this stretches the hay supply by an amazing amount, and with the price of hay this year, it really saves a lot of $$$. I'm hoping to save enough $$$ so I can go on an anniversary vacation myself.

Bought some forage radish, turnip, sugar beet, and lupine seed to plant next summer. I plan to plant it in the lots where I feed the cattle during the winter. When I bring the cattle home in the fall, they will have a nice mixture to feed on for a couple weeks. The radish also sends down tap roots which break open the compacted soil and allows for better drainage. This hopefully will cut down on some of the mud in the spring. Should also allow me to save 2 - 3 weeks of hay.

 

[animalfarm]

I always plant my winter corrals with something. Been planting turnip, kale but will look into radish and sugar beet now that you mention it. I have decommissioned corrals this year that will be heavily planted with heritage dint corn, pole beans, squash, and pumpkin altogether. I found that frozen pumpkins were a big hit with the pigs this winter. Hay/feed is so dear this year that I now sweep up the fallen alphalfa leaves from the hay mow floor and mix those in with the piglet and milk cow feed to give them a little more chewing time. Hard to beleive how much I used to waste. The good times are over.

 

[Royd Wood]

I only have 50 rounds of my own left which will get me to somewhere in March $110 for good quality hard 5 x 4 rounds here in Southern Ont - ouch and $8 for little squares
Yes waste - Not doing that again for a while

 

[jhm47]

Just bought some very good quality upland grass hay for $50 each. They are the 6 X 6 bales, and weigh around 1300 lbs each. I thought that was a pretty good buy. Now I have some better quality hay to mix with the very poor quality stuff when I grind next time. This will work out well, since the cows will be needing better nutrition just before calving. That, along with another couple loads of sugar been tailings will get me through till grass. -12 degrees here today, with a 20 mph wind. Cows not moving very fast, and neither am I!!!

 

[Cricket]

Good feeling to know you've got enough hay! I just spoke for 100 bales @ 4.00 for the end of Feb and bought 10 2nd cut that got a little wet for $3.00 for the pigs. First time I've had to buy any in quite a while--have used quite a lot more on the pigs than I anticipated. The pig house is far from tight and it's supposed to be as low as -25 for the next 2 nights with wind chill.