Wehner Homestead 2018 Calving: Done

[Wehner Homestead]

We have 11 cows due this spring so I thought I’d go ahead and put their pics and info here instead of in our journal. Our cows are all named, most know their names and come when called, and several have been shown. In a way, they are big pets!


2/9 Maizy* (Jesse James)
2/10 Maddie (Dakota Gold)
2/10 Scarlett (Dakota Gold)
2/10 Dolly (Bearcat)
3/1 Melody (Otis)
3/5 Bailey (Loaded for Bear)
3/20 Reagan (Otis)
3/21 Maxine (Otis) (w/in 21 days for turnout)
3/28 Moxie* (Otis)
4/1 Abby Jane (Shock n Awe son)
4/8 Sydney (Otis)

Open:
Georgia
Gatlin*
Elsa
Daisy

Heifers (kept from last year):
Ember
Josie

*first calf heifers

We use AI to bring in various genetics and traits since we raise show cattle. Jesse James, Dakota Gold, Bearcat, and Loaded for Bear are all bulls that we bought semen from. They can be seen by Googling their name.

Otis is our purebred Simmental bull. This is his first year of having offspring. Genetically, he should be a calving ease bull so we are excited to see what he can do. (I’ll gather pics of him and make a post.)

We do have four open cows this year. Typically we don’t allow these cows to avoid being culled but three were bred for several months before they slipped their calves. We think it was the heat as others in the area had the same problem. Rebreeding at that point would’ve put them too far off schedule with a nine month gestation so opted to winter them. The fourth had a rough calving her first go-round last year and may be too damaged to breed. We didn’t own her at that time so we are waiting to see if we can settle her when our area isn’t experiencing breeding issues.

The two heifers we kept last year may get shown if we can get organized enough to get them to a show. Both are broke and DD1 really wants to show them. We will see. I’ll try to post pics of them too.

 

[greybeard]

I hate mud, especially in gate openings, around water tanks, and feed areas.
We got some significant rain last night that is sure to make it even messier.

Good luck with the calving.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Thanks! The mud definitely makes everything more difficult to navigate. I worry about the cows sliding too!

 

[Southern by choice]

I hate mud, especially in gate openings, around water tanks, and feed areas.
We got some significant rain last night that is sure to make it even messier.

That is us right now after all that snow. This is the worst I have seen it in years. We already have had some slip (between the snow/ice and mud) and are limping. Not good with heavily pregnant does.


I am going to google those bulls WH.

I love the look and size of cattle... they really fascinate me. Just to big - I am very intimidated by an animal of that size. They are amazing though!

 

[Wehner Homestead]

They are pretty, muscular, hairy boys. In some ways they will remind you of a Boer meat goat at a show.

 

[Latestarter]

Following. Good luck with calving.

 

[greybeard]

Which Bearcat semen are you using?
The shorthorn FSF Bearcat?
If so, do you foresee any problems regarding DS and/or TH?

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Which Bearcat semen are you using?
The shorthorn FSF Bearcat?
If so, do you foresee any problems regarding DS and/or TH?

It is FSF Bearcat. Loaded for Bear is also a TH carrier.

For those that don’t know what Greybeard and I are talking about, these are genetic defects in Cattle, particularly show cattle genetics that can cause dead or severely deformed calves. Each type of the three (TH, DS, PHA) (abbreviations), is related to particular breeds and a certain type of defect. Both parents must be carriers to get a calf that presents with a defect. Calves from two carrier parents can supposedly be just carriers too. I’ve not gotten into this area in our breeding so I can’t say for sure.

Cattle can be tested to see if they carry these genes. We only use bulls that are carriers of anything on a “clean” cow. This prevents it from becoming an issue. The only way to be sure would be to use all clean animals but we don’t use a clean-up bull that is a carrier so accidents can’t happen.

We test and keep records on each animal. Dolly is bred to Bearcat and she’s a purebred Angus cow (hoping for a blue roan calf ) so she should be clean genetically and she tested so. IF the calf is a heifer and IF we keep her, she will be tested to see if she got the gene so sires for her calves can be selected appropriately.

We’ve used “dirty” bulls in the past (bulls that are carriers for TH and PHA are called “double dirty”.) We’ve been pleased with the offspring and believe that these genetics can be used with careful testing and breeding.

Bearcat was a bull we’ve used in the past and we kept a heifer from him that is in our show string. We haven’t tested her yet but will. The sire we’ve picked for her first calf this year is clean so we aren’t in a hurry to test her but I’d bet money she’s dirty.

I’ll include a couple pics of her for fun. Her name is Ember and she’s a spoiled brat!

This pic was in Nov right after DD2 got out of the hospital to show her since she couldn’t go out to the barn yet. When I get a pic of her when she’s cleaned up, I’ll post it. Her hair makes her look like a fuzzy bear.

 

[Southern by choice]

That is interesting.

Usually with sheep or goats the male is castrated if it is a carrier or affected. Only "clean" males are used since they cover so many animals. This way they can be bred to any female.
Using a punnett square will give you probability.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Some of the breed registries now require males be tested and clean to be registered. Some of these bulls in particular are termed
“club calf bulls” and are typically a 3-way cross and bred specifically to cows to produce hairy chunks of meat for show purposes.

I’m sure some of this is the result of inbreeding/linebreeding. To a degree, it just requires the breeder to be knowledgeable and test animals appropriately and use this information responsibly.