Tell me, how bad is she?
 

So we just got a cow, dirt cheap. She is a Hereford/Charolais cross I think. I was told that she was young...not being able to get close enough to her to check her teeth though. She is skinny...actually was skinnier when she first got here. She was a free-range cow and here in Mexico the eating is sparse.

Here are my questions. From the pictures, how bad is she? lol. Can anyone give me an approximate age? Does her udder look like a young cow udder or a cow who has calved before? (Yes she is peeing in the picture...please excuse that! :smiley-laughing013: It was the best way to get a good angle photo since I can't get too close!) She is supposedly pregnant, but I can't tell. Thanks guys!

[IMG]<a href="http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq96/desertshi/?action=view&current=HPIM1360.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq96/desertshi/HPIM1360.jpg" border="0" alt="Big Red"></a>[/IMG]


[IMG]<a href="http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq96/desertshi/?action=view&current=HPIM1362.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq96/desertshi/HPIM1362.jpg" border="0" alt="Udder size, BigRed"></a>[/IMG]

[IMG]<a href="http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq96/desertshi/?action=view&current=HPIM1363.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq96/desertshi/HPIM1363.jpg" border="0" alt="Big Red"></a>[/IMG]

you need to remove the [IMG] brackets, the pics are not showing...

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...i/HPIM1360.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...i/HPIM1362.jpg


http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...i/HPIM1363.jpg

Well clearly she is in horrible condition, but you know that. I think her udder looks like she has had a calf before. Though she has likely been dry for quite some time.

Hard to say how old she is.

What are you going to do with her now?

Don't see the Charolais, but she has a brahma cross head... first glance says a 4 year old. Could be 3, could be 5. Udder says A calf,but even in her condition, don't look like many calves. Gonna be light in her front quarters, though, I think.

Well, we are going to keep her. I like her....lol. She is a sweet cow. And we got her for way cheap. Much cheaper than the price per kilo right now. She definantly NEEDS to gain weight. I wormed her the day she got here. She had some diarrhea the first three days and then it went away, good normal poop now. Could have been from the stress of being rounded up and trailered here. I am not sure about how to go about fattening her up. If she is with calf as they say she is, she is gonna need alot! That I do know. She has actually gained weight in the two weeks I've had her if you can believe that!

At this point she is getting almost free choice peanut hay. Meaning that she finishes up her hay right around the time I feed again. I cannot afford to just dump hay out there. (Look at the corral!! Excuse the mud, it's been raining for three days! Not to mention my sons truck that somehow made it's way in there! LOL) She gets free choice loose minerals as well.

How should I go about fattening her? How will I know if she is with calf?

Just keep putting the hay into her. I actually like her too. She has bright eyes. :)

You will notice her udder filling out if she is bred. You will notice her going into heat if she isn't bred. Time will tell. These rangy type cows have survived for generations on minimal care.

The cow has some age on her. It is obvious by the width of the nostril area above the nose. As a cow ages the area referenced gets wider and flatter.
She has had a calf.
As mentioned she has a Brahma influence demonstrated by the ears and dewlap.
Her hide looks good considering her overall lack of weight.
She should respond to the feed demonstrating the "compensatory gain" that cattle are known for when properly fed.

When you say that she has some age on her....what do you mean by that? Old? By age 4 alot of cows can have had two maybe three calves already. But do you mean old, old? lol. How old would you estimate?:D

I would not get hung up on her age. If she gains weight that solves problem1. If she is bred#2 ok. Raises a good calf and stays in reasonable condition. It doesn't matter if she is a hundred if she does what you own her for. I would question anyone that says they can look at a cow and tell her age. Young, middle age or old yes, but years????? When you get her in shape you will know better what you have.

She doesn't look all that old to me. I'm guessing she had one or two calves. Probably under 5 years old.

She doesn't look sick, and if she's gaining weight she should be fine.

I agree with the others on the Brahman; she looks to be a quarter to 3/8 to me. Her head does look a little Charolais, but it's hard to tell for sure.

with the rain you got will there be green pasture soon? i would keep the hay comming to her and let her graze if there is any grass to be had, she should perk up, if she is not bred which is a possibility in her condition do you have a bull near by to use to get her bred?
brama cross do well in the southwest with the desert conditions she should be fine once she gets some condtion back on her,

desertshi, how about an update on this Red girl? :)

See that waviness in her coat? That's a sign of a serious internal parasite infestation. NBD, just worm her and keeping worming her about every 8-12 weeks. Good news is that once you get rid of the parasites, she'll fatten up faster!

I'd guess she's had a calf, but none of the quarters look hard or swollen, so probably no problems with mastitis.

I'm not all that knowledgeable about the beef breeds, but she doesn't look very old to me. She has the leggy look of a first-calf heifer, actually.

I agree on the brahman/hereford x and also if groceries make her gain weight. I love the last pic, look at the eyes :) Not having fun is my guess! Liz

While she probably is wormy, the wavy hair is pretty common in Herefords.

Very much so. Also, Desertshi did say that the cow had been drenched when it was got home. I would take a punt that this is actually not a very old cow and she's only ever had one calf. I wouldn't turf her, and being a grass farmer, I would have her on the best grass I had along with hay, molasses and good quality nuts or meal.

Desertshi, I too would like to know how things are progressing. I think you have the makings of a nice cow there. She doesn't look sick, just in need of a good top-up.

Cheers,
Ronnie

Age
 

Age to us it means alot to cows very little til the end but be careful you dont wanna breed an old old cow the some do with success. Dont worry about the age teeth do tell but so do ability to gain on what you feed em. If they have good teeth they will ruminate alot and use the feed well if they cant chew well they wont gain easily. As to the breed she is herford and ??? who knows. Does she have horn buds on her poll it looks as if she does. If she is a horned breed she at 2 or 3 should have already grown them out more by now. She maybe loosed skined at the udder cause if she was good and fat at the first purchase and lost it before you got her she will be saggy in areas.

I'd love to see updated photos on her.

That is so funny that you reopened this thread yesterday. I was looking at her yesterday morning up close. She has tamed down ALOT. She comes a sniffing everytime I go in the corral to see if I have any treats! lol. Her eyelids were looking very pale to me yesterday!! We caught and dewormed her again with a different dewormer. Hopefully she will respond. I will take your advice and worm her again in 8 weeks.

I love her face. She just has this gentle look to her eyes. Though she might look a little annoyed. I was following her around the corral trying to get a good angle on the udder!! LOL. :happy:

Hmmmm. What does "turf her" mean? sorry! I can't get her on pasture...there really isn't any around here. We were thinking about taking her up to the "monte", (the hills) and letting them loose but I am really worried about people stealing them...She is a great cow. I think that once she fills out she will be easy to maintain and probably throw nice calves....*fingers crossed*

She does have horns, little tiny things. But the thing is that two days ago one was loose and hanging on the side. No blood, just hanging there. I got her close with a bucket of grain to look at it and it popped off in my hand. It looks like a shell!? On her head she has the bud like a calf when they start to grow out there horns a little in the first month or two. ?? weird. Could this be because of parasite load? I really hope this round of dewormer works!!

I will get some pics up soon. You guys just got me when it rained again!! lol. Yucky corral, here I come....better get my rubber boots.... :indif: :clap:

Thanks for the update and photo's would be good when you get the opportunity:)

Sorry, "turf", apart from grass, is slang meaning to throw out or get rid of - so what I was saying is that I wouldn't get rid of her.:D

From your description, your cow is polled and what your finding are scurs. These usually feel loose and will sometimes drop off. Nothing to worry about.

Cheers,
Ronnie

I think you mean that the cow was de-horned. If the cow was polled she would not have scurs in the first place.

No, I mean that the cow is polled. Scurs are commonly found on polled cattle and unlike horns, are not attached to the skull.

Cheers,
Ronnie

Ronney is right. The scurs gene can not be expressed unless the animal also has the polled gene.

I think tinknal is thinking of how it is with goats - you get scurs when you disbud with goats. . .

look at her teeth, are they wore, or fairly good....

Updates?

I've seen it with a lot of dehorned cattle too, if they weren't gouged deep enough.

Pale eyelids (or mucous membranes) means she needs more iron. Any of the Dock family (yellowdock, burdock, etc) are higher in iron and she will eat them if given a chance.