Lowest birthweight AI bull

[mamahen]

We're planning on AI'ing our heifer next year. IF she grows, if not, she's supper.

What's the lowest birthweight bull? She's still a petite girl. Reminds me of a little jersey. BUT momma was a big girl, & daddy wasn't bad. She's part hereford. There's a pic of her here somewhere, if you search my post's.

Her offspring are destined for the freezer (if they're bulls), heifers may be kept

[linn]

Jerseys and Dexters both have low birth weights.

[mamahen]

Ok, how about beef breeds?

I really like shorthorn looks. I know, can't eat looks, but they're nice looking critters.

[francismilker]

Angus bulls are known for low birthweights. Make sure it's Angus. (not Brangus, Chi-angus, or angus-Maine cross.)

[Quiet Guy]

If you like shorthorns, use one. Calving ease is a breed trait. They throw small to medium sized calves that grow fast.

[linn]

Please don't take this wrong; but our two milking shorthorn cows had huge calves this year and they were bred to a black angus bull. Last year the older cow had a big calf when bred to a red angus. Easy calving means one thing when we are talking about a big-boned shorthorn and another when we are talking about breeding a small heifer. I think the best bet would be to use an easy-calving black angus bull if you want a beef calf.

[john in la]

If you are looking for beef; want small birth weights that catch up and grow well; look for a easy calving Angus bull.

[ksfarmer]

Angus is a good choice for easy calving, even then, look at the bulls birth weight. Also , sometimes a heiffer will still throw a big calf even when bred to a calving ease bull.

[sammyd]

the 2 commonly used around here are Jersey or Angus.

[mamahen]

Ok, going with the angus, can anyone give any names of low birth weight bulls, that I can get AI?

And a good AI rep for western PA, that will only do one heifer? Everyone around here keeps a bull, but no figures on calves.

[tinknal]

Hands down in a beef breed it's Longhorn. The calves are not much bigger than a jackrabbit and vigorous as all get out. Within two hours of birth they can outrun the cow.

[Dexter_Cattle]

I think Dexters would still work if you want beef. Though not as beefy as an Angus, they are still pretty beefy. If you get one on the larger scale of life I think they would be excellent. Check out some of the options at http://www.dextercattle.org/AI%20Bulls.htm

Lockinvar or Antares, Rainbow Hills Big Mac, or Glencara Finerty are all a little larger for Dexters and all very beefy. There are a few others on there too that are new torward the bottom.

Thanks
Dan

[mamahen]

I tried to talk hubby into Highland Don't think he liked all that hair!

[ksfarmer]

Tinknal is right, Longhorn will give you a small calf for easy calving. I don't think ;much of longhorns, but they do have that small calf. They just are never worth as much as a angus cross.

[DJ in WA]

Yes, you need to first find an AI guy, then see what semen they have or can get for you in their system. If you want a special breed or bull, you would need to order it in, and the shipping can be the same for one straw as it would be for fifty. Last year the shipping for me was about $75 to get in semen, so I got ten straws to reduce the cost per straw. You use one straw per breeding.

Here’s a website of a semen supplier (ABS).

http://abs-bs.absglobal.com/beef/angus_ss_main.asp?

They score bulls with EPD’s (Expected Progeny Difference). This is a prediction of how the bull’s calves will do based on how his sire, dam, and calves have done. The more calves he’s sired to be able to measure, the more accurate the prediction will be. Perfect accuracy (never reached) would be 1.0, so the closer to that the better (I see a .97).

EPD’s are based on the average for that breed, so a score of zero is average. For birth weight (BW), you would want a negative EPD for more calving ease, meaning the calves should weigh less than average. Then hopefully the weaning weight (WW), and yearling weight (YW) would be a positive number (above breed average).

Note the first group of bulls are identified as calving ease, with good accuracy.

If you click on the bull’s ID number to the left, you can get more info and a photo. They list the bull’s weight at birth, though that’s not always an accurate predictor of how his calves will be.

They’ll also list height and weight. Many of these standard angus bulls are around 58 inches. A great lowline angus bull that’s 48 inches is shown at the website below. His calves would probably be 20 to 30 pounds lighter than a standard angus. His birth weight was 48 pounds. Again, it might take more money per straw and shipping for semen, as opposed to what your local AI guy already has. And you’d need to ask if he’d store it for you in the special liquid nitrogen tank that’s required to keep it extremely cold.

http://agads.net/page-10254.html

Ultimately you'll have to make a judgment as to how big a calf your heifer can handle. Objective information might help us offer an opinion, such as height and age of your heifer. You could also make it easier for people by reposting your photo.

[mamahen]

Thanks for that info, I can never remember what all the initials mean.

As soon as it's done raining, I'll take a new, current pic of Millie with a yard stick, so you can judge her size. We figure she's around 550 lbs. About 13-14 months old. Not ideal, I think.

But I've said before, we're not "positive" of her breeding. Momma was a long, red cow (this was her second calf), who didn't produce milk like she should. Thus we got Millie at 1.5 months old & bucket fed her for another 1.5 months. Dad was a black baldy, hereford looking fella (I think he was the dad). A young bull, so not huge yet. I believe momma was getting shipped due to the milk issue. Hopefully it won't be an issue with Millie, and she got a good milk gene from dad.

We're not pushing the feed to her, because we want growth, not fat. So she gets 1-2lb 16% dairy, pasture & hay (all she can eat of both) daily. She was on calf manna until May. I don't have the details of it right now.

Well, there's a break in the rain, have to find the sword, I mean YARD STICK that my son was "using" last.

[mamahen]

Ok, here's some pics, not the best because everyone likes me too much. Think that I may have an apple hidden somewhere. :1pig:
A note, after the last pic, my son was showing Penny, the mule, the yardstick. Which she thought was a cornstalk, I guess, and bit it in half .





And a few more, like I said, no one wanted to cooperate this morning!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58...1/DSC00876.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58...1/DSC00872.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58...1/DSC00870.jpg

This was a few days after we got her, last year

[linn]

How much does your heifer weigh? Most sources say they should be 60% of their mature weight before breeding.

[DJ in WA]

Originally Posted by linn

How much does your heifer weigh? Most sources say they should be 60% of their mature weight before breeding.

Of course, the big question is what will that mature weight be?

I found this website which discusses frame size based on age and hip height.

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/beef/as1091w.htm

I'm guessing from your photo she's around 40-41 inches at the hip (measure to the top of the hip bone that sticks out to the side). If that's the case, at age 13-14 months, she is only frame size 1 or 2. Most standard beef bulls are frame 5-7, so I wouldn't use any standard size bulls on her - go with Lowline angus or Dexter.

She should be coming into heat by now at that age. Have you noticed her jumping on anybody? Perhaps some more expert can comment on this photo below. Seems she's sloping downhill and doesn't seem in the best condition. Poor condition might mean she won't come into heat. Don't know if you need a vet check or what if she's on plenty of feed and isn't doing better.

[mamahen]

She looks miserable in that pic, because she's soaked...it'd been raining for awhile & she wanted into the barn. And the ground there is a slight slope. Well, most of our ground is a slight slope, nothing really too flat here!

I'm wondering if there isn't something in her background (or momma's) that is making small calves. Her mom got shipped because both this calf, and her first were small & didn't grow as they should've. We thought with extra milk & feed, she would pick up.

We're going to increase her feed to 4 lbs a day & see if that helps.