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Post by Olga on Nov 21, 2014 19:48:21 GMT -5
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zephyrhillsusan
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Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Nov 21, 2014 23:04:30 GMT -5
Awww! Belmont is already meeting the new baby! He's a stocky little guy. Congratulations!
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Post by cddexter on Nov 22, 2014 9:45:06 GMT -5
Hey, Olga, where'd ya get that runty little black bull? Too bad about the ugly horns, maybe you could give him Rompin, freeae the nerves, and lop them off. That would improve his appearance a lot. c.
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Post by Olga on Nov 22, 2014 10:23:29 GMT -5
Those horns are something, C.! Just like his daddy's, they come straight out of his head. And for a 2 year old, they are very long. But he is very gentle and doesn't use them much. The other day I was laying down next to Pistol Polly, giving her a neck rub, and Belmont came up and investigated. There wasn't anything but curiosity in his eyes.
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Post by cddexter on Nov 22, 2014 15:39:58 GMT -5
that's what 103 years of breeding for temperament will get you. cheers, me.
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Post by Olga on Nov 22, 2014 23:48:09 GMT -5
A day-time picture. The little guy only nursed on the right side, so the left one was engorged. The left side also has a damaged front teat - it had been bitten by a snake a few years back and has never gone back to its original size after the swelling. So I grabbed the little guy and carried him uphill to the barn. Needless to say, I gave up half way up and Justus had to carry him the rest of the way - the little guy is pretty heavy! Milked the cow out on the full side, then let them back out again. It had been raining on and off all day, but it isn't cold at all.
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zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Nov 23, 2014 8:24:36 GMT -5
Ouch! Snakebit on her teat? It makes me cringe! He looks like he'd be a load to carry uphill!
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Post by Olga on Nov 27, 2014 14:05:55 GMT -5
Got the calf weighed today, at 7 days old - 64 lbs. That puts him at around 55 lbs at birth.
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dexterlady
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Wife, mother of two daughters and five grand children
Posts: 647
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Post by dexterlady on Nov 28, 2014 15:22:45 GMT -5
Oh Olga, what a gorgeous baby....I love his coloring.....Poor momma and her teat....I bet she was hurting when that happened.....Boy that calf is so pretty and he looks so muscular already and 55LBS. at birth!...WOW....Congrats. to you and the momma
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dexterlady
member
Wife, mother of two daughters and five grand children
Posts: 647
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Post by dexterlady on Nov 28, 2014 15:24:39 GMT -5
Oh Olga, what a gorgeous baby....I love his coloring.....Poor momma and her teat....I bet she was hurting when that happened.....Boy that calf is so pretty and he looks so muscular already and 55LBS. at birth!...WOW....Congrats. to you and the momma
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Post by Olga on Dec 5, 2014 18:23:09 GMT -5
He was 76.7 today, at 15 days old.
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Post by Cascade Meadows Farm - Kirk on Dec 6, 2014 23:08:28 GMT -5
I love the pictures and I LOVE the calf, and I HATE to ask this question because I know it will stir up some people, but as a science-minded person, whenever I see pictures and discussions of proportions and measures and weights, I want to know if the calf is chondro or non-chondro, if you don't mind sharing.
If a calf is chondro and 55 pounds at birth, does that mean he would likely have been even larger/heavier at birth if everything else was was the same, but he had been non-chondro?
Just trying to learn, so be nice to me.
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Post by Olga on Dec 6, 2014 23:57:25 GMT -5
No problem, Kirk. The bull calf is non-chondro. Usually our calves are much lighter, some have been as small as 30 (ish) pounds, most are around 45 lbs. This one came out bigger due, at least in part, to his mama being a bit on the heavy side at the time. Claire was very late in getting rebred, so she had gotten hefty. The calf too felt thick when he was born and probably had much larger percent body fat than what I usually see in our calves. Also, I am not promoting larger calf weights - just stating my statistics and enjoying the opportunity to monitor this guy's growth thanks to my new scale and easy access - Claire and baby are here at my house, so that I can milk. I got a bit over half gallon last night, with no separation, and had left plenty for the calf.
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Post by Cascade Meadows Farm - Kirk on Dec 7, 2014 17:36:33 GMT -5
I really like him and he's a very good gainer too.
I don't think that's too high of a birth weight, especially considering the circumstances. One thing we also have to be careful of in dexters, is selecting for TOO SMALL of calves.
It's a delicate balance between mothers and calf size. If you only breed for 27 pound calves, then maybe you're also accidentally selecting for moms that would have trouble with anything over 40 pounds and that could be a disaster later.
Looking forward to seeing more pics of him as he grows. He looks like he'll be compact and thick.
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Post by Olga on Dec 13, 2014 19:09:27 GMT -5
He was 86.6 lbs today, at 23 days old.
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