Choosing replacement heifers

[zephyrhillsusan]

I thought this article from "On Pasture" about how to choose replacement heifers was interesting.  (Not that we've gotten any heifers here the last several years!   )  I think this is probably pretty typical of what many Dexter owners do, but it's helpful for anyone who's had too many visits from the Heifer Fairy and is trying to figure out which ones to keep.

[cathylee]

I feel your pain Susan. With my cute but all too male bull calf this year I'm feeling rather disappointed. This article is clearly aimed at commercial operations but certainly has some points that should be considered.

My first calf heifer is flighty but in some challenging situations she has proven herself to be non confrontational with me (since calving about eleven days ago). So I'll take flighty but not threatening in my small herd until I have more options. All the cows born on this property have been easier to deal with than their dam. That may be due to bull choices. But when I have a couple of heifer calves from her that are very calm she'll probably be offered for sell (unless she's calmed down).

I've decided to have some periodic three day lock up and learn to trust me days for the near future. We have set up some good sorting pens (with livestock panels) and used them with success lately. May do this more when winter comes and we have to feed her hay rather than taking her off grass. Hopefully we can overcome her shyness.

Shedding slowly can be a mineral problem so I'd try to fix it. You may have parasite problems. A problem that manifests at a 10% level in a herd may just be the canary in the coal mine. They may indicate a subclinical problem that exists in more of your stock. The idea that eliminating the indicator eliminates the problem seems simplistic and possibly cavalier.

I certainly like the relatively thick short cow and I think my heifer is maturing into that general profile.  

[Olga]

Great find, thanks. Kit Pharo is my hero, he's doing great things with Angus. The quality of his animals shows, I wish more dexter breeders adopted his approach.

[cddexter]

Before I comment, I'd like to point out the number of hits this item has received: not everyone is on facebook! Yay!!!! Olga's site is still alive and well, and still has value. Thanks, Olga.

Sometimes slow to shed cows do have worms, but if it's only a few cows out of a whole herd, more likely to be....hormone balance. This also gives you the coarse or masculine looking cattle. A sign of poor fertility. No wonder he says cull.

And, if only a few cows have worms, and the rest of the herd is looking good, you have to ask why just those few? Usually it's a sign of weakness somewhere--and a good bellweather to cull for.

He says long bodies are illusions, but I notice all but one of the pics show long bodied cows....Maybe it would be better if was defined as shallow heart depth instead, because that does give you longer appearing animals, even if they aren't. Remember the expensive cuts are between the shoulder and the hip so length IS important. Heart depth is all about capacity, and I see all his pics show cows with exceptional capacity.

Good advice, thanks Susan.

c.

[Olga]

I learned of Kit Pharo that year we had Gearld Fry at the AGM. If I recall correctly Pharo farm utilizes linear measurement.

[cddexter]

Gerald Fry focuses on males. There is an almost identical system out of AU that focuses on females, because it is believed that consistency is female related. So, pick a bull from the best cow, by a sire that's out of another best cow, giving you two females lines that are both exceptional.

I used this system and it really worked for me. I also liked it because it divided the scores into Functional traits, Yield (meat) traits and Maternal (feminine and milk) traits, so you could actually pick which set of traits you wanted to work on, and have a score that helped you do that. Dead easy.

That system brought you Riverhill Saturn's Galaxy, Hiyu Salty Rambler, Hiyu Magician, Bedford Romarc Rambler, Reiver, Warlord, Benjamin, and of course, Olga's son of, Belmont. Check out the pic of Rosegay in the Cow udder photo section of this site: 19 year old cow, 17th calf, dead straight topline, udder of a four year old and fantastic to boot, great body, very feminine and only about 40" tall.

Tell Barb: house close to lockup, should be in by sometime in October, will start on 'the' book no later than January, which will include the evaluation system that anyone can do, even from pictures and still get it within 5% right: better than no eval at all and rose colored glasses have no effect.

cheers, c.

[kansasdexters]

Kit Pharo is spot on, IMO. I've studied his criteria and have used this approach since 2008. Results are the best indication of effectiveness and Pharo's approach is effective judging from the results that we have seen in our own herd over the past 8 years. Here is a link to Pharo Cattle philosophies: www.pharocattle.com/philosophies.htm

[cddexter]

Thanks, Patti.

If any of you get the chance, try to find a small book (or reprints of the articles) called Wortham Lectures in Animal Science, by Jan Bonsma, published by Texas A & M University.

Prof. Bonsma was a South African, worked for the government at the Messina Research Station, and is the creator of the Bonsmara Breed of cattle. He had a list three single-spaced pages long of traits he selected for. Modern uni profs consider him 'old hat' and not worth paying attention to any more, since he was working in the '40's - 60's, but common sense and good management never go out of style. It only took him 20 years to stabilize his new breed.

He was invited to TAM as a visiting lecturer, and the book is a compilation of those lectures. There's some fascinating material there, well worth the read. Prof. Bonsma saw effective cattle and breeding as a wheel, where climate, forage, nutrients, temperature, and genetics all were equally important.

"Interestingly, Bonsma had a unique method of scale photography, so Bonsmara is the only breed in the world that can boast a pictorial genealogy from the very beginning of the breeding work until the new breed was established.

"The Bonsmara has become so popular that it has grown to be numerically the strongest beef breed in South Africa in less than 25 years. The Bonsmara is mainly bred in Africa, 60,000 registered females are currently being performance recorded with the commercial and seedstock herds, adding to around 4 million head. It has been recently exported to North America and Australia. " thx to The Cattle Site.

cheers, c.