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PROPER COW with bad stifle joints, severe The Midwest Cattleman · October 1, 2020 · P16
continued from page 7 foot rot infections, or arthrit- to daughters that may be Cull cows when in mod-
cull a cow at about age 8. By ic joints may be subject to kept as replacement heifers. erate body condition. Send
substantial carcass trimming
the time she is 10, look at her Two key types of "bad" udders older cows to market before
very closely and consider cull- when they reach the pack- to cull include: the large fun- they become too thin. Gener-
ing plant. They will be poor
ing; as she reaches her 12th nel-shaped teats and weak ally, severely emaciated cat-
year, plan to cull her before producers if allowed to stay udder suspension. tle have lightly muscled car-
on the ranch while severe-
she gets health problems or in The large funnel-shaped casses with extremely small
very poor body condition. ly lame. They may lose body teats may be indicative of a
condition, weigh less, and be ribeyes and poor red-meat
Other reasons to cull cows: discounted at the previous case of mastitis and yield. This greatly lessens the
cause the quarter
Examine the eye health livestock market by salvage value of such animals.
of the cows. One of the lead- the packer buyers. to be incapable of Just as importantly, emaciat-
milk.
producing
ing causes of condemned beef Culling them soon ed cattle are most often those
carcasses is still "cancer-eye" after their injury In addition, large which "go down" in transit, as
teats may be dif-
cows. Although the producers will help reduce the they lack sufficient energy to
are doing a much better job in loss of sale price ficult for the new- remain standing for long peri-
born calf to get its
recent years of culling cows that may be suf- ods of time.
before "cancer-eye" takes fered later. If the mouth around and Severe bruising, excessive
its toll, every cow manager cow has been treat- receive nourish- carcass trim, increased con-
should watch the cows close- ed for infection, be ment and colostrum demnations, and even death
very early in life.
ly for potentially dangerous certain to market are the net results of emacia-
eye tumors. Watch for small the cow AFTER the As some cows age, tion. Very thin cows have a low
the ligament that
pinkish growths on the upper, required withdraw- dressing percentage (weight
lower, or corner eye lids. Also al time of the med- separates the two of the carcass divided by the
sides of the udder
notice growths on the eyeball icine used to treat live weight). Because of these
in the region where the dark her infection. becomes weakened factors, cow buyers will pay
and allows the en-
of the eye meets with the Bad udders less per pound for very thin,
"white" of the eyeball. Small should be culled. tire udder to hang shelly, cull cows. In addition,
very near to the
growths in any of these areas One criteria that thin cows will weigh less. As
are very likely to become should be exam- ground. Again, it you combine these two factors
difficult
becomes
cancerous lesions if left un- ined to cull cows (weight and price per pound),
checked. Likewise, be aware is udder quality. for the newborn calf thin cull cows return many
to find a teat when
of cows with heavy wart in- Beef cattle produc- fewer dollars at sale time
festations around the eye ers are not as like- the udder hangs too than if the cow was sold when
close to the ground.
socket. Many of these become ly to think about in moderate body condition.
cancerous over time. Culling udder health and Select against these If they are already too thin, a
faults and over time
these cows while the growth shape as are dairy short (45 to 60 days) time in
your cow herd will
is still small, will allow the producers, but this improve its udder health a drylot with a high-quality
cow carcass to be utilized nor- attribute affects cow produc- Cull any really wild cat- feed will put condition back
mally. If however, cancer en- tivity and should be consid- tle. They are hard on you, on the cows very efficiently.
gulfs the eyeball and gets into ered. OSU studied the effect There is no need to put excess
the lymph nodes around the that bad udders had on cow and your equipment, and they flesh or fat on cows. They be-
raise wild calves. Wild calves
head, the entire carcass will productivity. They found that come less efficient at convert-
likely be condemned as not fit cows with one or two dry quar- are poor performers in the ing feed to bodyweight after
feedlot and are more prone
for human consumption. ters had calves with severe- about 60 days and the market
Check the feet and ly reduced weaning weights to producing dark cutting will not pay for excessive fat-
legs. Beef cows must travel (50 - 60 pounds) compared to carcasses as they reach the ness on cows.
over pastures and fields to cows with no dry quarters. packing plant. "Dark cutters"
are discounted severely when
consume forages and reach Plus, cows with bad udders
water tanks and ponds. Cows tend to pass that trait along priced on the rail.

SELECTING environmental effect can be Summary pregnant as a yearling and
continued from page 9 divided into the in utero phase 1.Heifer calves born early also as a two-year-old heifer
and the pre-weaning phase. in the calving season and were the heifers own birth
breeding season. There was During pregnancy, younger retained as replacements in date and the age of her dam
no statistical difference for cows are still growing and this herd were more likely to when she was born. Producers
the age of dam influence on need more energy and nutri- conceive as yearlings and also selecting replacement heifers
pregnancy rates for heifers in ents. This high nutrition re- had an advantage in conceiv- for development and use in
the first breeding season. This quirement is likely resulting ing as two-year-old heifers. their own herd may benefit
data set includes records from in nutritional imbalances for 2.Heifer calves born to cows from using this information
almost 1500 heifers spanning the in utero developing heif- that were three years old or in identifying which heifers
a range of years from 1997 to er and impacting that heif- older, had a significant ad- to keep or to cull.
2014. er’s subsequent reproductive vantage in conceiving in their University of Nebraska-
In the “Effect of Dam Age performance. After calving, second breeding season when Lincoln
on Offspring Productivity” young cows are not provid- compared to heifers born to
study it is likely that both ge- ing as much milk for the calf, first-calf-heifers.
netics and environment are likely impacting the heifer For this herd, two of the
impacting the heifer calf and calf’s growth from calving till major indicators of the like-
her future productivity. The weaning. lihood of a heifer becoming