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Sunnyside, WA | Sell them sometime--either now when they are fat and worth a lot, or later when they freshen and either lose all the weight or worse yet--die. When I looked back at my records, cows that milked over 400 days in the previous lactation were 4X as likely to have issues as fresh cows. If you are overcrowded already, get rid of them. I'll beef a 3-5 month pregnant cow if the milk is low enough. I also look at her previous records. A first lactation heifer will be better long term anyway. I am overcrowded also so I sell both fresh first lactation cows and low milking pregnant cows.
We have been trained to be ashamed of a high cull rate in the dairy business. I figure a high cull rate with a constant herd size means you are doing a great job raising replacements! I need to have a 47% cull rate to maintain a constant herd size. I don't feel bad about that at all! | |
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How long would you keep fat bred dairy cows
