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New Mexico | implants are those naturals left in.
Then either cut or band after started in the feedlot.
Works pretty good on Spring calves to band or cut in Dec....the decent bull calves left till then will generally weigh in the 750 to 875 range ( April borns ).
Keep in mind leaving nuts in As long as possible not only increases gains, it ALSO favors feed conversion on those cattle by an easy 10% saved feed...and some of em save 20% too.
On banding big cattle, get em up and take em for a stroll a couple times per day for a week ( increases Choice and higher Percentages on carcass ).
IF you band bullish looking cattle ( say weighing 900 to 1,000 ), Shave their head ( thee ole club calf shave ) and the regrowth hair grows in strait ( Not curly like a bull )...then no one else will ever know.
Personally, I like to cut everything with a knife ....then have plenty of Mountain Oysters around.
Best use for a band is perhaps more for dehorning rather than the other. MO
I like alot of data on bull calves, and the more time available provides for more data too.
On things like Rib Eye Area ultrasounds, I feel the adjustments are much more accurate the larger the cattle are when scanned.
Rid Eyes on bulls banded late can tend to run up to 1" larger than if they're banded or cut early ( can be a factor if your gridding em ).
Also, there's more consistency, thus better "read" to a calf's total average growth factors ( ADG, WDA, RFI, Feed Conversion, etc ) the longer those natural implants are left in.
Edited by Markwright 4/1/2010 13:35
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banding or cutting
