Cull Cattle
Culling cattle is very important in any cattle operation because a producer gets rid of those animals that are inferior to the genetic qualities of the herd, those that are no longer productive, and those that have no value being in the cowherd any more. Each producer has their own culling standards that they set for their herds; some are more strict than others. But in the end, all producers have the same ultimate objective when it comes to culling cattle.
Steps
- During the year you are going through with your cattle operation, keep track of how each and every cow, bull and calf does during that year. You should be able to do this using any of the following criteria: body condition and ability to gain weight with no to little supplementation, fertility rate during breeding and calving season, age, conformation, temperament and health. You may also have to cull because you have too many animals on your farm or ranch to take care of. Weaning calves from cows and selling them is one culling method. Other instances are when you have a year of drought and you are forced to get rid of up to more than half your herd to keep you from running out of feed too soon.
- Body Condition and weight gain: If a bovine in your herd is not able to gain weight efficiently on pasture alone, or gain weight after calving while nursing a calf and going into winter feeding, she should be shipped.
- Cows that come up open during preg-checking, are late calvers or late breeders should be culled. Bulls that are infertile or cannot settle all the cows he's been exposed to should be culled. Often health and nutrition are factors affecting the fertility of your cow herd, and you may have to look at that as well if a lot of your cows are coming up open.
- Some cows can be too old to calve out or even raise a calf. This is apparent when their teeth have been worn down to the gums, when they have poorer fertility than the rest of the herd, or are generally not as productive and thrifty as they used to be.
- Good conformation in cattle is necessary if you are to keep a good, high producing cow herd. Cows must have good feet and udders, maintaining the depth in their ribs and rumps, and be overall as feminine as their breeding allows. Bulls must have great feet and legs, good scrotal conformation, good depth in the ribs and rump and have good masculinity and muscling. Replacement heifers should be growthier than other calves and have good conformation like their dams if they are to be retained. Any bovine in your herd that does not meet any of the criteria mentioned in the conformation article link above, they should be culled.
- Temperament is just as crucial as fertility and conformation in your cow herd. You should not be allowing any wild or unruly cows to be kept in your herd, as they are often dangerous to you, and can even stir up an unnecessary fuss in the herd. Any cows that are crazy, not docile, overly protective or aggressive towards you, or try to run to the hills whenever you're out checking cows should be culled. Any bull that challenges you and does not respect you (often when they've come to realize they're bigger and stronger and more intimidating than you) should be shipped ASAP.
- You may have some cattle that are just too wild to be put in the trailer. It may be more humane to put them down in the pasture and butcher them for the freezer right there. It'll save the headache and stress of forcing them to get in the trailer.
- There is a longer list for any potential health issues that will make you consider culling some cows from your herd. You may be the kind of producer that doesn't want to spend the money on vet medicine to treat a sick cow, bull or calf, and may choose to put them down instead. However, you may be the kind of producer that will try to treat a sick bovine, only to find their fertility has decreased, or they are chronically ill. Some diseases, like Johne's disease, are simply untreatable, and you will have to not only cull the cow with Johne's, but all her daughters and sons from your herd. Some animals you will find may be carriers for a genetic defect that is affecting your calf crop, and you may have to cull those as well. Mastitis in a dairy cow will often reduce her milk productivity, and she will be culled as well.
- Any bovines that have prolapsed, have pink-eye or cancer eye, have sunburnt or frost bitten udders or testicles, or consistently have been difficult with calving, must be culled.
- Please see your local large animal veterinarian for any information on diseases you will need to keep an eye out for in your cow herd.
- Selling your year's calf crop is another form of culling, though this is really a result of your year's work of keeping the cow herd in top condition and quality. If you choose to keep your calves back for a while, remember you are doubling your herd size if you do so, and need more pasture and/or feed to keep these calves for an extra few months or even a year (if necessary). It's highly recommended, if you are primarily a cow-calf producer and not a cow-yearling producer, to sell your calves right after they've been weaned.
- When deemed necessary, separate those animals that are on your cull list into a separate pen or corral from the rest of the herd using calm herding practices. The top priority animals that should be culled out of the herd sooner (if possible) are those with bad temperament issues and/or health issues. Some animals with bad health issues can be kept back particularly if you are willing and able to treat them back to health. Other animals with health issues that cannot be treated and should be culled as soon as possible. When it comes to bad temperamental issues, however, it is highly recommended that you get rid of these animals right away. If you are working alone, you will need to call someone to help you separate the bad animal from the herd, or wait until you can sell your other culls to separate that animal with the other culls.
- Phone the auction barn and go load them up into a stock trailer. It's best if you separate your cattle into different groups before you haul them to the auction mart. For example, you may only have one cow with health issues, one bad tempered bull, and five cows that are too old to continue being production or bad conformation, and the rest of your culls are weaned calves you are intent on selling, but it's a good idea to load your cows and/or bulls together in one load, then your weaned calves in a separate load.
- Haul them to the auction.
- Back up to the stockyard entrance where you can unload your culls, then go to the office and pick up your bill. Your animals will be weighed first before you get the bill of sale, and how much your animals sell for goes according to what the current prices are for each type and size of animal.
- After you have picked up your cheque, take yourself, your truck and that empty trailer home and enjoy the rest of the day.
Tips
- You should be watching your cattle for signs of issues any time you're out working with them, checking on them, or feeding them.
- Keep a notebook handy for any animals you see that should be on your short list.
- Avoid crowding the cattle in too much. They should have space to move around, but not enough so that they can lay down and get trampled by the others. And for that reason, calves and cows should be separate to avoid the cows trampling and injuring the smaller calves.
- Handle your animals calmly and quietly at all times. More often than not you can create dangerous animals when there is too much excitement, panic, anger or frustration going on and when excess force (i.e., yelling and screaming and using sticks or prods to literally beat the animal to attempted submission) is used when trying to handle them or run them down the alleyway into the chute. The calmer you are when handling them, the better and smoother things will go for you.
- Hauling animals in separate groups will make it easier on the stockmen because they don't have to go in and sort out all the animals you unloaded. Put weaned steers in one group, weaned heifers in another, open cows and heifers and bred cows separate, etc. You will make the stockmen happy if you are prepared beforehand.
- Carry a sorting stick or anything similar that will give you some protection when getting challenged by one of your crazy animals. Make sure they know you mean business, but also have your escape route planned out too in case they decide you're better off somewhere else.
- Keep an eye on local cattle prices. A good way to time selling your cattle is by guessing when the prices will be best for selling your cattle. A good rule of thumb to follow is: Buy low, sell high.
- There's nothing wrong with using a horse trailer for hauling your cattle. The size of trailer needed should accommodate the size of herd you have, this way your animals travel safely in the trailer without having to deal with too much space in a compartment, or only have one or two animals to sell.
- Always warn the Sale Barn personnel in advance when you call them that you are bringing one or more animals that are very dangerous. This way you will most likely avoid any accidents that may occur if one of the stockmen working there gets caught by one of your mean critters.
- Drive carefully when hauling animals. You want to get them to the sale barn with as little stress and injury as possible, so make sure you already know how to properly handle and drive with a trailer.
- You may have an animal that is so wild and so dangerous that no matter what you try to do or how much help you get, you cannot get it loaded up in the trailer to be sold. These kind of animals may need to be put down on the spot.
Warnings
- Don't expect a big paycheck at the end, especially if you haven't been paying attention to local cattle prices.
- You may have a cow that is unusually wild or crazy, being unsteady on her feet, falling all the time, etc. These are prime symptoms of a cow with BSE, and this should be reported to your vet ASAP.
- Always expect the unexpected. And remember Murphy's Law as mentioned in How to Start up a Beef Cow Calf Operation: Anything that can happen will happen.
- Be extremely careful when handling crazy, high-risk and dangerous cattle. If you can, avoid getting in the same pen with these animals at all possible, particularly when you are putting them though the alleyway to the trailer. It may be best to let them go in on their own terms, with a bit of bribery of food and water you placed in the trailer beforehand. Make sure the trailer is the ONLY place where their food and/or water is, and you are out of sight when tempting them in.
- Some cattle that refuse to go in the trailer may go in if they follow other cattle. Cattle are herd animals and its embedded in their brains to be with and follow other cattle no matter what.
Things You'll Need
- A good truck (preferably one that is able to pull over 5000 lbs of beef-on-the-hoof plus trailer without ruining the transmission)
- Trailer (any size, doesn't have to be brand spankin' new)
- Handling facility for herding and loading up cattle
- Sorting stick or paddle
- You, as a safe and proactive driver
