NewsletterMar05

Grandsire F243 Calf Daughter Son

Farms

The Harvey's

Tom & Tina

Double

Farms

Double

Farms

Double

Newsletter

Table of Contents:

I. Life Story

II. Informative

III. Farm News

IV. Current Events

V. Herefords Highlighted

Preface

It appears, the popularity of the newsletter is increasing! Either that or they are so long it takes several visits to read it all! January's was a little over 50 hits and February's saw well over 100 hits. I'm sure a controversial article tends to help!...:) We skipped humor this month and went with a life story. Still true, and still meaningful!

I. LIFE STORY

The innocence of youth (True story)

Many years ago, when our daughter was but two years old, we were visiting Tina's parents on their farm. My father-in-law ran Limousin cattle on his place, and I would guess there were about 20 head in his pasture at that time. It was spring; the yellow mustard flower was tall in the grass, and the sun was shining warm. Some of us had taken advantage of the beautiful day and went for a walk in the pasture. My daughter Melissa rode on my shoulders, and like always, she was banging on my head and slobbering on my ears! As we reached the herd of cattle they began to distance themselves and form in a mass a strength. As many of you know, Limousins are not "always" known for their docility. The cattle were all head up and ear forward, following our movements very closely. I would think they must have thought it a similar site as we were doing the same, although I personally find it hard to make my own ears flex forward! We stopped to admire them, and it was in this moment of silent respect and majesty that something very peculiar occurred.

I had set my daughter down in order for her to see the flowers and give my throbbing wet head a rest. Melissa began to walk out in front of us unaware of the potential danger, but not so far it concerned me as I knew I could get to her before any of the cows or the bull could make their move. It was then that I noticed a very young calf come out of this group of intimidating cattle and advance towards Melissa. Now to give you a mental picture, the herd was almost half a football field away from where we stood. The only thing between us and them was open pasture. My daughter caught sight of this young calf and began to move towards it in a two year old saunter. Both the cattle and us held ground and remained silent. The calf and my daughter never made any sudden moves, nor did they speak, they just closed on each others position. My parent meter was starting to cause my palms to sweat. I think everyone else was just agasp, but we still watched silently as the two met 20 yards distant from each of their own respective groups. Curiosity had got the best of both of them, and all caution and fear had been forgotten. When just inches stood between them, they paused, then both of them simultaneously stretched towards each other with their heads, and then it happened, they touched noses!

It was a sight to behold amongst the golden flowers. Two innocent beings, not bound by the limitations of knowledge, or by the compounds of fear. A moment you wish you had a camera, but then glad you didn't. It was a brief experience, and surely a reflection of what the almighty had originally intended life's relationship with nature to be. Realization returned with the low bellur of a concerned momma cow, and her subsequent movement towards her calf. I in turn did my part, and in my stern but fatherly voice called my daughter to me while also moving in that general direction. The innocence had vanished, the calf bounded back to the herd, and I scooped my special girl up in my arms. This was not the last time she would show her special gift. Melissa seemed to retain this unique ability even as she grew older. She would have wild birds surrounding her when she was playing outside as a young girl, yet when someone else approached they would fly away. She was and still is always bringing home stray cats and pups to raise and then I end up having to find a home for them! I still see it in her sometimes, and it comes in handy, especially when I have a bull in show who won't settle down for me. She can pretty much grab the halter and the bull calms...go figure!

The moral of the story:

Sometimes, too much intervention can stifle learning.

From a cattle raisers point of view:

Don't coddle your herd to prevent the worst. Let them prove themselves

and show you their best.

II. INFORMATIVE

"Udder Nonsense!"

There are many traits which cattleraisers look for in their females, and sometimes udder quality is not always the highest priority, but it can have some of the most adverse consequences down the road. As a breeder, I can tolerate different frame sizes, lack of pigmentation, color and markings, higher and lower birthweights, even fleshing ability, but if I settle for an udder which is not functional or very poor in quality, my whole program will suffer. Allow me to elaborate.

Some breeders are all about "milk". They don't seem to mind if their cattle have extremely pendulous bags with one or more teats the size of coke bottles. He is satisfied as long as the calf can get on at least one of the teats at birth until it is strong enough to draw the rest down. In my opinion, breeders are playing the lottery when they rely on udders such as these to be there for them year after year. Eventually these udders will let you down, and when the udder goes, so goes the cow, and so goes the profit of a naturally raised calf. Sure, she might be a milking machine "once she gets going", but why do I want to spend time and money making that happen! I don't want to have to milk an udder so a baby calf can get on it, and take the chance of being injured in the process. I don't want to have to worry about the first few days of critical nursing and making sure the calf gets the colostrum without having to tube it. I don't want to have to separate or pen the pair in order to watch them carefully, or feed them separately. I don't want to treat the cow with antibiotics for mastitis. I don't want to balm the cows udder, and I don't want to treat the udder for injury because it has been dragging in the mud and brush. I don't want to mess with it period! Leave that to the dairy business.

A beef cow should have a functional enough udder so that a newborn calf doesn't have any problem getting attached, and getting the critical colostrum it needs. The cow should not have to loose her ability to travel and graze due to a huge mass of flesh between her legs. She shouldn't have to drag her udder through the mud when she is only hock deep in it, and she shouldn't have worry about dragging it across the brush and taking a chance on injury. The calf doesn't like the taste of mud, and the momma doesn't like letting the calf suckle with very sore teats! Old timers say a extremely heavy bag can even cause birthing problems when the cow is standing during delivery. Some cows can die by infection from injury or mastitis, and both these things are common problems in problem udders. The calf can die from any breakdown in the delivery system, or be severely hampered in it's growth down the road. Heck, even overfeeding can ruin a good udder by putting excess fatty deposits in the mammary system, and reducing milk production, not to mention potentially ruin the teats.

The loss of a cow, loss of a calf, low weaning weights, veterinary cost, vaccinations, milk replacer, equipment, and your time, etc., all cut into your operations profit. If it cost $200 to get a calf to weaning due to one or more of these problems associated with bad udders, then are you really profiting? How much does the cow alone cost you in time and money each year? Are you keeping replacements out of these same animals? How does this affect the longevity and productivity of your herd down the road? What is a good udder? These are all questions every breeder needs to answer themselves, or they may choose to discount them as..... udder nonsense!

Above, you will find an udder score chart which can help you better understand. The scale ranges from one (1) through nine (9); nine being the best. There is only one picture for each 3 levels. The description of the #9, #5, and #1 are also listed above.

III.FARM NEWS:

This year Double H Farms was once again recognized for raising Dams of Distinction. Only 1,487 Hereford females, both Horned and Polled, from 43 states were honored with this title. Texas was in the top ten states with only 55 animals claiming the title. The initial report indicated 3 of our animals receiving the recognition, but an error in data at the AHA caused a reprint affecting many breeders, including us, and we were left with only two. To date, we have 5 DOD's currently working in our herd.

Our first show heifer of the year was sold to Michael Talbert

of College Station. She will go into his possession following

her weaning at the end of summer. We hope she does great

for him. Thank you Michael!

The Hereford Breeders Online Auction, slated for September of 2005, will probably be the next best time to pick up some of our upcoming breed age bulls and heifer calves. Check out the "Auctions" link on our "Sale Barn" page!

Note: Important information on Feltons 621 is here!. Check the "New Sires" page to see the update.

IV. CURRENT EVENTS:

The STPHA and NETHA sales finished up with outstanding results in 2005.

The CrossTimbers Classic sale will kick off in West, Texas on Saturday, April 9th!

The Texas All Star Sale will be in Sherman Texas on May 30th.

FFA kids showing Double H Farms cattle in Houston ended up with two 3rd place finishes!

Congratulations girls!

V. HEREFORD HIGHLIGHTS:

HVH MPH Serenade D28 56G

03/18/1997

Well, that about wraps it up. We certainly hoped you enjoyed the newsletter! Email us and let us know what you think.

Thankyou

Tom and Tina Harvey

Performance on the Hoof!

Home The Farm The Herd Sale Barn Show Time Links Gallery

Back to the top!

March 2005

It's not always about the milk,.....

......it's about the delivery system!

Sarah, as we call her was bought at the Texas All Star Sale in 1998. She was bred by HVH Farms of Waukomis, Oklahoma. Tina liked her color and freckling, and thought it would be a good time to give Matt another project calf. She only showed at a couple of shows as she was very small framed, but it did help tame her down some. However. she did do better with a calf on her side, winning a Reserve Champion Cow/Calf pair at County. This cow missed her chance at DOD by only a few days, but she still milks in the top % of her contemporary group. Her sire was a good F243 son, and her Dam a good John Rice cow out of the calving ease giant "Network". Her EPD's are some of the best in our herd, and her calves are exceptional. Sarah has had seven calves to date with a 106% weaning ratio and

of 372 days. There is a paternal 1/2 sister to her currently being used as a Donor Dam. Three of her bull calves have made herd sires, and pictures of one of those son's offspring can be seen on the commercial bull page in this web site. Sarah is one of those cows that shows a little wear by the end of calf raising because she puts every bit into the calf. She is fully pigmented, with freckles, and has the kind of udder you like to see; problem free, with small teats. Her udder has looked the same for many years, and hasn't shown any signs of changing with each new year. All her calves have come unassisted. All her daughters have sold to date with only one lost one to misfortune. She will have a bull calf for sale in our upcoming Internet auction this September. Sarah will be going into our donor program where we hope to take advantage of the maternal genetics and gain many replacement females.

Click here January Newsletter!

Well, that wraps up our third newsletter, we hope you keep coming back!...:)

yearling ratio of 104%. She has a calving interval