# How old is this calf??



## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

Yesterday we picked up a mini lowline angus heifer. No papers so unsure if I am allowed to call her a lowline or if mini is correct term.
She is wild but not terrible, workable. She'll be a pet in no time.

In the ring, she looked like a 2 month old. Now that I have her home I have no idea. She is about 150 pounds. Chows on hay and grain. Pictured next to my 4 week old jerseys for size comparison. Also how is her conformation for a mini? I thought she looked good. There were some snorter dwarf hereford there that brought twice as much as this gal, people just didnt know what they were buying. 




































this milkbar is not usually mounted this hi, but the hiefer kept knocking it down!


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

I am also noticing in the pics that she has red on her belly and legs. Does this indicate some crossbreeding? Its winter and sunbleaching is on the top usually...
The dam was in the ring with her and was a very very small very angus looking cow.


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## Karin L (Oct 5, 2006)

The red could indicate some copper deficiency, which is typical of black hided cattle. However, she could have a bit of something else in her, maybe jersey, which probably explains why you haven't gotten any papers off of her.

Her conformation looks not too bad, from the angle of the pics you took of her. Although she does appear a little toed-out on both front and back feet, and a bit cow-hocked. She looks a little thin, even though her hair makes her seem otherwise, though it could be because she might have a some dairy genetics in her. She still has a bit of growing to do before we can really tell if she's a "nice heifer" or not, and it'd be nice to see her slicked down (i.e. lose her winter coat) to really see how her conformation is.

I'm not great at telling her age from a mini angus, but she looks like she's older than 2 months; I was going to place her at 6 months from the first pic.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I agree with Karin that she is at least 6 month old and possibly older. This added age is indicated by the width of her forehead. By the time she is 12 to 24 months old most of the red will have shedded. She will be the color underneath her eyes.


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## Cliff (Jun 30, 2007)

Too late now, but for future reference you really shouldn't put sale barn animals in with yours till you've quarantined them. She may not be sick but many many animals who pass thru sale barns are, and leave their germs everywhere, thus exposing her and now your animals to who knows what.

Sale barns are really not good places to purchase animals, too much risk involved, especially these days with the Johne's problem becoming more widespread.


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## Karin L (Oct 5, 2006)

Oooh good point Cliff. That should always be a priority when purchasing new animals, never let them in with the rest of the herd until a few days to a week has passed.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

they are all sale barn calves so not much matter. I dont have any other cattle.


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## Jennifer L. (May 10, 2002)

I'd go with the six months,too. She looks like a calf from last fall.

My neighbor has Angus, some have the short front legs, some don't. My understanding is the short legs made them a Lowline, but maybe not? Anyway, he has had 27 head here over the past year (just took them home yesterday) and these were probably 18 months old now. Several of them are just plain small. One heifer, who will come back to summer here with the next batch, is not probably over 400 pounds right now. She's just a really little girl! Grows ok, looks, but is one small animal. 

That heifer of yours has a very developed look about her right now. "Cowy" about the head, like agmantoo says. IMO she looks pretty good. Has had a hard winter by the looks of her ears, but in ok shape otherwise.

Cute, isn't she? 

Jennifer


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

Update on this heifer. Does she look like a yearling at this point?

Im not sure she is mini angus, almost certain not pure. She is so dairy in build. She gets pellets and is on pasture. Not the best pasture but she never touches the hay I give them. She has been wormed with ivermectin and cydectin a few times. Has a more firm manure. Im hoping its just bad conformation or crossbreeding.










Notice how well those fly tags work, not!


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## DJ in WA (Jan 28, 2005)

I'd go with Karin's Jersey mix idea. I have a Lowline/Jersey cow that I got at 6 months of age in 2004 but I don't have photos from then. I think at a year she was more developed than yours - I bred her at 12 months of age. Here's a few photos from last year with her calf at 1 month and 10 months age. You can see the reddish tint to her.


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## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

DJ in WA
Who's the daddy of that calf? I just had my Jersey cow bred to a red Lowline a few months ago. Not many of those around. I hope to get a red too.
Trisha


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## Karin L (Oct 5, 2006)

Firmer poop = not getting much protein. If her poop was looser then that's an indicator of more protein in her diet. In that case, the pasture isn't helping matters then.

Somehow or other she'll have to learn to like hay when your pasture runs out. One way to do that is to have her in a pen where there's nothing else to eat but your hay, and by "force" of the psychological kind, she'll realize that she HAS to eat that if/when she's hungry.

She's certainly looking more like a yearling, but more like a 3/4 jersey cross than anything. She's got the wide forehead like a Jersey. And thin like one too. Her conformation looks a bit better in that pic than in the ones in your OP.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

Hate to make a guess on it. Over the years I've raised quite a few calves and have seen different calves grow out differently based upon a lot of factors. I've ended up with some stunted calves due to picking up an orphan at the sale barn when I was desperate to fill up the nurse calf pen when I had a fresh cow. These stunted calves (some of which I've kept as beefers) eventually come out of it with time and good feed. It's usually not until they've passed the 1-2 year old stage and are close to calving that I really see them start to come on strong. (Sometimes it's even after their first calf.)

Whether she's 1 month or 1 year, there's not much of anything different you can do for her now besides feed the hound out of her. If she is infact still pretty young, (say 2-5 months old) might I recommend sprinkling a little MR powder over her feed. This will help to satisfy her "baby calf needs more protein and fat" to get them off to a good start. It can't hurt anything as long as it's in moderation. I try to never buy the stuff unless I get caught needing to finish a calf's bottling out and I'm drying up the cows for their off time pre-calving. I usually always end up with extra and use it up on top of the weined calves feed.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

The weirdo eats hay if there is nothing but she would rather eat raspberry bushes, sedge and random weeds before touching it. They are on several acres of mostly brush and sedge. I think she thinks she is a goat. Maybe I need to up the pellets some? I used to keep her in a stall/small lot trying to tame her and I was all but free choice feeding beef grower but she still was thin. Id love it if she was part jersey but if she is she didnt get the temperment. She never tamed down even with daily handling. She is super tiny too. Here is a piture of her next to the highland that is approx 15 months old. Ive had the black one for five months now so I know she is at least about 9 months old and hoping older.


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## DJ in WA (Jan 28, 2005)

Trisha in WA said:


> DJ in WA
> Who's the daddy of that calf? I just had my Jersey cow bred to a red Lowline a few months ago. Not many of those around. I hope to get a red too.
> Trisha


Trisha, it was a bull down in Nebraska - mostly lowline - I'll PM you with more info.


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## DJ in WA (Jan 28, 2005)

lasergrl said:


> The weirdo eats hay if there is nothing but she would rather eat raspberry bushes, sedge and random weeds before touching it. They are on several acres of mostly brush and sedge. I think she thinks she is a goat. Maybe I need to up the pellets some? I used to keep her in a stall/small lot trying to tame her and I was all but free choice feeding beef grower but she still was thin. Id love it if she was part jersey but if she is she didnt get the temperment. *She never tamed down even with daily handling.* She is super tiny too. Here is a piture of her next to the highland that is approx 15 months old. Ive had the black one for five months now so I know she is at least about 9 months old and hoping older.


Did I understand that you got her at a salebarn? If so, perhaps her temperament is why she was there. If she is lowline/jersey they would be worth more money if free of problems.

I recall going to get the calf (now cow) at 6 months age, and almost left without her. The owner was trying to prove a point that lowlines can live on grass only. But he'd weaned her at 3 months of age. But at that age, without a developed rumen, they can't eat enough grass to extract the required protein they need for growth. Anyway, she looked rough, but I gave her supplements and alfalfa, and she perked right up.

Don't know what your plans are - you could make sure she gets more protein, but for me, the disposition problem would be the end of her.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

She was at an exotic animal auction, and she was one of about 6 in the lot. She was the youngest and pretty sure her mother was in the lot too. She just will not allow herself to be touched. I dont have a big problem with this. I figure any heifers she has can be pulled for bottlefeeding and any bull calves go in the freezer. All the other cows from this seller looked exactly the same a her, black and more dexter in body style then lowline. I honestly thought they were all polled dexters untill the bill of sale said "mini angus". The price I payed is about average for livestock from this sale. Its a dispersal sale and people come from all over. Ive actually never gotten a truly sick animal from this sale like tends to happen at the local sale. Hopefully eventually I can get a nice heifer from her, I just have to descide what to breed her too when she is ready. Im thinking dexter.


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## DJ in WA (Jan 28, 2005)

lasergrl said:


> She was at an exotic animal auction, and she was one of about 6 in the lot. She was the youngest and pretty sure her mother was in the lot too. *She just will not allow herself to be touched.* I dont have a big problem with this. I figure any heifers she has can be pulled for bottlefeeding and any bull calves go in the freezer. All the other cows from this seller looked exactly the same a her, black and more dexter in body style then lowline. I honestly thought they were all polled dexters untill the bill of sale said "mini angus". The price I payed is about average for livestock from this sale. Its a dispersal sale and people come from all over. Ive actually never gotten a truly sick animal from this sale like tends to happen at the local sale. *Hopefully eventually I can get a nice heifer from her,* I just have to descide what to breed her too when she is ready. Im thinking dexter.


Well, good luck. Since temperament is heritable, serious breeders would cull her, or eat all of her calves.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

Heck Im not too worried about it. I got her when she was older and never handled. I dont think its a big deal she didnt become a puppy dog after a month in a stall and being thrown hay and feed. I wasnt really trying that hard, just feeding her daily. She doesnt try and kill herself by getting away, more of a walk/run away. Out on pasture she will come to 4 feet of me but thats it. Im sure a calf that was bottlefed would be a puppy but she wasnt. 
I dont see people with full size angus culling all their cows because they cant be pet on so I dont know that its really a problem with her. Sure I would preffer it.


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## matt_man (Feb 11, 2006)

Her temperment will really come into play if you want her offspring for anything but a range/pasture cow. Not being handled early isn't the only way a cow ends up with a wild disposition. I got a 22 mo old jersey heifer a year and half ago that had been running with a beef herd and never handled. Within a few days she was eating out of my hand and by the end of three weeks, I could lead her.


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## southridgeacre (Feb 5, 2008)

I'm no cow expert, but I think I'd try breeding her to a mini jersey bull and pulling the calf, bottle feeding. You'll know more about her after her first calf. I'd think you'd have an easy time selling a heifer calf if it's half mini jersey, for a small family milker, provided it's sweet. Many mini jersey bulls have nice dispositions, she'll have a chance of inheriting her fathers disposition. I bought a 15 month old "mini" jersey heifer about 5 months ago, she had been on pasture for several months,most of her life, without human interaction. She was terrified of people. I got her to let me pet her while eating in just a week, and now I can walk up to her no matter where she is and she will usually stand for long scratches, back rubs, and she'll let me mess with her udder. just my humble opinion.
Samara


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