The Females of Ramer's Herefords
Yearling heifers wintering under "practical" conditions.
We expect a lot from the females at Ramer's Herefords. Of course, they must come from a good momma - one that has strong maternal instincts, plenty of milk, a strong udder and great teat placement and size. Momma had to have great fertility to keep up with our short breeding seasons, because to be open would call for the trip to the meat market, so is not "keeping up with the neighbors" when calf weaning weights are taken.
The heifer calf must grow to our expectations - and those expectations are high. No excuses are accepted and pedigree is not a "free ticket." Of course, she must look the part; we want no "dogs" here. And while we do have "back pastures", they hold only "front pasture" cows.
As they celebrate their first birthday, not only are the heifers weighed, but ultra-sound data is also taken. Beauty here must be more than skin deep! And each year the bar gets higher.
Finally, they get to be introduced to the MO or the AI chute and then the pasture bull. Here's where it's their turn to demonstrate their bred-in fertility. Late breeders are not retained. Regardless! With our sixty-day breeding seasons that mean some good cows go, but the great ones stay.
Finally, the preliminaries are over and we see what they really are - do they meet or better their momma or do they take a trip. It really is that simple.
Oh, just a word about problems - we don't like cows that give us problems. That is why, since we started in 1973, no hoof has EVER been trimmed, except at the meat market. Cancer eye? Yeah we saw it, in the early days. The solution was simple, but sometimes painful - the trip to the meat market accompanied by her dam, her sisters and her daughters. Prolapse, yeah, we've had them, but the cure was the same - ANY female prolapsing went to market and all females in that cow line went as well.
Yearling heifers getting a little winter excercise. Is that heifer showing heat at 11 months?
An over-reaction? Perhaps! But we just don't have these problems any more! It took more than twenty years, but we've been doing this for well over thirty years now.
As you examine the Cow Herd Table and the information provided by links for each animal, you can be assured that every female in this herd has earned her stay. In fact, almost all come from cow families that have been in our program for at least five generations. They are the result of stacking genetics, measuring the results and culling ruthlessly - and doing it consistently.
It is that consistency that has produced cattle of which we are proud. It is that consistency which assures you that the bull or the foundation female you purchase from Ramer's Herefords is bred to be what you expect - what you deserve!