Thread: Wagyu calves

@Chelsea, they’re big units those Belgian Blues, I snapped these beauties around Ypres a few years back.

Originally Posted by ishoot10s

@Chelsea, they’re big units those Belgian Blues, I snapped these beauties around Ypres a few years back.

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I have been trying to convince the farm owner to use short gestation Belgium blue instead of short gestation x bred at the tail end of calving. We do AB all mating. But he’s worried about calving difficulties because they are such big units but I believe they have been “refined” to be easy calving. Still haven’t convinced him but once he gets a taste of one he won’t be able to resist.

Originally Posted by Chelsea

I have been trying to convince the farm owner to use short gestation Belgium blue instead of short gestation x bred at the tail end of calving. We do AB all mating. But he’s worried about calving difficulties because they are such big units but I believe they have been “refined” to be easy calving. Still haven’t convinced him but once he gets a taste of one he won’t be able to resist.

We used 40 straws of Belgium Blue last year in addition to the Charolais that we usually use. Cool calves, but significantly more calving difficulties. Back to all (aside from Sexed Friesian) Charolais this year

Originally Posted by Rich007

We used 40 straws of Belgium Blue last year in addition to the Charolais that we usually use. Cool calves, but significantly more calving difficulties. Back to all (aside from Sexed Friesian) Charolais this year

More difficulties from size? That’s what farm owner is worried about but I see LIC I think it is has advertised “easy calving, SG” straws.
We are currently cleaning up with Angus and then SG dairy. All our SG dairy are trucked so I’d rather use a sought after SG beefy and sell them if not rear them.

Originally Posted by Chelsea

More difficulties from size? That’s what farm owner is worried about but I see LIC I think it is has advertised “easy calving, SG” straws.
We are currently cleaning up with Angus and then SG dairy. All our SG dairy are trucked so I’d rather use a sought after SG beefy and sell them if not rear them.

Mine were 'easy calving' too (although through CRV). There were certainly some big calves, but then we had some big Charolais calves too with far fewer issues.

I guess I'm just saying, be aware that the calving may be easier than normal for a BB, but it will be harder than you are used to.

Agree with the idea of creating additional value in the calves, we haven't bobbied anything for 6 years now.

Originally Posted by Rich007

I guess I'm just saying, be aware that the calving may be easier than normal for a BB, but it will be harder than you are used to.

Some info I found for Belgian Blues is that on average the cows have 4 caesarians in their lifetime, and up to 10!
But it sounds like it's not purely a calf size problem, the cows also tend to have a narrow pelvis.

Originally Posted by Cigar

Some info I found for Belgian Blues is that on average the cows have 4 caesarians in their lifetime, and up to 10!
But it sounds like it's not purely a calf size problem, the cows also tend to have a narrow pelvis.

Interesting, I hadn't thought of the cow itself playing a role other than the genetics passed on to the calf. In my experience calf shape plays as much of a role as the size - particularly the shape of the shoulders and head.