My vet and I did the fall working of my small herd today. The fall working also serves as pregnancy checking and as weaning time.

1) There seems to be almost ZERO correlation between the size of the cow and the 205 day weaning weight of her calf. My largest cow at 1745 lb actually had the smallest weaning weight steer (613 lb) and almost the lightest overall. There was one 601lb heifer. The range of 205 day adj weaning weights went from 601 to 733 lb. the 1200-1350 lb cows had the heaviest calves and by far the highest "percent of dam weight" calves.

2) All females preg checked as bred - none open. My bull did a good job.

3) Fenceline weaning seems to work nicely again. A little bellowing from the cows this afternoon but not much and it seems pretty quiet tonight. Many of the cows seemed to enjoy the idea of grazing alone and headed up the hill. A few of the better-mom cows hung around the fence and shared waterer for a bit then went up the hill!