Having pulled the Wagyu bulls on February 8th, Monday and Tuesday we moved the first-calf heifers with Wagyu X calves up the hill where there’s more dry feed, after sorting off the heifers that are open or haven’t calved yet from our Angus clean-up bulls.
The Wagyu bulls were with the heifers for 80 days, providing 70% live calves as of today, one born dead and three unaccounted for. In the range of 3%, more than likely these MIAs fell prey to coyotes or the young Golden Eagle that hangs close by. Some of these heifers may have misplaced or forgot their calves, as the three mothers without calves are still wet, nursing someone else’s calf. In the mix with the numbers, the Wagyu X calves tend to be milk stealers, much more persistent than straight English calves, that also contributed to our MIAs. But all in all, we’re pleased with the percentages from our two year-old heifers.
Our remaining heifers have already begun having Angus calves, fairly easy to differentiate from the Wagyu X. When we brand the Wagyu X, we will tag and take a nasal swab of each to send to Snake River Farms to confirm what we think with DNA testing.
Douglas Thomason, Robbin, Zach and Clarence – November 13, 2012
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