Culling a herd is a common, practical and cost-effective procedure for any livestock operation. Producers are ever-searching for practices that can increase profitability for their farms, and culling is one such practice. Culling in its most simple form is removing those animals from the herd that are inferior, leaving only the superior animals to reproduce and strengthen the operation.
Factors for Culling
There are many factors to consider when culling a herd. These cover all livestock operations, not just cattle. According to Bryan Katz, an animal science professor for the University of Arkansas, “The number one thing to consider when culling is to get rid of animals that are non-producing or not profitable, or any cow or animal that didn’t get pregnant or have any other reproduction problems. That’s the first thing to look for.”
Cull Based on Records
However, before you can cull any herd, it’s essential to have accurate and effective records. In a culling article, Dr. Jeremy Powell, an assistant professor and Extension Veterinarian for the University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, recommended production records include accurate identification of all animals and their offspring, birth weight, sex, breed, weaning weight and weaning date.
Once you have these records in place, some things to consider when wanting to cull your herd – which will usually be after calves are weaned, or about 30 to 60 days after breeding to see which animals were bred – include the age of the animal, teeth health, reproductive ability, and an ability to raise a calf (kid, lamb, etc) are very important. Each animal reaches a peak production age and after that point they should be culled if they aren’t able to reproduce, milk well or produce healthy, heavy offspring. Katz said that for cattle, this age is usually around eight to twelve years, but can better be determined by their teeth. If an animal has broken down teeth they won’t be able to eat hay or pasture as well, which can decrease profitability.
Dr. Powell’s article emphasized the criteria of pregnancy status (not pregnant), poor performance (as in poor milk production, calf sickness or inferior genetics), age, tooth wear, udder soundness (when cows are in the chute, check their udders to see that all quarters are functioning, large teats that keep a calf from nursing at birth are a reason to cull) and structural soundness (no bad feet or legs) as factors to consider when culling your herd. Katz added that it’s common to keep about 10 to 20 percent of your heifers as replacement heifers and thus cull around 10 to 20 percent of your existing herd to introduce new genetics and keep the breeding lines vigorous.
Profitability Through Culling
Ultimately, profitability is the determining factor for culling. But you can even see some profit when selling culls. The spring and summer are the best price for cull cows. Most people sell culls in the fall at weaning time and before winter starts which is usually the lowest prices. Watching the market trends can increase profitability for culling animals on any operation. Recording them from year to year can be advantageous when it comes time to sell. Katz concluded with, “Overall, you’ve got to keep great records. That’s the first and most important aspect of culling. Keep records and keep up with market trends and you should be able to cull your herd effectively.”
