Calf vigor and nursing issues are very heritable, and sadly many Brahman breeders struggle with this in their herd. Environmental effects can cause issues too, Brahman calves have trouble handling cold damp weather. We get many questions from breeders asking how they can best assist a calf with vigor or nursing issues.
Through selection and culling, we are proud to say that we have almost completely eliminated calf vigor issues from the BRC herd. Makes life so much easier. This particular calf's mother is an animal we purchased from another breeder in a sale. Unfortunately, she had an issue, but now we know and we can move her to be bred to our Angus bull. Expensive mistake on our part. But, there's no place for this in our herd. However, it did give us an opportunity to make this video to help share tips with other breeders.
The best way to address this is to try to eliminate it from your herd through selection, breeding, and culling.
-Keep track of the cattle that give you problems. Look at their bloodlines. Try to move those cattle to a crossbreeding program, or don't continue to breed them for seedstock.
-When purchasing breeding stock, ask about the animals nursing history. Problem is, not enough people keep up with it, and many lie about it. So, this is a challenge. Find a genetic supplier that does keep up with udder quality (like us at BRC), and do business with them.
For more information on learning about Brahmans you can go to www.brahmanacademy.com.