“Rose” in 2015 with her 5 week old bull calf.
Her story begins on a farm in Kansas where she was born in April, 2007. Her dam was a 3 year old cow that was nondescript but produced a unique heifer calf that became Rose. I had purchased three yearling heifers from a Kansas Shorthorn breeder, who remains a well known Shorthorn breeder today, but when I arrived to pick them up in the spring of 2008 he informed me the best one “had suddenly died” never telling me before I left home. He said I could pick from a group of over a 100 red yearling heifers he had as a replacement for the one that I was supposed to receive. I was “boxed in” because I was already there and did not want to go home with just 2 heifers. He said he would run the group of heifers through a chute and I could decide which one I wanted as they moved through the chute setup. Probably about a third had gone through when a large framed heifer appeared that had a certain indescribable elegance about her and I said “I will take that one”. Her purchase price was $800 which in today’s dollars would be approximately $1200. Thus the saga of Rose began.
Once she arrived at our farm in Oregon it quickly became apparent she was quite apprehensive about her new home and was reticent to become a member of our small herd as she “did her own thing”. This often created difficulties when we were trying to work with our herd. Many times we contemplated selling her as she was heading in the opposite direction from the rest of the herd. After some thought we decided to give her a chance in hopes she would develop “a new attitude” that would facilitate her becoming a long term member of the herd. Little did we know how her value to us would evolve from a “cow project” to the “matron of the whole herd” 17 years later.
Her first calf was a 88# bull calf (all our calves are weighed on an electronic scale the day they are born—no guessing) that grew extremely well. She had him with no problems, was a good mother, and had a good udder. Her second calf was also a bull calf and weighed 96#. Her temperament was still a bit contrary but we were trying to build our herd and she certainly had produced good marketable offspring so we decided to keep her. Her third calf was a “shocker” because he weighed 131#. She delivered him with no help and no problems. By this time she had grown into a large cow at over 1900 pounds. Also she started to mellow and seemed to become an integral member of the herd assuming more of a “leadership role”.
I am a believer in the value of larger cows and recent research has indicated they are more feed efficient than smaller cows despite what has been preached for many years. Rose has always been last to the hay feeder and the first to leave in the winter which has caused me to tell visitors who have seen her that, despite her size, “she eats like a bird”. Rose is definitely the most feed efficient cow on the farm maintaining superior body condition throughout her life even though she is a totally grass fed cow. She doesn’t know what grain is. I always ask visitors now when they visit how old they think Rose is and the guess was usually 6-8 when in actuality she was well into her teens. They marvel at her body condition given her age and lack of supplemental nutrition.
As the years have gone by Rose has been bred to a wide variety of bulls both naturally and AI (11) so it is fair to say that the size of her calves is definitely attributable mostly to her genetic prepotence. She is the rare cow that imparts her good characteristics beyond expectations to all her offspring. She has never had what would be considered a 'bad calf”. I wish I could say that about all the cows we have owned over the last 20 years.
What has become apparent about Rose is that she is an extremely intelligent, calculating cow. She not only understands “what is coming” but develops a strategy in how to cope despite her distain for what may be happening. There is also no doubt she “understands English” as she responds to a wide variety of short phrases that we have utilized to move cows from location to location or convey what is about to take place. She consistently “moves” the herd in the right direction which has been an invaluable contribution to our management of the cow herd. Her value lies far beyond her ability to produce quality offspring.
Throughout her calving career she has been diligent about her maternal duties. She provides a tremendous amount of milk for her offspring while maintaining her body condition for breeding back on time to produce her next calf (calves). She epitomizes what Shorthorn cows are about and why they offer any cattle breeder the opportunity to make money. The picture of her at 18+ years with her latest calf, sired by Whisper Royal Chief II, validates all of the above. This calf weighed 112# at birth.
“Rose” in June 2025 at 18 years old with her most recent bull calf
The rationale behind Heritage Influenced Shorthorns has always been to encourage commercial cattle breeders to utilize Heritage Shorthorn bulls to produce superior offspring that can go to market rapidly, or in the case of heifers, add quality maternal capabilities to their cow herd. Many small breeders would like to register their cattle but do not want to pay the exorbitant fees, or do expensive, unnecessary testing on their own cattle. The Heritage Shorthorn Society’s Heritage Influenced Shorthorn program allows cattle breeders to do that. No better example, of the opportunities in the production of Heritage Influenced Shorthorn cattle, is available than Rose when I reflect on her career.
“Rose” and her twins in 2014
The remarkable numbers for Rose are her total number of calves raised to weaning is 20 (3 sets of twins), and with a grand total birth weight of 2037 pounds for an average of 102#/calf. She gave birth to and raised all the calves herself including the 3 sets of twins with the largest set having a combined birth weight of 182#. Rose and all of her calves have tested free of TH, PHA, DS, and myostatin.
Her bull calves have averaged 800# plus and her heifers 700# plus at 205 days of age (twins excluded). All this with only Rose, pasture, and hay to achieve these weights—no corn, no corn silage, no creep feed, and no nurse cows. I doubt there is a cow alive, let alone another Shorthorn, that can surpass those numbers. We have been lucky to own her. She is going into retirement later this year and will live out her life on our farm. She has developed mild arthritis in one hip, probably from carrying all those calves over our hills, and we do not believe it is fair to breed her again nor “put her on a truck”. Her last weight was 1930# this past winter so her salvage value in today’s market is well over $3000 but she has earned the right to enjoy a carefree life for as long as she lives.
Joseph Schallberger, DVM PhD
Whispering Hills Farm
The primary question in the HSS May 2025 Contest was to guess the total combined weight of Rose’s calves. If a tie-breaker was needed, the second question was about the total number of her calves. As expected, no one overestimated the numbers. The top 3 winning guesstimates were:
1st Place: Jake Bruton Total wt 1513 lbs, 17 calves
2nd Place: Alan Leap Total wt 1377 lbs, 14 calves
3rd Place: John Mullet Total wt 1200 lbs, 14 calves