|
| Author |
Message |
R A
Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Missouri
|
|
| Back to top |
|
R A
Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Missouri
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:00 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| I'm going to throw this in here, if anybody sees it.....I'm Angus bull shopping. Would you guys put a Angus bull with a 90 pound birth weight on baldy heifers? I found some bulls that aren't badly priced. I don't really like the really low birth weight bulls they had, but I don't mind the bull with a 90 birth weight. Future Direction bred....I don't know if that is good??? I'm just now learning all that and epd's and stuff. His mom is a curly calf carrier also, but he is negative....should I just stay away from him? This will be my first Angus bull. Any help on what to look for in a Angus bull would be greatly appreciated!!!
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Oldtimer
Rancher
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 24735
Location: Northeast Montana
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| R A wrote: |
| I'm going to throw this in here, if anybody sees it.....I'm Angus bull shopping. Would you guys put a Angus bull with a 90 pound birth weight on baldy heifers? I found some bulls that aren't badly priced. I don't really like the really low birth weight bulls they had, but I don't mind the bull with a 90 birth weight. Future Direction bred....I don't know if that is good??? I'm just now learning all that and epd's and stuff. His mom is a curly calf carrier also, but he is negative....should I just stay away from him? This will be my first Angus bull. Any help on what to look for in a Angus bull would be greatly appreciated!!! |
R A- there are a lot too many unknowns to give you much of an opinion...Like what is the breeding on the dams side- and is their some Calving ease/birthweight problems on that side?... What is the size of the heifers? I'm not a Future Direction or Precision fan- but he is pretty well proven for calving ease...
Is the bull registered and do you have a registration # you could post ?
I like to use bulls with a calving ease pedigree behind them and not over 75lbs birthweight as I don't want to spend a lot of time checking heifers- and my heifers calve out on grass...I have used bulls that had BW up to 85- when I knew the calving ease record of their genetics...
Something else to think about when breeding baldies or crossbreds is that from such a match you get heterosis-- and I'm a firm believer in that sometimes that heterosis sets in before the calf is born which can give you larger calves... I once pulled a 148 lb calf out a 5-6 year old hereford cow bred to a low BW angus bull - that had never had a problem before...
The EPD's are made up of all angus to angus breedings- and don't tell you anything about crossbred matchings...Different bulls clique with different genetic matchups in different ways...
Remember the heifers/cows are half the equation on what size and type of calves you get...
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Justin
Rancher
Joined: 02 Mar 2008
Posts: 4257
Location: NW South Dakota
|
|
| Back to top |
|
R A
Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Missouri
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Oldtimer wrote: |
| R A wrote: |
| I'm going to throw this in here, if anybody sees it.....I'm Angus bull shopping. Would you guys put a Angus bull with a 90 pound birth weight on baldy heifers? I found some bulls that aren't badly priced. I don't really like the really low birth weight bulls they had, but I don't mind the bull with a 90 birth weight. Future Direction bred....I don't know if that is good??? I'm just now learning all that and epd's and stuff. His mom is a curly calf carrier also, but he is negative....should I just stay away from him? This will be my first Angus bull. Any help on what to look for in a Angus bull would be greatly appreciated!!! |
R A- there are a lot too many unknowns to give you much of an opinion...Like what is the breeding on the dams side- and is their some Calving ease/birthweight problems on that side?... What is the size of the heifers? I'm not a Future Direction or Precision fan- but he is pretty well proven for calving ease...
Is the bull registered and do you have a registration # you could post ?
I like to use bulls with a calving ease pedigree behind them and not over 75lbs birthweight as I don't want to spend a lot of time checking heifers- and my heifers calve out on grass...I have used bulls that had BW up to 85- when I knew the calving ease record of their genetics...
Something else to think about when breeding baldies or crossbreds is that from such a match you get heterosis-- and I'm a firm believer in that sometimes that heterosis sets in before the calf is born which can give you larger calves... I once pulled a 148 lb calf out a 5-6 year old hereford cow bred to a low BW angus bull - that had never had a problem before...
The EPD's are made up of all angus to angus breedings- and don't tell you anything about crossbred matchings...Different bulls clique with different genetic matchups in different ways...
Remember the heifers/cows are half the equation on what size and type of calves you get... |
Thank you very much, Oldtimer! I don't have a reg number handy. I could call and get it I bet. I seen his papers, but to tell you the truth....I showed up and blacked-out within the first 2 minutes of looking at the bulls and papers! If I remember right, his CED was a +7 or + 11??? I was looking mainly at two bulls at the end there. ...and a BW of +1.39 if I remember right on that....the rest I have no idea. I want to say he was Future Direction bred top and bottom???... but like I said, I blacked-out, didn't know what to ask besides birth weight stuff...
I'm trying to build a good herd of mommas by keeping replacements and sell good growing steers of course out of all the crosses I'm going to do right now. I know so far my horned hereford bull has tiny little calves. I don't know a single thing about the cows I bought. I don't know what my heifers would weigh right now or what frame size they will be considered at breeding or calving????
This place I went to is the only place so far that I have found that has bulls for less than $2,000. I've been calling around. I just got off the phone with a guy that's west of me and his bulls are 40 - 60 pounds at birth and have monster weaning weights, but are priced a lot higher. The bulls for cheaper at the place I was at had low weaning weights in my opinion. What should a guy do? I'm I better off in the long run breaking the bank from the start here on bulls? I have a feeling I would be, but how long are the lines at the free soup places. 
I should just go buy the 2 year old bull for $1100 on craigslist that I just seen that is smaller than the pony and not worry about it...lol. No, just trying to not make a huge mistake here on this!
You brought up some good points, Oldtimer. I appreciate it!
|
|
| Back to top |
|
R A
Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Missouri
|
|
| Back to top |
|
OldDog/NewTricks
Rancher
Joined: 24 May 2005
Posts: 3272
Location: The Dam End of Silicon Valley
|
|
| Back to top |
|
gcreekrch
Rancher
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 8922
Location: west chilcotin bc
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Soapweed
Rancher
Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 12096
Location: northern Nebraska Sandhills
|
|
| Back to top |
|
R A
Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Missouri
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Faster horses
Rancher
Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 19605
Location: SE MT
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm glad you have it figured out. What OT said is exactly how I
choose heifer bulls....not just the bw of one individual, but look at
the contemporaries bw as well.
IMO Future Direction on both sides would not make good cows.
I would expect they would be very hard-doing. Good carcass cattle,
but that's about it, IMO. I think you can do better. And bulls
are high right now because of how much the calves are bringing.
Good luck! Don't get in a hurry and do your homework!
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
