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balancers

S

sw

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Feb 14, 2005
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Had to run out and take a picture of a bull for a potential customer so I thought that I should post it here. This is a Balancer out of Balanced Design a bull that ABS has. Some of his herdmates that were processed on 2/29 went 100% YG 3 or lower, 65% choice or better, brought $56.12 over market price plus bought an additional $40.00 per head for being source and age verified. In addition, rib roasts from those steers will be on the menu at the annual rodeo banquet at U of M in April and I can tell you which sire and which dam each of those roasts came from. And just to think that some on here refuse to source and age their calves!!!
Montana Branded Beef will now be the supplier of all beef in the U of M cafeterias and at all sporting events. We also have a specialty product, called the Big Sky Burger that is pressed into the shape of Montana. Projected meat sales for March, our first month in this venture, is 100,000 pounds. We are now the largest supplier of source and aged verified cattle going into JBS/Swift. Only took us four years and bulls like this to get us where we are.

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Aint no pie eating contest around here!!!!!!!! We raise these bulls the way I think bulls should be raised. We wean them in February, run them on grass until fall, then they come in and get hay and 5 pounds of cake for the winter. What you see is what they are, they don't know what corn or anything else is for that matter. No bad feet, no founder, no melting down when you put them on the cows. Our bulls will compete with any of the AI sires we have used when their calves are hung up. Truth of it is though, even those people who moan and complain about all of the over fed bulls in the sales these days wonder why I don't fill the feed bucket fuller and put some fat on these bulls. I will never understand humans.......... We are now gettting some YG 1 and 2 primes, 17 inche eyes, stuff that all of the "expert" breeders say can't be done so they must be a freak of nature. hahahahahahah
 
he can walk, that is the best thing about growing bulls out the way we do instead of having a corn eating contest with them. I have not culled a bull for feet and legs for a long long time. I also have'nt bought any bulls for a long time, using only ones we have raised. They get culled when they get old enough to be breeding daughters. Longevity is a good trait
 
Sw what is the bw,ww and yling wt on the bull. You say wean in feb, grass'em and then feed for sale and he measures 41cm and weighs 1460 sounds impressive but how old is he? Most of my customers calve in spring and sell in fall so bw and ww are important to them as they sell them by the pound.As for the pic it looks like he is posty on the back legs and turns out badly on the front but that may just be the pic. But he isn't my kind of bull it is his feet i can't get past looking at the feet even the closest hind one he is short of heel for my situation it may be ok where you are but in the rocky pastures my cattle run on he needs more heel to stand up. Good on you for doing the value added, :D
 
he looks nice,i have a couple balancers for cleanup,small percentage of angus,i think this is a very good cross,would be interested in his numbers also,
 
That bull is 18 months old. We did not weigh that bull at birth, but if you use an 80 pound birth weight his 205 weight was 701. The yearling weight I have not calculated, but it would not be that impressive, probably around 1100, because everyone will always compare weights to bulls that have been in a corn eating contest. I don't want these to gain more than 2.5 lbs a day and they can give you that on hay alone. That is what cows are supposed to do, convert FORAGE to protein. As much as people even on this forum complain about the corn eating contests, people will still look at the biggest, fastest gainers. These efficiency feed trials are going to change, I think, alot of peoples minds about which bull is the best. What is more impressive to me than this bulls actual data, is what his herdmates did in the feedlot and on the rail, 100% YG3 or better, 65% choice, 65% dressing percent and making a profit when most pens are losing money because of the high corn costs and high calf prices going in.
 
sw said:
That bull is 18 months old. We did not weigh that bull at birth, but if you use an 80 pound birth weight his 205 weight was 701. The yearling weight I have not calculated, but it would not be that impressive, probably around 1100, because everyone will always compare weights to bulls that have been in a corn eating contest. I don't want these to gain more than 2.5 lbs a day and they can give you that on hay alone. That is what cows are supposed to do, convert FORAGE to protein. As much as people even on this forum complain about the corn eating contests, people will still look at the biggest, fastest gainers. These efficiency feed trials are going to change, I think, alot of peoples minds about which bull is the best. What is more impressive to me than this bulls actual data, is what his herdmates did in the feedlot and on the rail, 100% YG3 or better, 65% choice, 65% dressing percent and making a profit when most pens are losing money because of the high corn costs and high calf prices going in.
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i agree,i would rather have one grown on hay and grass,they need to make it like the cows or they wont stay long,i never look at the fattest bulls when i buy,seems to me the fatter they are the more lazy they are,kinda like me, :lol: :lol:
 
Myself I don't believe these feedlot's are loseing money like they say.We are feeding our bulls all purchased feed's and mineral's.The cost is $1.23 per day and they are gaining 3.1#s average at .90 a lb thats $2.70-1.23=$1.47 for yardage and profit most can buy larger lot's of feed stuffs for a cheaper price so the loseing money ploy is hogwash.I have a friend who has 200 head contracted for October delivery all natural $1.10 live weight no discount's for heavies so he feeds them to 1500#s.Anything that does'nt qualify for all natural is contracted at .99 live weight.
 
Sw :roll: if you are going to sell bulls actually weigh them at birth ,weaning and yearling. Not for a so called feeding contest but for some accuracy maybe you have the amazing kreskin atributes, but i have seen a scale make a fool out of many a cattleman. As for feeding hard wrecking bulls it doesn't have to be done that way creepfeeding as calves and then feeding a 80 % rolled oat ration and 20% protien, mineral supplewent and you feed it free choice the bulls do not burn out yet grow and flesh.
 
I will say one thing for the way sw feeds his bulls--that bull is really clean behind. My area manager used to make me look at the behinds of the bulls at the Miles City Bull Show. (groan... :P )MOST of them were being fed too much protein and they had acidosis which was evident from their dirty behinds. They should NOT have that, and they won't if they are fed correctly. Acidosis most likely is a sign of an unhealthy rumen and most likely caused from too much protein in their ration.

We must remember, we are in the RUMEN feeding business, not the cattle feeding business.

And it is said in nutrition circles...regarding feeding free choice feeds..."it's hard to manage what you can't measure."

Don't mean to pick on anyone here, as I'm sure you are all happy with the way you feed your bulls. I just wanted to add some food for thought...
 
FH my point was a ration can be made that will not burn out a animal yet still they perform well on it, even a free choice one. Acidosis is caused by the feeding of a ration that contains a high starch low fiber diet not protein look it up. :roll:
 

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