Growing Bull

[George]

With just 18 cows I don't need a lot of bull power but I want something respectable. I got my latest bull as a six month old weanling.

When I got him I had to look past the way he had been raised and look at his ancestry.

He came with the longest hair I have seen on an angus.

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But he got looking better quickly

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This is him as a yearling getting turned in with the cows about a week before his first birthday.

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This is his butt at a year.

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This is him almost 2 years old and 18 calves on the ground ( 17 still alive ) and prospects for more this fall out of a neighbors herd.

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Face is a lot better looking than what you might have imagined from his younger hairy photos[/img]

He keeps calling to his girls but he has to wait about 3 more weeks as I like later calves - - - they really grow like weeds when the cows have plenty of grass and warm weather!

I am planning on keeping several of his heifers so I will probably trade him with the neighbor north of me who has his half brother( I had 4 of the hairy beast to chose from and castrated 2 of them ) as he is keeping heifers back as well - - - the brother only had 12 cows but they all calved within 30 days as well.

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With calves growing like this at around 30 days I feel he has earned his keep![/img]

 

[Soapweed]

Fat is a pretty color (in cattle at least). :wink: Your bull is looking mighty good.

 

[George]

Thank you

Many people passed on the group so I feel we got bargains - - - my neighbor and I bought the 4 together hoping for 2 good bulls - - - They were not pretty but I felt they had the potential and we got them cheap enough we could have cut all 4 and made money.

We kept what we felt were the 2 best and have had great results so far.

Many people cannot see past the end of their noses at the opportunities out there!

Not every gamble I take works out that good.

 

[HeyNow]

Judging from your cows it is them that have done all the work .
Imaging the calves you would get if you put a bull on your cows as good as them or better .

Best of luck with them .

 

[3waycross]

Just a thought but have you considered AI'ing your better cows and keeping heifers out of them while using him or his brother as a cleanup bull. . As stated by the previous poster it looks like maybe your cows did the hard work.

 

[starvin'dog]

Nice bunch of cattle there George. Good bull too. You like his pedigree enough to keep daughters, he bred everything up and his calves are growing like gangbusters. With good cows and your feed resources I doubt a high dollar bull would pay for himself.
I find bulls are expensive or more expensive, but like most I ASSume the best calves in the fall are from the bull I paid the most for.

 

[George]

The person who owned the bulls from is a neighbor who used to have a car parts mfg factory - - - he bought a herd of cows in Huston and had about $7,500@ in the cows and paid well over $10,000@ for 3 bulls at another sale in Texas - - - due to many factors the banks came in and took everything he had and the cattle were near starved to death - - - there are no papers available but everything was registered and many of the cows had won many shows and the sire of the bulls I bought won something at the Huston show 2 years in a row.

I will never get papers on the bulls but that is not important to me - - - the bull may never reach his growth potential but that should not hurt his sperm.

I feel the heifers I get from him will be a great asset to the herd.

If I had notice of the sale ahead of time I would have tried to buy the whole herd.