pictures

[Soapweed]

Thanks, Soapweed!

Fine looking mule! Thanks for posting pictures and that story!

Thanks for the link to them guys that train mules also! Falls City, Neb isn't all that far from me....it's straight as an arrow, straight west of me. I didn't know about them. Looks like I might have to go over a be a fly on the wall there at the end of April.

I think I seen you roping off of her in the branding pen, so I can't imagine what she'll be like having made progress like you say! That's funny about Tom Jones the mule trainer and Tom Jones the singer and Delilah is her name. I youtubed the lyrics of that song and changing a few words here and there in it, could make a great mule song

Do you have any mule pointers?

That would be my other mule, Tanactin, so named because he is half fast actin'.

As far as pointer go, probably the best would be to Just Say No. :wink:

We worked our fall calves.

They were given all branding vaccinations

But were not branded

The cows with their calves are for sale. Once the calves are branded, it kind of ruins the sale of pairs.

Half fast actin' Tanactin in action

We accomplished our mission.

The only red calf in the bunch should be worth extra points. :wink:

 

[R A]

OH YEAH, Soapweed, how could I of forgot that was Tanactin. I get a kick every time I see that name and what you say about it. My mind skipped out there for awhile, I guess, I should of remembered that. :shock:

Thanks for the pointer!

I'm even more curious now on how this will go with her!

 

[R A]

Weaned my last 4 calves yesterday. I've been thinkin I should probably wean them here sometime.
All four happened to be eating off the same hay pile right by a gate....so I opened the gate and they
walked in and that was that. Each one is either almost 6 months old or right at.


So they helped me finished hayin the cows

They are very tame and weren't going to herd well for me on the
ground to where I needed them, so I went and got a horse.

I just used one dog, my best dog for this. She doesn't bite them unless I tell her to....she just acts like
it to get them to move or hits them with a closed mouth. Using her everyday to exercise bucking
bulls did a lot of good for her!!!

Waiting instruction

That's where they needed to go

 

[Soapweed]

You and your best dog did well by getting those calves to walk quietly and obediently through a narrow "non-user-friendly" opening. The calves are in good condition. It looks like you are a long-legged feller, judging by your stirrups. Thanks for the update pictures.

 

[R A]

You and your best dog did well by getting those calves to walk quietly and obediently through a narrow "non-user-friendly" opening. The calves are in good condition. It looks like you are a long-legged feller, judging by your stirrups. Thanks for the update pictures.

Thanks, Soapweed! If I was a calf or cow out in my pens at the moment, I would have no idea where I was suppose to go.

 

[R A]

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!!!

 

[Anonymous]

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...

 

[Justin]

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!!!

i wouldn't. there are to many heifer bulls available out there to take that chance. the money you save now with this 90#BW bull, could cost you all of that and heck of alot more come calving time. IMO, it's not worth the risk.

just remember, dead critters are damn tough to sell. :wink:

 

[R A]

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!

 

[R A]

i wouldn't. there are to many heifer bulls available out there to take that chance. the money you save now with this 90#BW bull, could cost you all of that and heck of alot more come calving time. IMO, it's not worth the risk.


just remember, dead critters are damn tough to sell. :wink:

Thanks, Justin! That makes a lot of sense and is very true! If you see this.....what would be a good price for a bull? I know there's deals under rocks around, but I don't even know anything about what is out there.

 

[OldDog/NewTricks]

A new five-year-old molly mule

On first look "I thought I had a GAG bit like that one - but not it - the mouth piece (bit) sled up and down on mine - one had to have "Good Hands" to use it...

A friend came by @ xmas with a gift - - I didn't have anything for him - - I let him pick one out of my barn - he came out with that - sorry I let him have it - he might get hurt!

 

[gcreekrch]

i wouldn't. there are to many heifer bulls available out there to take that chance. the money you save now with this 90#BW bull, could cost you all of that and heck of alot more come calving time. IMO, it's not worth the risk.


just remember, dead critters are damn tough to sell. :wink:

Thanks, Justin! That makes a lot of sense and is very true! If you see this.....what would be a good price for a bull? I know there's deals under rocks around, but I don't even know anything about what is out there.

Rules of thumb to consider RA when buying herdsires........

Cheap and good aren't always in the same transaction.

A bull should be as good as or better quality than the average cow in your herd.

Your heifers will love you more if you provide a lighter BW genetic bull for the first go round. There are bloodlines in every breed that will provide both calving ease and maternal traits.

In an operation such as you are building, concentrate on making cows, the steer end will look after themselves.

Like begets like. :wink:

 

[Soapweed]

i wouldn't. there are to many heifer bulls available out there to take that chance. the money you save now with this 90#BW bull, could cost you all of that and heck of alot more come calving time. IMO, it's not worth the risk.


just remember, dead critters are damn tough to sell. :wink:

Thanks, Justin! That makes a lot of sense and is very true! If you see this.....what would be a good price for a bull? I know there's deals under rocks around, but I don't even know anything about what is out there.

Rules of thumb to consider RA when buying herdsires........

Cheap and good aren't always in the same transaction.

A bull should be as good as or better quality than the average cow in your herd.

Your heifers will love you more if you provide a lighter BW genetic bull for the first go round. There are bloodlines in every breed that will provide both calving ease and maternal traits.

In an operation such as you are building, concentrate on making cows, the steer end will look after themselves.

Like begets like. :wink:

Uniformity and saleability pay big dividends, also. Go with a breed that buyers like. Angus works very well. :wink: It doesn't cost any more to keep a good cow than a bad one. They will both eat about the same amount of feed.

 

[R A]

Rules of thumb to consider RA when buying herdsires........

Cheap and good aren't always in the same transaction.

A bull should be as good as or better quality than the average cow in your herd.

Your heifers will love you more if you provide a lighter BW genetic bull for the first go round. There are bloodlines in every breed that will provide both calving ease and maternal traits.

In an operation such as you are building, concentrate on making cows, the steer end will look after themselves.

Like begets like. :wink:

Uniformity and saleability pay big dividends, also. Go with a breed that buyers like. Angus works very well. :wink: It doesn't cost any more to keep a good cow than a bad one. They will both eat about the same amount of feed.

Thanks guys!!! I don't have anybody to ask this stuff person to person, so I really apprecaiate it! As of a few hours ago, I finally came up with a plan that I think will work for my situation and keep me going and growing into the years to come. I feel a lot better now! ...and this stuff makes a lot of sense and is in my plan! Thank-you!

 

[Faster horses]

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!