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Share opinions please

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Durham Reds

Active member
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
25
Location
SW Montana
I often read with interest, a lot of the comments posted on these discussions. I have come to respect the opinions of several individuals, and would like to hear their opinions on a couple pictures I am trying to post. With the renewing interest in crossbreeding, I have been concentrating on what I believe should be the importance of having the right crossbred female in commercial cow herds. There are still those who believe one breed can suit all purposes and I respect their opinion. A recent "rediscovery" is occuring in the beef industry that shows that you can take good cows, put a good bull from a different breed on them and the calves will be better through heterosis. Upon maturity, the retained females can then be mated to a terminal bull for a three way terminal cross.
When I decided to get back to running a few cows, I chose Shorthorns because of the outstanding shorthorn x's we had when I was a kid. Further research indicated to me that over 42 breeds of today's "purebred" cattle can trace their ancestry to Shorthorn due to the outstanding maternal qualities of the breed.
Anyway, I'm trying to post a couple pictures of what I feel constitutes a pretty fair "maternal" bull, and one of his daughters. I took the pictures last week. This 3 year old bull wintered on medium quality grass hay with no other supplements besides salt and mineral. He has a 43 cm scrotal, stands 56" at the hip and weighs 2,300 lbs at the time of the picture. Thanks for looking!
www.yydurhamcattle.com

DRC101VM-on3-22-08.jpg



This is a yearling daughter of the above bull
DR72T1yr.jpg
 
Looks to me like you're on the right track, and if your bull got in with my cows accidently, I wouldn't rush to get the Lutalyse out :D

The bull looks thick and deep bodied. 2300 pounds is a little heavy for me since he probably wouldn't hold up on the rocky ground I run on. I like to keep my mature bull weight under a ton. What sort of pigment does his scrotum have?

The heifer looks good too. She is feminime. Is her udder pigmented? This is important if you're in snow country. It will be interesting to see how framey she gets and what her mature weight ends up being. What does her mom look like?

Thanks for posting!
 
WyomingRancher and Big Muddy rancher:
Thanks for the comments. The skin pigmentation seems fine on these cattle. I'm not saying it will never happen, but I've yet to have a case of sunburned teats on any of these including a couple of light roans I've kept simply because they're such good cows. I'm selecting for red hides in order to make them more acceptable to commercial producers who have to sell to the color discriminating buyers. A bull like this will almost invariably produce a black calf when mated to a black cow.

I wish I had a close-up of his foot structure. I doubt he would have a problem wherever he was used. He is extremely sound footed, moves and tracks very well. One other thing I'd like to mention is the super quiet disposition of the the majority of these cattle. This is another trait that is starting to recieve a significant amount of attention.
I'd try post a picture of the heifers dam, but I'm still lathered up from getting the two pictures posted that I did. She is pictured on our website, if you'd like to see her under the cows tab. YY Augusta Ruby Y72R. She has some white in the flank. This bull does a good job of making them red. I don't know how to make a "clickable" link, but the web address is:
www.yydurhamcattle.com

Thanks again!
 
what I feel constitutes a pretty fair "maternal" bull,
Click to expand...

Forget the materal part and change fair to damn good and you are getting close. :wink: :D

That bull would look good if he was pink with purple polka dots. My dad always said focus on maternal and steers will sell themselves.
 
Well those two pics certainly changed my impression of the breed. Thanks for posting.
 
I have to agree with Wyoming Rancher that his weight would be a detriment in our country. Ton + bulls just will not last here no matter how good they are.

That is a darn good bull though. :tiphat:
 
The pictures show nice cattle. If the bull was black :D I'd use him. The heifer is nice also.

I think the idea of sticking with just one breed in many ways is an older fashioned idea that many including my father are sticking with. He strongly believes in staight angus. My mother on the other hand would love to put a hereford bull on the black angus cows. I to like a cross like that. You still mostly end up with a black hided critter that in this area seems to bring the best price.

On our own cows we've been continplating doing some crossbreeding just to get some desired traits from another breed.
 
Nice website! I nosed around and found the dam and I'd say this bull has added nice depth to your yearling heifer. I also noticed he did indeed have good pigment.

For my country, I have to go with a little smaller female with less frame, but everybody's ranch has different resources. This new bull should add easy fleshing which should create great cows for you. Also, you mentioned selecting for good dispositions, and I couldn't agree more with you.

You'll have to post a picture of this yearling once she grows out.
 
I also did some nosing around on your website. I saw a name on there that made me smile. (Dale) Rocker Bros. When I used to haul purebred cattle, I made numerous trips to Dale's place. That would have probably been in 2000-2002, somewhere in there. If my memory fails me, correct me, but I remember Dale as one of the most pleasant people I have ever dealt with.
 
Wonderful cattle. Really like the bull, and love the females on your site. That's the kind of Shorthorns/Durhams I like. Any beef animal of that type, regardless of color or breed, is a very useful critter in this industry. We simply need more people to breed them.

Good job, nice website, and very nice looking family.
 
I wanted to thank everyone for the comments on the Shorthorns. Like I said before, I've come to appreciate a lot of the posters on these forums.

WyomingRancher- If I ever raise some frame 3 to 3.5 bulls around 1,850 in breeding condition, I will try become your new bull supplier! I will post a picture of the heifer and her contemporaries this fall.

PureCountry-Thanks for your kind remarks. I enjoyed your pictures the other day. Your signature line at the bottom of your postings says a lot about you and how you look at life. I hope someday that my "dash" in between the dates will be remembered fondly by many also!

Doug Thorson- if the folks in your part of SD have as good a neighbors as we have in the Thorsons down the road from us, (Thorson Sqeeze Chutes) they are lucky people!

Movin' on- you're right, Dale Rocker is one of the finest gentlemen I've met. I have learned much from him.

Again, thanks to all. And if you're ever in this part of the country you're more than welcome to stop for a visit!
 

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