Dylan Biggs
Well-known member
I must admit , this is one thing that has eluded me over the years. What specific traits of economic value does selecting for bone enhance?
Lonecowboy said:durability
per said:We all have a "type" that we prefer for several reasons or factors.
Do all the other criteria give you a consistent bone type?RSL said:Hmm...
We don't pay much attention to bone since you can't eat it. We pay a lot more attention to angles, even toes, direction and linearity of travel, etc. This to me seems to have more to do with longevity in our environment.
Mister Twister said:Good durable bone is never a bad thing-just sayin'
RSL said:Hmm...
We don't pay much attention to bone since you can't eat it. We pay a lot more attention to angles, even toes, direction and linearity of travel, etc. This to me seems to have more to do with longevity in our environment.
Dylan Biggs said:Lonecowboy said:durability
Are you saying you have seen a correlation between cannon bone circumference and bone density?
Lonecowboy said:Dylan Biggs said:Lonecowboy said:durability
Are you saying you have seen a correlation between cannon bone circumference and bone density?
your question was related to breeding stock-
total durability of the animal.
those deer legged light boned cows (or bulls I assume, if you would buy one) just don't hold up for me.
I've kept some lighter boned heifers over the years trying to build numbers.
I cull hard on performance, and they always weed themselves out.
usually because of non-breed back issues. They will breed a couple times them come up empty, they just don't hold up.
They never seem to be as thrifty and well doing as the other cattle.
But I make my cattle work for a living.
If a person was to pamper them maybe things would be different.
gizmom said:Years ago I had a rancher tell me that more bone equates to more red meat, I researched this and found the following research paper on the topic:
http://jas.fass.org/cgi/reprint/42/5/1077.pdf
here is an excert from the article:
Cannon bone size has a high heritability
estimate: .83 (Scarth, 1966). When all breed
types are considered, visually appraising cannon
size could be useful since large boned cattle
tend to gain faster and have higher carcass retail
value than do small boned cattle.
http://www.gizmoangus.com
http://www.gizmoangus.blogspot.com