WalnutCrest
Well-known member
Some of these photos are of long-dead animals ... some are of animals still around. I've posted them in groups in hopes that one can see some multi-generational influences. Realize that this is only a small subset of what I have going on in Aubracs and is only intended to focus on a few things relating to what we're doing now.
Earlier today, I posted pictures of four bulls that led to a variety of other questions -- rather than side-tracking that thread, I thought it a good idea to start a new one.
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Echo -- long since dead; exported to the UK as a calf, out of a herd known for producing bulls that produce high-quality daughters -- I have one of his grand-daughters (and she's really nice) but, other than this one animal, not much is known about this bull (and yet I have semen in the tank):
Frumius - long since dead -- very highly inbred out of the earliest genetics imported to North America from France in the early/mid 1970s; those who had this bull in their pasture described his temperament as being like Eeyore (the donkey in Winnie the Pooh) ... another bull in our tank:
Edgar -- long since dead (exported to the UK from France as a calf) ... another bull in our tank:
Mignard (11-13 years here) -- long since dead -- the only Aubrac bull to ever win the Paris All-Breed Show (which he did twice); renown for the quality of his daughters:
Espiegle -- Mignard daughter ... we have semen on one of her sons (full brother to Michelle below):
Michelle (newborn and 2yr old) -- Edgar x. Espiegle:
Hector AIA -- double muscle carrier; his daughters have among the highest scores for "ability to calve easily" ever tracked in France ... we have semen on him, a son and a grandson, and we have four of his granddaughters:
Nolan (12yrs old here) -- son of Hector AIA; no indication he was a DM carrier ... four daughters are in the herd:
Maximus -- son of Nolan ... mother is out of a different Mignard daughter; no indication he was a DM carrier ... we have semen on him.
Navet (15mo or so) -- Nolan daughter and full sister to Maximus; no indication she was a DM carrier:
Violet (8.5yrs old here) -- Nolan daughter and her mother is full sister to Navet's mother; no indication she's a DM carrier:
Upra (10yrs old here) -- Nolan x. Michelle; no indication she is a DM carrier:
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Our management --
Grass and mineral. Rotational grazing. Hay in a round feeder or rolled out in a pinch and/or for rehabbing a part of the pasture.
Our beef marketing --
We direct market "grassfed, all natural, no grain, no GMO, no vaccines, no antibiotics" meat direct to families. If any of the critters gets anything they shouldn't, then we simply sell them as finished "grassfed" beef.
Our herd ---
Heifers are kept in the cow herd only if they give their second calf by their third birthday. Failure at any step along the way (i.e., an open heifer) gets them kicked out. Females that make it that far (i.e., the second calf before the third year) are scored -- the shorter the calving interval between calves one and two is the higher the score. The heifers with the higher scores are, preliminarily, deemed to be our most genetically fertile females.
Bull calves are kept based only based upon their ability to flesh and mature early sexually. We monitor that based upon a ratio taken at 8mo and again at 12mo where we triangulate between current hip height, projected mature hip height, current weight and projected adult weight ... we use the standard frame-score charts to project a given hip height at a certain age to an adult hip height and adult weight. The greater the percentage of the projected adult weight that a bull calf is at 8mo and 12mo, we deem that bull calf to be easier fleshing and earlier maturing. The higher the ratio, the better the yearling bull calf for our environment and management. We cut the lowest performers (say the bottom 2/3), keep the top performers (say the top 1/3) in tact -- the top one or two are kept here as cleanup and the others are sold as yearlings. We keep the higher-scoring yearlings to be our cleanup bull(s) for the subsequent year ... and then, sell them as proven bulls at 18-24 months of age.
We flush our top cows to the best semen we have in the tank ... then sell some to those who are interested and implant those embryos we retain in our cows (using our top yearling bull(s) as cleanup). We will, generally, AI the heifers and then turn them in with the bull(s). We try to keep to a 66 day breeding window -- for example, the embyros are set to go in on/around June 1st and then the ladies will go with the bull until August 5th ... we'll preg check sometime in early/mid September and will try to have our bulls sold before the end of September (so that people who do fall calving can get them in time for them to go to work).
The best bulls in the tank are determined based on the actual productivity of calves sired by each particular bull ... where actual producer experiences with calf temperament and production is used to drop or raise any particular bull. For US-bred bulls (like Maximus and Nolan above) we go off of the general assessments of the producers who have used the bulls and have tracked the progeny for multiple generations. For the French bred bulls, it's much easier, as they have substantial amounts of performance statistics on the offspring of each bull (similar to EPDs, but only based on actual experience, not estimated based on lab tests).
Cull decisions -- temperament is our first cull decision -- however ... given the small numbers currently, we're more lenient with the adult cow temperament than the calves temperament ... and as we grow, we will be unapologetic in culling for temperament regardless of age (three of our oldest girls are quite new here, and came from a ranch where they saw white man on foot maybe twice a year for the last five or six years and as a result aren't really that keen to see me in the pasture just yet). Once temperament is determined to be acceptable, we cull for fertility (bulls not passing annual BSE and cows who are not preggo 60 days (ish) after the breeding season is over. We could also cull for space (if our pastures are getting crowded, we'll move some animals).
***************************
So, that's a bit of information about our animal selection methods ... and pictures of a few of the animals we have on the hoof and in the tank.
I'd love to talk phenotype ... selection ... etc. with anyone who wishes a productive discussion --- focused on putting great animals on the ground.
I've got some strong ideas, but I know that there are always ways to improve --- your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
Earlier today, I posted pictures of four bulls that led to a variety of other questions -- rather than side-tracking that thread, I thought it a good idea to start a new one.
*************************
Echo -- long since dead; exported to the UK as a calf, out of a herd known for producing bulls that produce high-quality daughters -- I have one of his grand-daughters (and she's really nice) but, other than this one animal, not much is known about this bull (and yet I have semen in the tank):
Frumius - long since dead -- very highly inbred out of the earliest genetics imported to North America from France in the early/mid 1970s; those who had this bull in their pasture described his temperament as being like Eeyore (the donkey in Winnie the Pooh) ... another bull in our tank:
Edgar -- long since dead (exported to the UK from France as a calf) ... another bull in our tank:
Mignard (11-13 years here) -- long since dead -- the only Aubrac bull to ever win the Paris All-Breed Show (which he did twice); renown for the quality of his daughters:
Espiegle -- Mignard daughter ... we have semen on one of her sons (full brother to Michelle below):
Michelle (newborn and 2yr old) -- Edgar x. Espiegle:
Hector AIA -- double muscle carrier; his daughters have among the highest scores for "ability to calve easily" ever tracked in France ... we have semen on him, a son and a grandson, and we have four of his granddaughters:
Nolan (12yrs old here) -- son of Hector AIA; no indication he was a DM carrier ... four daughters are in the herd:
Maximus -- son of Nolan ... mother is out of a different Mignard daughter; no indication he was a DM carrier ... we have semen on him.
Navet (15mo or so) -- Nolan daughter and full sister to Maximus; no indication she was a DM carrier:
Violet (8.5yrs old here) -- Nolan daughter and her mother is full sister to Navet's mother; no indication she's a DM carrier:
Upra (10yrs old here) -- Nolan x. Michelle; no indication she is a DM carrier:
******************************
Our management --
Grass and mineral. Rotational grazing. Hay in a round feeder or rolled out in a pinch and/or for rehabbing a part of the pasture.
Our beef marketing --
We direct market "grassfed, all natural, no grain, no GMO, no vaccines, no antibiotics" meat direct to families. If any of the critters gets anything they shouldn't, then we simply sell them as finished "grassfed" beef.
Our herd ---
Heifers are kept in the cow herd only if they give their second calf by their third birthday. Failure at any step along the way (i.e., an open heifer) gets them kicked out. Females that make it that far (i.e., the second calf before the third year) are scored -- the shorter the calving interval between calves one and two is the higher the score. The heifers with the higher scores are, preliminarily, deemed to be our most genetically fertile females.
Bull calves are kept based only based upon their ability to flesh and mature early sexually. We monitor that based upon a ratio taken at 8mo and again at 12mo where we triangulate between current hip height, projected mature hip height, current weight and projected adult weight ... we use the standard frame-score charts to project a given hip height at a certain age to an adult hip height and adult weight. The greater the percentage of the projected adult weight that a bull calf is at 8mo and 12mo, we deem that bull calf to be easier fleshing and earlier maturing. The higher the ratio, the better the yearling bull calf for our environment and management. We cut the lowest performers (say the bottom 2/3), keep the top performers (say the top 1/3) in tact -- the top one or two are kept here as cleanup and the others are sold as yearlings. We keep the higher-scoring yearlings to be our cleanup bull(s) for the subsequent year ... and then, sell them as proven bulls at 18-24 months of age.
We flush our top cows to the best semen we have in the tank ... then sell some to those who are interested and implant those embryos we retain in our cows (using our top yearling bull(s) as cleanup). We will, generally, AI the heifers and then turn them in with the bull(s). We try to keep to a 66 day breeding window -- for example, the embyros are set to go in on/around June 1st and then the ladies will go with the bull until August 5th ... we'll preg check sometime in early/mid September and will try to have our bulls sold before the end of September (so that people who do fall calving can get them in time for them to go to work).
The best bulls in the tank are determined based on the actual productivity of calves sired by each particular bull ... where actual producer experiences with calf temperament and production is used to drop or raise any particular bull. For US-bred bulls (like Maximus and Nolan above) we go off of the general assessments of the producers who have used the bulls and have tracked the progeny for multiple generations. For the French bred bulls, it's much easier, as they have substantial amounts of performance statistics on the offspring of each bull (similar to EPDs, but only based on actual experience, not estimated based on lab tests).
Cull decisions -- temperament is our first cull decision -- however ... given the small numbers currently, we're more lenient with the adult cow temperament than the calves temperament ... and as we grow, we will be unapologetic in culling for temperament regardless of age (three of our oldest girls are quite new here, and came from a ranch where they saw white man on foot maybe twice a year for the last five or six years and as a result aren't really that keen to see me in the pasture just yet). Once temperament is determined to be acceptable, we cull for fertility (bulls not passing annual BSE and cows who are not preggo 60 days (ish) after the breeding season is over. We could also cull for space (if our pastures are getting crowded, we'll move some animals).
***************************
So, that's a bit of information about our animal selection methods ... and pictures of a few of the animals we have on the hoof and in the tank.
I'd love to talk phenotype ... selection ... etc. with anyone who wishes a productive discussion --- focused on putting great animals on the ground.
I've got some strong ideas, but I know that there are always ways to improve --- your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
