Recent content by bcarty

Let me be clear. I was in no way questioning the morals of anyone. I was simply making a generalized statement about our duty to each other and the public as beef producers. I apologize if that wasn't clear in my earlier message.

Whew.... throw a little water on this fire..... or maybe gasoline. :D As cattle producers we all have a moral obligation to the next guy to try and produce the very best cattle we can produce. This little Hereford bull is representing the vast majority of the cattle producers in the US...

I currently AI all my heifers so AI is not the issue. I actually built my own AI barn from a junk 2 horse bumper trailer. Not as cool as some of the big named ones like Larges AI Barn but functional for me. Some of my cows I wouldn't want to AI just because I know they are going to have a calf...

I looked at SAV Mustang and just numbers and the picture he looks good. What frame score is he. His YH EPD id -.1 so he should be reducing frame size a small amount which is what I want and his growth numbers are right where I want to be. Now I just need to find some sons of him for reasonable $...

My advice is to build that great set of momma cows before you worry about producing any type of herd bull prospect. That being said you cannot produce the "perfect" cow. You can get really close and create a set of cows that function and produce extremely well in your area and that should be...

Ok I live in the Ozarks of Missouri and the cows are eating a lot of wild grass and fescue. I am going to stay straight black and I should have said this before but I want to stay within the angus breed. I have enough crossbred genetics in my cows at this point and don't want to get too far from...

Ok I'm looking for some advice on bull selection. I have a mostly angus cowherd (200 mommas) with some recent influx of simm genetics. I like the growth of the simm animals and I like how the sim angus mommas produce. They are some real calf producers, but most (probably 60%) of my cows just are...

Honestly, I would agree with just about everyone that has already posted. I would cut him and sell him as a steer. He doesn't have a lot of ham to him and his top line is not very flat or smooth. Just not what I would be looking for in a herd sire. You need to ask yourself what your goals are...

We always skinned the dead calf and tied the hide on the back of the orphan calf. This always seemed to work for us. There is also some sort of powder I have heard of people using that you put on the calf and when the cow smells it she seems to accept that it is her calf, but I am not sure about...

I have been feeding out of date bread to four hogs since February! They are growing like crazy. I get about a pickup load per week of the stuff and have fed some of it to my heifers who are in a pasture right by my house. They didnt seem too thrilled with it, but it didnt hurt them either. As...

What kind of bull are you guys using that throws steer calves? Mine always throws bulls and heifers and I have to castrate them to get steers.

This is exactly why more people need to learn to palpate their own cattle. If you are wrong then the only person to blame is yourself. I do almost all my own and I have been wrong before. The couple times I was wrong were on old cows that needed sold anyway. If they are all four open I would...

AF: you are exactly right about it taking more than one generation and I have been doing it the conventional way with traditional semen and cleanup bulls. I select the best heifers from the entire herd and keep them as replacements. I have been using bulls that are mostly maternal without...

I have looked at both Wye and Shoshone and am very impressed with them. Just not sure which bull I would use if I went with one of those programs. I have also looked at some OCC bulls. I really dont mind sacrificing some carcass or growth characteristics since I will be using sexed semen. I...

I thought about skipping the sexed semen but really want to use a bull to produce females. I plan on keeping almost all of them as replacements and increase numbers. Of course there are always going to be a few culls, but they should be out of my most fertile cows and if I use a maternal bull...