? About buying bred heifers

[bse]

MidTN Brangus touched on this, thought I'd go a step further.
Bull A
Ced.....BW.......WW.......YW.......Milk......$B
15.......-1....... ...40........65........14.......145
Bull B
CED.......BW........WW........YW......Milk......$B
12.......... 0...........65.........120.......25.......130

Now assuming acc and most other things are the same.

If you were looking to buy heifers. Would you be willing to pay more for heifers bred to bull A over B or vice versa or it really doesn't matter?

 

[Supa Dexta]

I'd perfer B, but it would depend on the heifers.

 

[kenny thomas]

Bull B for sure for me. The calving is very easy on both but the growth of the calves is so much better on bull B.

 

[ClinchValley]

Would Bull A make retainable heifers with that milk?

 

[Supa Dexta]

Depends on what the mothers were, and what genes get thrown the calfs way. Some cows need milk taken down.

 

[Lazy M]

Bull B for sure for me. The calving is very easy on both but the growth of the calves is so much better on bull B.

+1. If the heifers need better than a ce of 7 from angus they should have never been retained.

 

[Supa Dexta]

And again depends on the heifers-

if A group was a nice common set of purebred heifers bred to an ok bull

And B group was a bunch of mis matched mutts bred to a good bull, for more money - the answer swings pretty quickly.

 

[Stocker Steve]

The AI studs all show a calculation where females synced to a good AI bull make more net calf income than females bull bred to an average bull. Their cost numbers don't totally match my operation but the thought process is worth looking at.

When you are looking at breds some of the same factors come into play, and should influence several calves before the female is culled. The best deal I got on heifers last year was the lower wt. cut out of a group of good heifers that had been AIed to a proven bull.

 

[Dave]

I happen to know where you can get a load of heifers snyc'ed and bred to a bull with the follow EPD

CED BW WW YW Milk $B
15 -2.3 70 120 21 163.13
Accuracy
.74 .86 .79 .72 .37

For the right price delivery could be arranged.

 

[Angus Rocks]

How much extra feed does it take for calves out of bull B to get to them numbers?

 

[Ebenezer]

Calving out heifers is not purely about the impressive growth of the calves unless you own a big feed wagon. Letting a heifer calve, raise the calf AND BREED BACK will take more groceries if the heifer produces a lot of milk and the calf demands a lot of milk due to growth potential. No free lunch.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Calving out heifers is not purely about the impressive growth of the calves unless you own a big feed wagon. Letting a heifer calve, raise the calf AND BREED BACK will take more groceries if the heifer produces a lot of milk and the calf demands a lot of milk due to growth potential. No free lunch.

2X

Saw some data where getting 3 more calf pounds weaned cost you 2 less pounds on the heifer. Pretty expensive gain if there is a hint of delayed breed back.

 

[Ebenezer]

And from what I have seen of bought heifers, expect a great deal of fall out in the first few years. That needs to be penciled in on the remaining ones as an initial cost minus salvage of the fallouts.