ABS Red Angus Bulls

[bigbluegrass]

Anyone have any recommendations for Red Angus Bulls from the ABS line up? I did a search on here, but didn't find much. Obviously, looking for the dream bull! Something that can turn my normal cows into super stars! This is just for a small commercial herd.

I will mainly be breeding for replacement heifers. I would like a nice group of red females to work with or maybe RWF if I cross them to Hereford. I would like them to come small and grow fast. I would like early maturing - the earlier the better. They have to perform well on grass. Fertility is a must. I have enough milk, so that isn't a huge deal. They do need good udders. I have one cow that needs a teat fixer. Smaller framed would be better - I guess that is part of ME? I don't know Red Angus EPD's that well. Need lots of capacity. I have been through their catalog a few times. The ones that jumped out to me were Beckton Epic and Beckton Nebula. Anyone use either of these two? I know some of you breed Red Angus. Thanks in advance for the advise. I won't need the semen until next breeding season, but I figured I would start looking early.

 

[SSGenetics]

Norseman King.....

 

[cow pollinater]

I don't follow reds that much but the Epics are suposed to be pretty good cattle. Nebula is pretty hard core ME... Little cows that live on not much.
I don't think either of them are going to give you a ton of capacity but they do both match the rest of you requirements.
As far as udder traits, just about anything in the catalog will give you the genetics for improvement.Bulls with flaws like horrible udders don't go into the lineup. Obviously, the more extreme you breed the faster you'll make improvements but the heritability on stuff like big teats is fairly low so you need to expect to breed for it for a few generations before it goes away.

 

[Lucky_P]

While we're waitin' on our friend Julian to weigh in...I'm with CP - the Epic bull is my top pick - even if I didn't need the CED for cows - just a good balanced epd profile, all the way around - and above average for most traits. The -7 ME is attractive to me. Nebula is probably my second pick out of the ABS RA lineup.
I'd considered Norseman King, but that crazy -10 CEM was a deal-breaker; I'd be sweatin' bullets waiting on his daughters to calve out if bred to something other than Above & Beyond.

 

[dun]

If you can locate it, Basin Hobo 79E is a great udder improver and his daughters make really excellent power cows.

 

[Baldie Maker]

I would avoid M045 unless you have cattle that are extremely short haired and yellow. From what I've seen with his cattle are too hairy and dark for this part of the country. R397K is a bull that I've wondered about for quite some time and I've emailed Bruce Ketchum about as well. His epd profile is out of this world, especially for the cow making traits.

 

[bigbluegrass]

Thanks for all the replies. Anyone else who wants to weigh is more than welcome (Julian or BRG or any of you other Red Angus breeders who know about these guys..)!

I am leaning heavily toward Beckton Epic R397K. On paper he looks the best from what I see. I am liking him more after reading the replies. I will probably go with him.

I still like Nebula M045, but I wouldn't want to add summer hair. My cows all get slick right now in the summer, and I like that. Of course, they may still slick off really nice.

I would consider Basin Hobo79E - but a quick search and it looks like semen will be hard to locate. Besides I like to get it all from the same place and the local ABS rep has been good to me so far.

Lucky - thanks for pointing out Norseman King CEM number. -10 could make for some surprises. Right now my cows calve unassisted and I don't want to change that.

I do realize I will have a few generations to fix most of the "problems" I see in my cattle. I would be willing to bet that once I get those problems fixed I will find some others that I need to work on. Going with a good balanced bull makes the most sense right now and Epic R397K seems to fit the bill pretty well, at least as far as I can see right now. I have not heard anything contrary.

Thanks again! You guys are great. :cboy: I appreciate all the replies.

 

[brihop]

Just curious, what do you think of Assurance? I'm no expert, but he seems pretty well rounded to me... with low BW, higher milk & stay and good muscling.

 

[bigbluegrass]

The only thing I see on Assurance (on paper) is his ME is higher. He looks pretty well balanced. But both Epic and Assurance have a low ACC for ME, so it may not amount to much. Also he didn't make the catalog!

 

[dun]

A couple of years ago one of the foks at bullbarn was going to breed a slew of cows to 79E and they bought a bunch of semen. I got some 2 years ago (20 units) for the same price that ABS had it listed for. I don;t think he was in the bullbarn catalog at the time since he had planned on using it himself and not sell it. Might check with them.
Bebula is way below the breed average for milk.
You might want to check out the information on possible change and breed averages along with the Ranchers guide to EPDs at this link http://redangus.org/genetics

 

[Julian]

One of the younger Reds in the ABS line up I believe has some good things going for him is Milk Creek Redstone. The Epic R397 bull is his maternal grandsire. I'm partial to his sire LT142, as I have a good amount of his influence in my herd. One of our herdsires is a double grandson on LT142. If a person is going to call Bruce about the Epic calves be sure to ask him about Redstone as well.

 

[bigbluegrass]

Julian: I had a hard time finding Redstone - ended up googling him and he is an ABS bull like you said with fairly good numbers. I will keep an eye on him.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

ThE posts on this entire tread ("ABS Red Angus Bulls") is a terrific example of what tis "CattleToday" Breed Board is all about! Those breeders who have experience on the subject matter that is being questioned can help a new breeder or one who is new to a specific breed to save years and untold amounts of money by giving advice to a questioner. This particular thread is as fine a collection of help as I have seen here in some time.

DOC HARRIS