I know I refused to pay $1.50/lb last year for weanling steers (before the market went nuts) because we were still dry and I knew I likely wouldn't make it back with processing cost and feed, even as beef. SOMEONE is buying their calves, but it doesn't have to be you
. If you don't like the structure now, you'll be more unhappy down the road.I think you are 100% right. I sort of think that these things have been neglected in this breed because of all the backyard breeders of these cattle. I would not buy bad udders or feet knowingly for our commercial/registered Angus herd so I am hesitant to do so for this herd. We've always culled hard for docility, udder, feet and fertility. We generally don't bring in outside stock. Just breed for replacements. I am seeing a trend so far in these Aberdeens that's a bit concerning to me. Meaning it doesn't appear these traits are important to producers. Having said that I haven't seen a lot of herds so maybe I just picked the wrong breeders so far. I know I will never buy and have animals shipped now. Just can't trust getting them and not getting what was "promised". Also not seeing any real information on sires represented by semen companies in the bull books as far as docility, feet etc.
100%I know I refused to pay $1.50/lb last year for weanling steers (before the market went nuts) because we were still dry and I knew I likely wouldn't make it back with processing cost and feed, even as beef. SOMEONE is buying their calves, but it doesn't have to be you
There are no EPDs on Aberdeen-for better or worse, you have to judge the animal in front of you rather than numbers on paper. Challenging, for sure. Mature size is also something to watch-there is a very wide range…
Glad you logged in.I seem to forget to login here for months at a time and then I catch up in a day lol!
We raise fullblood American Aberdeens and then we'll have a couple moderators (%) for our beef customers who like a bigger carcass. When you get good ones, they're fantastic but they do still need some work. Our focus is the red/red carriers so I can't vouch for the majority of the homozygous black and we're a small herd to boot. We've been told we're too hard on our herd, which could be true since I've only kept back a handful of calves but then sold all but three of them. One of them is on the possible sale list because I'm not liking the way his feet look.
Feet are a really big hit or miss. We've had several that just grow long, but I do have one that is showing signs of corkscrew now that'll be culled when we get enough room at the butcher. We do the Neogen beef profiles and that one is very heavy on the maternal side of the herd and her dam never showed a foot issue but I culled her because she was a bit on the protective side for what we need in our pasture. However, I don't see many breeders talking about their herd's feet.
We've only had two unrelated cows with a larger bag than ideal, one was culled because she made some super small calves and the other is sticking around because she adds muscle, good feet, and hip to the reds I've crossed her on. There's a lot of six teat-ers that crop up in the fullbloods as well, other things need corrected before I focus on that clean up in our own herd.
I'll say the breed itself suffers from the quirky hobbyist standpoint (not as an insult but as an experience) that they only want to brag about the good and never talk about the ugly. The office is rough to deal but if you catch them on a good day they are helpful. Finding breeders is also tough because the loudest ones that post a lot also tend to be the most hypocritical when it comes to being strict on their herd and culling.
Tequila bred lines tend to be a bit waspy. Kobblevale Surprise (pricey but slowly coming down) tend to be very quiet (I have three out of that line and a calf) but I can't vouch for the meat quality as of yet. AVR Dominator made a really pretty steer for me but was a bit slower to mature. He's bragged on for maternal qualities. I've heard of some docility issue with some MCR lines but can't remember which ones but they have the beef production on lockdown with their herd. Semen is available through a lot of breeders, I tend to run from anyone not willing to answer any questions about their productions, calving behavior, or don't have records to reflect back to.
Just my two cents
Of course! Anything to help anyone skip the troubles we learned. If any of those come out red and even on the mediocre side they'll fetch a decent reimbursement back to you.Glad you logged in.
We will be culling hard for undesirable traits just like any other herds we have/had. Good to know there are producers out there that are doing the same. The couple we picked up last month are all red carriers. The pregnant ones are bred to a Red Bull. We'll be focusing on black bulls in the future most likely. The herd I just went to look at was all black with no red carriers. Will be looking into the genetics you discussed though. I would say both herds I have experiences to date are the quirky hobbyist. Expected more from those who have been in the breed for decades.
Thanks for the information!
Red are desirable? We were trying to stay black hided because of public desire. Maybe we are looking at it wrong with this breed. Interesting
That sounds like the one I sent back. Thankfully I never let her out of the corral. I knew if I turned that particular one out we'd never catch her. Boy did she give the corral a run for it's money. Put the first dent in our trailer too. Good day when she went back. Got her in the trailer and didn't let her out again. Back the haulers trailer up to mine and swapped her that way. Wasn't taking any chances. "Funny" thing is I specifically asked multiple times if they had any hot streaks in them and was told absolutely not. I just had a gut feeling they are Angus so why wouldn't they? Have had some HOT Angus in the past. They grow wheels quick. I also chocked the high headed behavior to being a stranger as well as the breeder said it was just "stranger danger". The herd I looked at last week was completely calm. Every one of them. Night and day.
In the fullblood registration world, yes. If you don't want to mess with dna, and the office and focusing on beef market I'd tell you to stick to the black ones. Red has a long ways to go. I've been told if bluey is on the paper five times or more their feet will be awful and the two I've had are. Need to start somewhere and I saw the herd these guys came from to start at. Only six years into this seriously but I chanced at two carriers and one calving a red Took it as the universe telling me to give a whirl and here I am lol!
I've had more sales generated from being honest than I've seen others get from hiding the truth or putting lipstick on their animals. Even dishonest people like buying from a seller that will tell them the truth, and they'll pay more once they figure it out.
That sounds like it was meant to be. Ha Ha! I've seen a few breeders that are trying for only red or red carriers. Will be interesting to see what these ones calve out bred to a Red Bull and being carriers. I suspect our market will be strictly beef but we don't know yet. Feeling it out at the moment and will adjust accordingly.
I would rather ship something and take a loss at the stock yards on it vs selling something dishonestly. Wish more people around here were like that. Lots of dishonest people anymore.
Thank you. That is exactly why we are starting with a very small group. Keeping the regular Angus herd to pay the bills. Feel it out and see if there's a market worth hitting. If not we will just raise calves for our own freezer and faze out the cows. There was a herd of them down the road some years ago. They sold well for them it seemed. Wanted to give them a go then but it wasn't in our budget when they sold the herd and moved out of state.
My experience matches what most of these threads say. It all depends on your market. We only have 20 to 30 head at any given time. We have mini hereford and lowline. We started out for 4H projects. We will likely never win grand champion overall but the size is great for younger kids starting out. We have more people asking for freezer beef than we can supply so that market still seems strong. As others mentioned the commercial market isn't there so you won't make money if that's how you plan to sell them. Ours have all been calm cattle. The only one close to being wild was a lowline we didn't band young. When we finally got him he seemed to always remember that day and it took us a while to calm him down again.
