analyzing a bull

[Anonymous]

I am a bit new to breeding cattle and am looking for a new bull to use on my mature black baldy cows.

I have found a really nice yearling Gelbvieh bull with good muscle definition, nice temperment, and clean sheath. He does have a little more leather than I would like, but not bad. His EPDs are well balanced and he is sired by Atlas.

My question is how do I evaluate the shoulders on a bull? He looks relatively smooth shouldered, but maybe a little too straight.

 

[Anonymous]

> I am a bit new to breeding cattle
> and am looking for a new bull to
> use on my mature black baldy cows.

> I have found a really nice
> yearling Gelbvieh bull with good
> muscle definition, nice
> temperment, and clean sheath. He
> does have a little more leather
> than I would like, but not bad.
> His EPDs are well balanced and he
> is sired by Atlas.

> My question is how do I evaluate
> the shoulders on a bull? He looks
> relatively smooth shouldered, but
> maybe a little too straight. if he is a yearling he may not be able to settle your cows. how many cows do you have. i may suggest you get a bull at least 2 years old and then you should not have him with over 20-25 cows the first year. if your cows are black baldies, they should be good momma cows and about any kind of good bull should produce good calves. are your cows presently bred? if they are you will not need a bull until after they calve. if you find a mature bull you like, buy him

 

[Anonymous]

We only have 12 cows so I'm sure he'll have no problem breeding this few of animals. The bull we are considering is actually 17 months old.

My main question is how concerned should I be about the shoulders which appear to be a bit too straight.