B3R PIONEER WAVE Y409

[WarEagle73]

Well it's time to think about buying semen again, and again I keep coming back to this bull. I didn't try him last year hoping that someone else would and tell me how it went! I know Lucky_P is somewhat on his bandwagon for the same reasons I am (Gardens Wave MGS, Carcass, and a positive $EN among other traits)....

Anyone have thoughts, seen calves, heard stories, etc.? TIA

http://abs-bs.absglobal.com/beef/angus. ... o=29AN1871

 

[Lucky_P]

WDE,
Haven't gone there yet - and interested to hear if any have info, good or bad on him. I've got a lot of respect for the B3R program, and still like my Gardens Wave daughters.

We're not breeding hardly any of the cows here to Angus sires anymore, and I've still got some Gardens Next Wave HE17 semen that I'm using for those that do get an AI service to Angus...all this fall were out of above herd-average frame cows...that are all color dilution carriers... and all the calves came out gray... and the heifers look like they're gonna be rat-tails, so I'm not gonna get a good read on HE17 this time around... but it confirmed to me that until I get most of these brown/gray cows worked out of the herd... Angus is not the way to go on them.

 

[Stocker Steve]

but it confirmed to me that until I get most of these brown/gray cows worked out of the herd... Angus is not the way to go on them.

are these simi X cows that are having BA rattail calves?

 

[Lucky_P]

Yep. Old-style Simmental sires, used back in the 1980s, sired the 5 cows that the current herd is descended from... that color dilution gene(and, evidently, the rat-tail trait) is still hanging in there 25+ years later, despite not having used a bull with the color dilution gene since 1989.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Yep. Old-style Simmental sires, used back in the 1980s, sired the 5 cows that the current herd is descended from... that color dilution gene(and, evidently, the rat-tail trait) is still hanging in there 25+ years later, despite not having used a bull with the color dilution gene since 1989.

So new type Simi don't throw rat tails?

 

[Lucky_P]

Because of selection pressure in breeding, most purebred Simmentals in the US today are free of the diluter gene, which appears to be intimately associated with the rat-tail trait, when coupled with 'black'.
Heck, most of 'em I see are solid black.

 

[Lucky_P]

WDE,
Sorry, Steve and I appear to have hijacked your thread - I hope it'll come back - I too would like to see/hear from someone who's used Pioneer Wave.

Steve, the simplest thing for me to do would be to sell all the 'brown' cows; they're only about a fourth of the herd... or, at least the ones that have previously produced a rat-tail...but most of them are top-producers so long as I don't breed 'em to a black Angus bull... current cleanup bull is a homo black Simmental... no reason why his calves couldn't come out as a rat-tail, out of these cows, but hopefully, they'll stick to their AI service - to Shorthorn or Braunvieh sires.

 

[WarEagle73]

Ah no worries, Lucky_P! Honestly, if can't find any negative feed back on him, I will likely buy a cane of him this year and try him on a few cows. I may do some calling around to see what I can come up with. Our heifers will start dropping 6EM3 babies in the next 2-3 weeks so I am pretty excited to see how that goes!

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Ah no worries, Lucky_P! Honestly, if can't find any negative feed back on him, I will likely buy a cane of him this year and try him on a few cows. I may do some calling around to see what I can come up with. Our heifers will start dropping 6EM3 babies in the next 2-3 weeks so I am pretty excited to see how that goes!

I think you'll like your 6EM3 calves.
Calves all had short gestation from avg, and came easy. Just weaned them.
Didn't get any heifers, but the bulls are nice thick, masculine, what I deem old school dimensional looking angus calves. Not framey but better than avg growth for 1st calf heifers. Left 2 intact to see how they turnout.

 

[Lucky_P]

WDE,
Finished off my supply of Next Wave semen... now looking for another Angus sire to use, albeit limitedly, for the next couple of breeding seasons. My top two candidates... Pioneer Wave and Connealy Counselor. EPDs are similar for both... 'til you get to $EN. Pioneer Wave gets the nod.