Balancer Bull

[Julian]

Ideally I want more continental and less British in the terminal calf and more British and less continental in the cowherd.

In the U.S. some of the British cattle are more terminal than the Continentals.

 

[Brandonm22]

Ideally I want more continental and less British in the terminal calf and more British and less continental in the cowherd.

In the U.S., too much continental in the terminal calf usually leads to lower quality grades. Lee Leachman (in his 'no better bull' series) claimed that for the typical low to avg Choice quality grade target a 50 English :50 Continental steer worked best; but if you were shooting for High Choice or better you needed 75% English or more.

 

[cbcr]

Haven't been on in in a few weeks.

There is TOO much data that if you use a Balancer, Sim-Angus or a Composite bull you DO NOT lose heterosis and the calves should be much more uniform. It has been posted on here before.

It is true that F1 crossed have more hybrid vigor and the next cross you will lose some of the hybrid vigor, but after that it should be maintained. The only thing to keep in mind is to use outcrosses and don't linebreed. When you do, some more hybrid vigor is lost.

I think that almost any breeding program comes down to management and breeding selections. I have seen some herd that use sim-anugus for several generation and have several of the cows that are producing choice carcasses. I see other herd that are not as good a quality and therefore the quality of the calves that are produced aren't as good either.

One advantage to using bulls of mixed breeds whether it is a 50/50, 60/40 or a 25/25/25/25 such as the stabilizer is that the results should be more consistent. If you take an animal that is say 50% Gelbvieh and 50% Angus and then cross with another breed, then you have a much wider swing in the genetic makeup of the animals.

If the base herd is not good quality cows, then using another breed will probably show more noticeable improvement. Again, management and breeding decisions are extremely important.

 

[3waycross]

Haven't been on in in a few weeks.

There is TOO much data that if you use a Balancer, Sim-Angus or a Composite bull you DO NOT lose heterosis and the calves should be much more uniform. It has been posted on here before.

It is true that F1 crossed have more hybrid vigor and the next cross you will lose some of the hybrid vigor, but after that it should be maintained. The only thing to keep in mind is to use outcrosses and don't linebreed. When you do, some more hybrid vigor is lost.

I think that almost any breeding program comes down to management and breeding selections. I have seen some herd that use sim-anugus for several generation and have several of the cows that are producing choice carcasses. I see other herd that are not as good a quality and therefore the quality of the calves that are produced aren't as good either.

One advantage to using bulls of mixed breeds whether it is a 50/50, 60/40 or a 25/25/25/25 such as the stabilizer is that the results should be more consistent. If you take an animal that is say 50% Gelbvieh and 50% Angus and then cross with another breed, then you have a much wider swing in the genetic makeup of the animals.

If the base herd is not good quality cows, then using another breed will probably show more noticeable improvement. Again, management and breeding decisions are extremely important.

No offense but the opposite is true. You still increase heterosis. AFTER that you lose heterosis.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I think it just goes to personal preference. I really like the fertility the GV brings to the table in the cowherd. Besides if you go back on them with a big growthy Angus bull you can capture more growth that way.

I agree. The modern Angus is a good terminal cross.