Breeding to cover up weakness

[hiker419]

New to the boards and tring to sort out which board this question should be posted. My son shows an angus cross heifer. Her weakness (according to show judge) is thickness from behind view. She has won her class on several shows, most judges say based on her profile. Question? Is thickness something I can do different say with feed, or is this genetics.

 

[Brandonm2]

BOTH. She needs feed too fully express her genetics for muscling and finish and a good barber can make a fat heifer look like a thick heifer; but showing calves is like a beauty pageant....you can make any contestant look better then she really is; but ultimately she either has IT or she doesn't have IT. Not having see your show heifer, I can't really tell you whether she never had a chance of winning or you just didn't work hard enough. Certainly there are plenty of sires which will add muscle, style, show appeal etc too any calf crop.

 

[*Cowgirl*]

Good answer brandon

 

[*Cowgirl*]

When you find a perfect bull, let me know :roll:

 

[Brandonm2]

When you find a perfect bull, let me know :roll:

Show me a perfect bull and I can then find a 100 cattlemen, ranchers, feedlot operators, packers, and university professors who will declare that he is too short, too tall, too fat, too thick, not thick enough, not easy keeping enough, has too lite a birth wt., has too heavy a birth wt., is not a trait leader, is too growthy, daughters won't make it on grass, daughters won't milk well enough, daughters will milk too much, don't like his top, don't like his leg set, don't like his dam, don't like his head shape, don't like his sire, don't like his color, and/or is just not "stylish enough", etc. It is entirely possibe (and even likely) that I would not recognize him if I saw him. The problem is not in finding the perfect bull. He may....and indeed probably DOES exist. The problem is finding the perfect cattleman who CAN recognize that perfect bull.

 

[JHH]

When you find a perfect bull, let me know :roll:

Show me a perfect bull and I can then find a 100 cattlemen, ranchers, feedlot operators, packers, and university professors who will declare that he is too short, too tall, too fat, too thick, not thick enough, not easy keeping enough, has too lite a birth wt., has too heavy a birth wt., is not a trait leader, is too growthy, daughters won't make it on grass, daughters won't milk well enough, daughters will milk too much, don't like his top, don't like his leg set, don't like his dam, don't like his head shape, don't like his sire, don't like his color, and/or is just not "stylish enough", etc. It is entirely possibe (and even likely) that I would not recognize him if I saw him. The problem is not in finding the perfect bull. He may....and indeed probably DOES exist. The problem is finding the perfect cattleman who CAN recognize that perfect bull.

Brandonm2 is right. The perfect bull may be perfect for you and not someone else. Depends on what your herd is lacking or could use improvement on. JHH