Bull longevity?? Breed differences

Help Support CattleToday:

drdosu2002

Active member
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Hi everyone!
I was just interested in finding out your opinions on the average longevity of breeding bulls of various breeds. Say Hereford, Angus, a continental breed, and a brahma influenced breed. Anybody have any ideas on this?
 
course theres always exceptions like crossbreds,,,but say angus. one can go 15yrs and another might play out at 8 yr thats why structure is important. say you got one that you retained heifers from that plays out at 8 all of a sudden you got a big ol sinkin' feeling that all that time and money you spent developing may never pay
 
I don't think there are any special "breed" diferences. In the Angus breed, you can identify bulls that are productive for 15 years or those that didn't make it past 2. Management plays a role, too. Large dog breeds tend to not live as long as smaller breeds and I think that's true of bulls, too.
 
i run a beefmaster bull.an he turned 6 in may.an he is running on 45 or 50 cows.an i plan on using him another year or 2.
 
In this part of the country it is a rule of thumb that you are going replace 1/3 of your Angus range bulls each year. Some of the big outfits have gone to breeding their black and baldy cows to Horned Hereford bulls because they are claiming they get more years of service and more cows serviced per bull. In this part of the world the range is a tough place to run cows. There is a huge difference between farmer raised cows and cows that can survive on the range.
 
The Tuli are famed for their longevity in harsh range conditions, because the Sanga cattle from which they were selected were kept by the tribal people untill they died of natural causes, longevity was bred into the strain over thousands of years, bulls I sold to commercial breeders throughout South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, wrer used into their late teens, and two in Namibia to 20+.
 
giftedcowboy":i3gvhksr said:
In this part of the country it is a rule of thumb that you are going replace 1/3 of your Angus range bulls each year. Some of the big outfits have gone to breeding their black and baldy cows to Horned Hereford bulls because they are claiming they get more years of service and more cows serviced per bull. In this part of the world the range is a tough place to run cows. There is a huge difference between farmer raised cows and cows that can survive on the range.

Interesting, hereford breeders here that also breed angus claim that the angus cows have better longevity than the hereford cows, but that the herefords are easier doing and doesn't need as much management.
 
giftedcowboy":v13qoyxb said:
In this part of the country it is a rule of thumb that you are going replace 1/3 of your Angus range bulls each year. Some of the big outfits have gone to breeding their black and baldy cows to Horned Hereford bulls because they are claiming they get more years of service and more cows serviced per bull. In this part of the world the range is a tough place to run cows. There is a huge difference between farmer raised cows and cows that can survive on the range.

"There is a huge difference between farmer raised cows and cows that can survive on the range." I am not trying to dispute this claim, but what are the differences?
 
Seems like in our country you very rarely hear of a bull going past 10, no matter the breed. I have seen some Highland bulls that were in their teens and still breeding. I know of one that's currently 9 and looks like he's 3 or 4. If any one breed does stick out in my mind, it'd be the Highlands.
 
"There is a huge difference between farmer raised cows and cows that can survive on the range." I am not trying to dispute this claim, but what are the differences?

If they have to walk distances between feed and water, they aren't going to last nearly as long. A bull at 7 and a cow at 10 are old. I would guess 15% or less make it that long. Broken mouth cows may not be able to eat enough of the short grass to even maintain their own condition, much less raise a calf. I bought a dozen farmer cows a few years back and they really had a hard time the first time I had to trail them to a different pasture. It was a 7 mile trip and I know they had never walked over 2-3 miles a day in their life.
 
I've always heard that Brahman cattle are later to reach sexual maturity, but stay viable later than other breeds.
 

Latest posts

Top