buying a bull 101.. help please.

[hersh]

Going to bull sale at the end of month, I have the flyer with the epd #'s and want to know what #'s to look for. Will go by and look at them this week and try and take notes on looks but the main thing I want is low birth weight since these are reg charolais and my cows are reg too. Bwt is birth weigh right? whats a -1.4 against a 3.4? Some of these bulls qualify for our states genetic propgram, any ideal what thats for? I think I'll call the ext office tomorrow to see. Anyway the guy running the sale has nothing but everybodys praise for how good a feller he is so I will ask him some questions to.( what should I ask?) :lol2: as you may have guessed this is my first bull.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

The lower the number the smaller the birth weight of calf, or thats way its suppost to work, You should also look at the Ced numbers a higher ced number will make for easer calving while higher cem numbers should result in easer calving heifers out of that bull.

 

[donnaIL]

Good Luck at the sale. BW=Birth Weight, CE=Calving Ease, WW=Weaning Weight, YW=Yearling Weight, MM=Maternal Milk, IMF=Intermuscular Fat , RE=Ribeye Measurement.. I dont know much about charlois but assume the + & - is all the same with epds, you should be able to find a breed table which will tell you the percentile the animal falls in. They sometimes give other measurements to, like pelvis,scrotal,current weight. Accuracy rates are important in interperting the epd.

It was always explained to me to pick your bull to give you what you want...of course a live calf is the first objective, low BW (low number) and high CE (high number) help. In other words pick a high MM # if you want replacements and need to improve milking ability of herd..likewise with IMF and RE. Remember your cows will influence the calves you get. Lastly in my opinion the looks of the bull is important, everyone has their own ideal of what he will look like. donna

 

[alabama]

If you want to know about chars, send a PM to MikeC. He has raised Chars for years and knowe the EPD and alot of the breders.

 

[pdfangus]

if it your first time buying a bull the first criteria is one that is gentle and has a good disposition.

You won't care how good his numbers are if you are dead.

Structure..is he well made

Is the mama a good looking cow?

Then birth weight

then growth.

 

[luckefarm]

here is some info off the net that should help you. i have Charolais cattle also and would suggest baldridge fasttrack progeny. the are awesome calving ease and a sleeper disposition http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... c1_EPD.pdf i hope this helps you

 

[Victoria]

pdfangus is right - disposition first!

Look for smoothness, Charolais bulls can be a little more muscled in general BUT if the bull has massive shoulders sticking out I don't care what kind of BW or EPD's he's got chances are you will be pulling calves.

 

[Jogeephus]

if it your first time buying a bull the first criteria is one that is gentle and has a good disposition.

You won't care how good his numbers are if you are dead.

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2: Thanks, now I got to clean my screen! :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: