Good morning. How many of y'all buy an ET bull for your herds not knowing the donor cow? I understand if you're using your own cows, but my concern is not knowing anything about the dam because she isn't on the seller's farm. Did she fall apart after two years? Does she have crappy udders and feet? Was she flushed because she was the flavor of the month? Etc. I guess I'm on the fence about this and looking for opinions and experiences. Thanks in advance!
Buying an ET bull
- Thread starter texoman
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SBMF 2015
Well-known member
If it's an ET calf it's probably from registered parents. You should be able to look up the dam. Find out who owns her, see some pictures, etc.
My best friend raises seed stock. One of the most expensive things we do is flush cows. Definitely not just any cow gets to be a donor.
coachg
Well-known member
That's my sense of it . Expensive to do this and breeders don't flush a junk cow . Mrs Gizmom does it . She could give you good information. She hasn't been on the forum much so you might have to private message her .
I'm bull shopping and came across a few et bulls for a reasonable price near me. I have never bought one. Thank y'all for your info!
chaded
Well-known member
I'm pretty sure (i think) my gizmo bull was ET. Coleman genetics. He is doing great and should be seeing his calves late winter early spring. I am hoping for some heifers out of my best cows and him.
TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
Do ET bulls phone home?
I did not have good luck with two ET bulls. Both had issues and died with in 60 days. The only link the breeder could come up with is they were both ET bulls, half brothers I think. They were both the Angus bulls that were supposed to be meat bulls. A bull that was bred through natural service that was bought at the same time had zero issues and did a great job for us.
ET just means the cow was worth the money to flush. It doesn't mean they will die when they show up at your place any more than it means they will knock it out of the park either. It just means that particular breeder thought enough about that cow to flush her. Does that mean each calf will be good? No. Do the odds go up they they will be good. A bit I guess. But, at the end of the day, each bull should simply be judged on it's own merits and the cow she came from is probably one of them.
Ebenezer
Well-known member
Not really. It only means that someone chose to flush the cow or heifer. It does not imply good, function or value - just someone's choice. Marketing and hype are often the reasons.
I think where ET comes in is you don't know that the parents can actually survive in your area. You would hope the breeder would keep that in mind but I guess it ultimately lands on you. You have no clue if the parents were raised in front of a corn feeder in Canada and were put in a cow in STX. The whole buy cattle that were raised like you operate goes out the window.
If the breeder is just doing it with in their own herd it wouldn't matter, but that's not what I see happening. They flush/buy the latest and great big name that generates the most cash flow so you are adding risk on top of risk with genetics and environment issues.
If the breeder is just doing it with in their own herd it wouldn't matter, but that's not what I see happening. They flush/buy the latest and great big name that generates the most cash flow so you are adding risk on top of risk with genetics and environment issues.
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That's it. It's like selling stock in their company. Some of it is based on good numbers that represent value and some of it is based on marketing hype.
Farmgirl
Well-known member
We have some experience with ET. An ET bull should be as healthy as a natural calf. Birth weight and weaning weight could be skewed due to the recip cow. Sometimes a donor is flushed just from marketing hype. If a donor was flushed repeatedly she must have been good. Its an expensive process.
Thank you all for the input. I decided against the bulls I was looking at.
