Comparison with Gizmons bulls

[wbvs58]

I thought I would put a few photos of my bulls, from the other side of the world not as a competition but for general interest. They are only snapshots similar to what Gizmon showed not to critique individual bulls but just to look at and enjoy the difference in the season and conditions as well.
The younger bulls are 7-8 months old and were early weaned last November because of the drought and have been getting fed though now that is minimal just a bit of comfort feed. Of these 10 calves 5 are by SAV Thunderbird, 3 are by Iconic(an Australian Predestined sire) and the other two by Australian sires Regent and Equator A241. I like them all but there are a couple of Thunderbirds that stand out a bit to me, sorry I couldn't get their photos they all ball up together. I tried to get them down to 10 to keep on( i have another still on his mother) and the first photo of K6 is probably the one I would have cut but couldn't make a decision so for now I have kept them all entire and may weed them a bit just before winter. The older group are 19-20 months of age and have just been on grass all summer, they were getting fed back in spring when things were pretty tough but as you can see things have turned around. I have used a couple of them. I will start feeding them at the end of April for our sale at the end of July, they are fed in the paddock and have heaps of stockpiled grazing as well. Our country is not any good to finish them on but they do OK over summer on the grass and I find they grow a lot of frame then and when I start feeding they put on massive amounts of weight in a big hurry and I usually am backing off the feed before the sale and they don't melt away afterwards.
First the calves, both of these are by Iconic.


Now the older bulls 19-20 months
The one in front is by a TC Franklin bull I sold in 2013

Another by a homebred bull, all Australian/NZ breeding.

And just a few butts


Ken

 

[jscunn]

Honestly I like your bulls, really slick haired.. probably a touch less condition than bulls of the same age here in the states.. good bulls imo

 

[gizmom]

They look good, I love looking at other folks operations! I know your happy to have some green grass as well. Thanks for sharing.

gizmom

 

[branguscowgirl]

Very nice Ken.

 

[Williamsv]

Good looking bulls. That green grass really looks good too. Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed them.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Nice, thanks for sharing!

 

[wbvs58]

Thanks for the comments.
We have had a great summer after a woefull spring. The rain came early in the growing season and although it has dried off over the last month we have very good ground cover so it helps retain the moisture. Fortunately we have a late season cyclone a bit north of us at the moment and are picking up a bit more rain. I have a new area that I have cleaned up recently and if we get some good rain tonight I will plant some perenial rye, fescue and red and white clover with a bit of plantain as well, always good value plantain.
This is over in the bulls paddock, it is Digit grass (Digitaria uncinara), a Sth African grass that gives good growth over summer. I planted this about 7 years ago in adverse conditions and although it did not do real well it has been there and gets a bit thicker each year but never much leaf to it, well this year it has gone gangbusters, it has overpowered the undesirable African Lovegrass and is very thick with a lot of succulent leaf. I really don't know where the extra plants have come from. It is also a very desirable stockpiled winter feed and the leaf will stay a bit green around the base for a while. With so much seed there I am hoping it does even better in the future with a bit more recruitment. There is a second kelpie in that photo somewhere.

This is an area of about 5 acres I recently cleaned up and will plant that pasture in next week if this rain continues tonight. You can see it is very light sandy soil, doesn't get muddy in the wet though.


Ken

 

[Nesikep]

Nice pictures.. I was about to say that freshly tilled spot looked pretty sandy.

As for the bull's condition, They may get less 'goodie' feeds too.

What kind of winters do you have (the cold season).. Was wondering if that digitgrass would survive around here. How does it regrow?

 

[wbvs58]

Nesi we get pretty severe frosts from the end of April until Sept and will have a good frost most mornings. The days usually warm up to mid to low teens. We are at about 960m and for our area we are considered cold but certainly don't get the extremes that you guys do over there. Digit is considered a sub tropical but it certainly comes back OK in spring after getting badly burnt off with the frosts. Yes is does do well in sandy acid soils.
The bulls will get plenty of the "goody" food at the end of April, for now they are just living the healthy life and doing lots of growing
Ken

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Thank you for taking the time to share your pictures with us Ken. Nice group.

 

[TexasBred]

See if you can get them out of a cluster and post some individual pics of them standing alone.

 

[mwj]

Ken just out of curiosity how will the offspring of these bulls be finished for slaughter? I like your posts on the Australian thread but do not care to butt in to ask simple questions.

 

[wbvs58]

Ken just out of curiosity how will the offspring of these bulls be finished for slaughter? I like your posts on the Australian thread but do not care to butt in to ask simple questions.

mwj, it varies a lot but just locally here we are considered to be good breeding country rather than finishing country. Our local weaner sales will draw buyers from well down south, the weaners from here have a reputation of doing pretty well for the buyers. I think in actual fact it is because our country is pretty ordinary the calves do a lot better when they get onto good country. But back to your question the weaners (250-350kg) get sold to backgrounders who will put them onto good pasture and or winter forage cereals and bring them up to feedlot entry weights where they get fed for the local domestic market usually 100 days or the long fed Japanese market up to 300 days I think. Some buyers will grow them out on grass and forage crops and sell them as bullocks at around the 600kg mark. Some well conditioned weaners will get bought by butchers as vealers.
Ken

 

[Nesikep]

Our sandy areas here are quite alkaline.. everywhere is alkaline here, to neutral at best. I just like trying new stuff, but it doesn't sound like this would stand up to -25C

 

[mwj]

Thanks for your answer Ken. I think in my mind that Australia was primarily a ''grass finishing'' beef producer. That is from my lack of exposure to information on your finishing operators. I visit several web sites but have zero exposure to your finished beef trade. Since my country imports large amounts of lean beef to grind, it has clouded my thought process. :cboy:

 

[townfarmer]

Those bull calves look great Ken. You'd never know by looking at them that they'd been weaned early. You did a good job feeding them.
Did you decide to plant any pasture with that bit of rain we had?

Andrew

 

[wbvs58]

Those bull calves look great Ken. You'd never know by looking at them that they'd been weaned early. You did a good job feeding them.
Did you decide to plant any pasture with that bit of rain we had?

Andrew

Yep Andrew, I'll just finish off today, perenial rye (Kidman), Demeter tall fescue, Haifa white clover, red clover and a bit of plantain. I am going to run a bit of pipe over there so I can keep water up to it. Give it a few weeks and drop around to see how it goes.
Ken

 

[inyati13]

Ken,

Beautiful cattle. These are some of the most handsome animals I have seen. I like Gizmons' cattle also. If I ever get over your way, I am planning on visiting your place. Thanks for wonderful pictures.

Ron

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

You planning a trip down under Rondo?