Critique this bull calf

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Good things are he is long bodied, level hipped and shows some muscling down in his lower leg. He also appears to have a good set of feet and legs with correct set to pastern and hocks. If I could change him, I would make him deeper ribbed.
 
Rear legs look a bit straight but a good looking critter....... Well other than the ear. Have to get rid of that in my part of the world. But we live a long ways apart.
I find it a lot easier to pick the best or worse from a group rather than critique an individual.
 
There is no meat between the belly and the ground...
I've heard that said a lot, but around here the buyers want some frame. If calves don't have enough frame and are very fleshy then the buyers discount them significantly. The desirable cow don't always match the desired market animal.
 
Nice ear tags! :devilish:
The reason for such a stupid reply: I am not interested in a bull as a bull alone. Tell me about the dam. If she is doing the right things and is correct then a calf is potentially interesting to me. But a one picture discussion is fairly pointless to me. I will mention several things: I see horns that are not preferred here but head shape seems towards easier calving even if bones are medium+. And the Bonsma comment is the crease along the bottom edge of the dewlap - very desirable. Front legs seem a bit straight but the rear legs are OK. Most bulls go out with rear leg troubles so that is the key to watch. The stride will tell you the story, good or bad, on that end. From my gulf coast experiences: the capacity of cattle there is never as deep due to the heat. A long and tall and some might call an animal with less capacity seems to work there the best. It's all about getting the core heat out of the body and you have the extremes there. Thick cows will struggle the most for you. Until you see and experience it - it never seems like the thing to do.
 
What are some things you like about this calf and what are some things you would improve on?

I'm trying to get better at judging the structure of some of these cattle.

View attachment 6158
Age Brute?
I look for three thing nuts, guts and butts.
Butt looks nice for a calf to mash the scales. Top line is good as well, I would like to see some different angles.
I would also like to see him in his peer group.
 
Thanks every one. Yall gave me some things to look at next time I am in the pasture. Here is a little more info on him.

I looked at my spreadsheet and he just turned 3 months on 7/14. Mom is the F1 Braford and the dad is a horned Hereford, both pictured.

When I picked out his dad I thought his legs were a tad straight but he still moved good.. lesson learned. Being that he is almost a spitting image of his dad, IMO, it's not surprising that would come up.


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I like him except black calves bring more in our area .The only other concern I have is at 3 months old is he looking too mature too soon ? I really like his length!
 
@Brute 23, is this still a bull? If so, are you thinking of using him for breeding? For a steer, I don't see a thing wrong with him. I'd love to have a pasture full like him. IMO, there isn;t a better brood cow than an F1 Braford. Do you have any calves like this, by an Angus bull? Or, do you have any F1 Brangus that you breed to Hereford bulls?
 

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