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<blockquote data-quote="Frankie" data-source="post: 7526" data-attributes="member: 13"><p>What a good idea, Bill, to offer the pluses of your favorite breed. Allow me to list some good points of the Angus breed.</p><p></p><p>*Using an Angus bull to crossbreed to either polled or HORNED cattle will produce a polled calf. If the bull is registered with the American Angus Association, it will be very, very likely be black and many people will know it's an Angus calf. We don't try to hide the parentage of our cattle.</p><p></p><p>*As a breed, Angus cattle are easy calvers. Angus EPDs are the most reliable in the industry, IMO, and by selecting bulls with reasonable birth weight EPDs you can use them with confidence on heifers. If you should have or want to eat an Angus calf, you would have a good chance of getting tender, marbled beef</p><p></p><p>*Angus cattle are welcomed at the sale barns. Feedlots are willing to pay premiums for quality Angus calves because they feed efficiently and hang a quality carcass. If you've ever marketed cattle on a grid, you know there are a lot more discounts than premiums. You may not always receive a premium for your Angus sired calves, but you will be less likely to be discounted.</p><p></p><p>*According to the AAA, the average BW of Angus calves born in 2001 was 82 lbs. Average heifer weight was 77. We use lower birthweight bulls on our registered Angus heifers and keep our birth weights in the 70-80 lb. range. But a well grown out heifer shouldn't have a problem calving out an 82 lb calf. If she does, I'd be careful about keeping any daughters as replacements. According to AAA, average YEARLING weights for the same year were 1,129 lbs. for bulls and 843 lbs. for heifers. They grow pretty good. These are registered animals. Add a bit of heterosis and you can have your steers ready to slaughter at a young age.</p><p></p><p>*We breed our Angus heifers at 15 months old and haven't pulled a calf in years. Their hip structure seems to be fine and they have a lot of meat on it.</p><p></p><p>*We AI our all cattle, so don't know how long an Angus bull will last. But here at our operation, we're improving genetics with every generation. We've got some 10-year-old cows that are still doing a good job for us, but when a heifer out performs them, they'll have to go. Most ranchers in my area turn bulls over every five years or so to keep inbreeding from being a problem. I don't know a single rancher using a ten year old bull. </p><p></p><p>*How long a cow is productive is more than genes or breed. Management plays an important role in how long her teeth old out, etc.</p><p></p><p>*Angus are good eaters. We treat ours much as the commercial operators around us treat their cattle, standing dry grass and breeder cubes while the grass lasts. Then bermuda hay w/cubes. I don't starve them, but they aren't pets. </p><p></p><p>*Most Angus breeders that I know are emphasizing fertility and feed efficiency, in addition to muscle and marbling. Hundreds of Angus bulls are performance tested every year to identify bulls that will produce cattle that will finish quickly in the feedlot. Mature size and BCS should be considered for your specific area and your specific preferences. I like 1200 lb. cows. Some of ours are bigger, but everyone that comes here to buy a bull wants a BIG bull. So our cows may be bigger than a commercial cattleman would want.</p><p></p><p>*The current price spread between Choice (marbled) beef and Select (not marbled), is about $10 cwt more for Choice than Select. Figure that on an 800 lb carcass. And if your cattle fall into the Standard category, the discount is about $20 compared to Choice. On the other hand, Certified Angus Beef offers a premium ABOVE Choice for higher marbling. The spread between Choice and Select was much higher before BSE. Angus cattle are known for their quality carcass. If you have cattle that don't marble, use an Angus bull with a high marbling EPD. But don't select only for marbling. Pay attention to other traits, too.</p><p></p><p>*A good herd health manage program is a must, no matter what breed you're raising. Our cattle spend most of the year on pasture. They forage quite well. </p><p></p><p>* As a breed, Angus cattle have strong maternal traits. We watch most of our calves being born and they're up nursing within 20-30 minutes. We had a 5175 bull calf born Sunday morning. In spite of the very cold weather (10 degrees here this morning and that's cold for us), he was trying to run by Sunday evening and bucking and jumping by Monday afternoon. Today we turned them out into the pasture with the rest of the cows. Hopefully next week he'll have several "playmates" to run around with. His full brother (born February 5th last year) lost part of his ear from frostbite last year. But he had an ADJ WW of 779 lbs. So the weather didn't bother him much. While the cows are protective (I've seen heifers run coyotes out of the pasture), we have no problem weighing calves. </p><p></p><p>There are many reasons over half the cattle herds in the US are using Angus bulls on both heifers and cows. I've listed a few of them above. Please feel free to add anything that I've missed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Frankie, post: 7526, member: 13"] What a good idea, Bill, to offer the pluses of your favorite breed. Allow me to list some good points of the Angus breed. *Using an Angus bull to crossbreed to either polled or HORNED cattle will produce a polled calf. If the bull is registered with the American Angus Association, it will be very, very likely be black and many people will know it’s an Angus calf. We don’t try to hide the parentage of our cattle. *As a breed, Angus cattle are easy calvers. Angus EPDs are the most reliable in the industry, IMO, and by selecting bulls with reasonable birth weight EPDs you can use them with confidence on heifers. If you should have or want to eat an Angus calf, you would have a good chance of getting tender, marbled beef *Angus cattle are welcomed at the sale barns. Feedlots are willing to pay premiums for quality Angus calves because they feed efficiently and hang a quality carcass. If you’ve ever marketed cattle on a grid, you know there are a lot more discounts than premiums. You may not always receive a premium for your Angus sired calves, but you will be less likely to be discounted. *According to the AAA, the average BW of Angus calves born in 2001 was 82 lbs. Average heifer weight was 77. We use lower birthweight bulls on our registered Angus heifers and keep our birth weights in the 70-80 lb. range. But a well grown out heifer shouldn’t have a problem calving out an 82 lb calf. If she does, I’d be careful about keeping any daughters as replacements. According to AAA, average YEARLING weights for the same year were 1,129 lbs. for bulls and 843 lbs. for heifers. They grow pretty good. These are registered animals. Add a bit of heterosis and you can have your steers ready to slaughter at a young age. *We breed our Angus heifers at 15 months old and haven’t pulled a calf in years. Their hip structure seems to be fine and they have a lot of meat on it. *We AI our all cattle, so don’t know how long an Angus bull will last. But here at our operation, we’re improving genetics with every generation. We’ve got some 10-year-old cows that are still doing a good job for us, but when a heifer out performs them, they’ll have to go. Most ranchers in my area turn bulls over every five years or so to keep inbreeding from being a problem. I don’t know a single rancher using a ten year old bull. *How long a cow is productive is more than genes or breed. Management plays an important role in how long her teeth old out, etc. *Angus are good eaters. We treat ours much as the commercial operators around us treat their cattle, standing dry grass and breeder cubes while the grass lasts. Then bermuda hay w/cubes. I don’t starve them, but they aren’t pets. *Most Angus breeders that I know are emphasizing fertility and feed efficiency, in addition to muscle and marbling. Hundreds of Angus bulls are performance tested every year to identify bulls that will produce cattle that will finish quickly in the feedlot. Mature size and BCS should be considered for your specific area and your specific preferences. I like 1200 lb. cows. Some of ours are bigger, but everyone that comes here to buy a bull wants a BIG bull. So our cows may be bigger than a commercial cattleman would want. *The current price spread between Choice (marbled) beef and Select (not marbled), is about $10 cwt more for Choice than Select. Figure that on an 800 lb carcass. And if your cattle fall into the Standard category, the discount is about $20 compared to Choice. On the other hand, Certified Angus Beef offers a premium ABOVE Choice for higher marbling. The spread between Choice and Select was much higher before BSE. Angus cattle are known for their quality carcass. If you have cattle that don’t marble, use an Angus bull with a high marbling EPD. But don’t select only for marbling. Pay attention to other traits, too. *A good herd health manage program is a must, no matter what breed you’re raising. Our cattle spend most of the year on pasture. They forage quite well. * As a breed, Angus cattle have strong maternal traits. We watch most of our calves being born and they’re up nursing within 20-30 minutes. We had a 5175 bull calf born Sunday morning. In spite of the very cold weather (10 degrees here this morning and that’s cold for us), he was trying to run by Sunday evening and bucking and jumping by Monday afternoon. Today we turned them out into the pasture with the rest of the cows. Hopefully next week he’ll have several “playmates” to run around with. His full brother (born February 5th last year) lost part of his ear from frostbite last year. But he had an ADJ WW of 779 lbs. So the weather didn’t bother him much. While the cows are protective (I’ve seen heifers run coyotes out of the pasture), we have no problem weighing calves. There are many reasons over half the cattle herds in the US are using Angus bulls on both heifers and cows. I’ve listed a few of them above. Please feel free to add anything that I’ve missed. [/QUOTE]
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