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<blockquote data-quote="Travlr" data-source="post: 1793595" data-attributes="member: 42463"><p>As said... location may make a difference in the advice that works. Put a location on your profile.</p><p></p><p>It's a sad fact that black calves get higher prices and any other color of equal quality will get less. The Certified Angus Beef program is a marketing program to sell Angus bulls, it's a brilliant marketing strategy, and it's also damaging the entire industry.</p><p></p><p>So you have fifty black cows. How did you prioritize separating them when you sold off half of the herd? Condition? Size? Teeth? The size of their calf? The twinkle in their eye?</p><p></p><p>What you are looking for in a bull is something that will wean consistent looking black calves with enough weight that high end feedlot owners will be interested in them. If you don't have heifers you shouldn't be overly concerned with easy calving, but you don't want monsters either. Since the cows are likely to be homozygous black, assuming black bulls have always been used and black animals either retained or bought as replacements, you have options on bulls.</p><p></p><p>A Hereford will throw black, white faced calves. They sell very well if they are in good condition and growthy. A homozygous black Simmental or Limousine will throw great calves and you don't have to worry about being discounted due to color. A Char will throw smoky calves that may or may not be dinged at the sale barn. Crossbred calves will usually grow better and be healthier in general due to hybrid vigor.</p><p></p><p>I recommend you stay away from horned bulls. It's likely your cows are naturally polled but you never know unless you know, or find out by having horned calves and then you have to deal with horns. Horned bulls aren't a bad idea if you KNOW your cows are homozygous polled and you are raising terminal cross calves, not retaining heifers.</p><p></p><p>Two bulls are a good idea. If you use a white face and a solid bull you will know which bull did their job best for future replacement.</p><p></p><p>How about a little info on your own experience? Have you had cattle? Know anything about pasture management? Rotational grazing? Has the place got crossfencing? Is there hay ground? Are you setting things up for a specific calving season?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Travlr, post: 1793595, member: 42463"] As said... location may make a difference in the advice that works. Put a location on your profile. It's a sad fact that black calves get higher prices and any other color of equal quality will get less. The Certified Angus Beef program is a marketing program to sell Angus bulls, it's a brilliant marketing strategy, and it's also damaging the entire industry. So you have fifty black cows. How did you prioritize separating them when you sold off half of the herd? Condition? Size? Teeth? The size of their calf? The twinkle in their eye? What you are looking for in a bull is something that will wean consistent looking black calves with enough weight that high end feedlot owners will be interested in them. If you don't have heifers you shouldn't be overly concerned with easy calving, but you don't want monsters either. Since the cows are likely to be homozygous black, assuming black bulls have always been used and black animals either retained or bought as replacements, you have options on bulls. A Hereford will throw black, white faced calves. They sell very well if they are in good condition and growthy. A homozygous black Simmental or Limousine will throw great calves and you don't have to worry about being discounted due to color. A Char will throw smoky calves that may or may not be dinged at the sale barn. Crossbred calves will usually grow better and be healthier in general due to hybrid vigor. I recommend you stay away from horned bulls. It's likely your cows are naturally polled but you never know unless you know, or find out by having horned calves and then you have to deal with horns. Horned bulls aren't a bad idea if you KNOW your cows are homozygous polled and you are raising terminal cross calves, not retaining heifers. Two bulls are a good idea. If you use a white face and a solid bull you will know which bull did their job best for future replacement. How about a little info on your own experience? Have you had cattle? Know anything about pasture management? Rotational grazing? Has the place got crossfencing? Is there hay ground? Are you setting things up for a specific calving season? [/QUOTE]
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