Disposition.

[Stocker Steve]

Of the breeds that I have handled, Here's how I would rank them. Quietest to wildest
Hereford
Shorthorn
Gelbvieh
Simmental
Charolais
Angus
Limo

Of course, you have individuals in every breed that are quiet and wild.

What about the current Salers?

 

[blacksnake]

I am becoming a believer in the AAA docility ratings. Before I knew the docility of some of the bulls I am using in AI, I purchased semen on Highmark and Primestar. Both of the bulls are very negative for docility. I ordered 10 units of highmark. Have used 9 units so far with six calves born from him in the last 2 years, 3 heifers and 3 bulls. I have kept two of the heifers and will breed them to CC&7, a high docility bull. The two heifers I kept started out not too bad for docility/disposition. Now I'm beginning to wonder if i made a mistake keeping them. I steered two of the bulls and kept one intact since I had a customer who wanted a bull sired by Highmark. All three of these bull calves were terrible disposition. I recently called the person who was wanting the one I kept as a bull to let them know i wouldn't sell him as a breeding animal. He is currently at the lcoker being converted to freezer beef. Out of 5 units of primestar, i got one bull and two heifers. The bull wasn't bad at all but I always used extra caution around him. The two heifers were just so-so on docility. One a little worse than the other. The more docile one was from a dam who is really laidback. So I am now using the docility rating as a tool when ordering semen.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Chute work, all together as a group -- that doesn't seem to phase them, mine don't seem to hold that against me (except dehorning). It's the individual alone hurt that seems to make them wary, IMO.

Dehorning is not good for relationships....

Have you had some cattle that never seem to trust you after dehorning?

 

[jscunn]

I saw a Prime Star out of a Highmark dam (I think it was out of Highmark), he didnt look too tough. Until of the cowboys that worked there walked by and talked about how much fire the bull had. I too value docility as much for the studies about how much better docile cattle gain as handling the cattle myself. I have avoided Prime Star, Highmark,etc for that reason.

 

[randiliana]

Of the breeds that I have handled, Here's how I would rank them. Quietest to wildest
Hereford
Shorthorn
Gelbvieh
Simmental
Charolais
Angus
Limo

Of course, you have individuals in every breed that are quiet and wild.

What about the current Salers?

I have never had anything to do with Salers.

 

[bigbull338]

the facts are this there are bulls out there that sire mean killer bulls.case in point was 1 of the greatest reg holstein bulls that ever walked on 4 legs paclamar bootmaker.he never sired a easy going bull as far as i know.most all was killer bulls.our 1st holstein bull was sired by him.an he was a killer.he would try to get you ever chance he got.an he knew the safty zones.he loved fighting the pickup.hook a trailer to it an he went crazy.he would run butting an bashing the trailer with you doing 45.an you had tobe fast to get out of the pasture an close the gate or he was on you.HD youll know the bull im talking about.

 

[Betty]

Regarding dehorning:
We occasionally loose a baby at birth, and I usually go to a dairy and get a wet calf as a replacement.
Then, because the mama/baby bond isn't always perfect, I'm not keen on burning the heads on these adopted calves at 1-2 wks of life. So, they sometimes end up getting gouged at 2 mos. Even with lidocaine/banamine, they don't forget. They are panicy and hyperventilating when I push them thru the chute in the fall for their vaccinations.

 

[spinandslide]

Brimmers and brimmer crosses. If they get spooked and have no way to escape it can turn into a disagreeable state of affairs.

I had to push most of mine out of the way unless they just had a calf. Most of what I have seen as to Brahman spooking is due to improper handling or a lack of culling out the genetic nuts.

Exactly my thoughts..Id highlight improper handling as well.. ;-)