Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
That system worked for Limousin since the breed started the EPD for doc. Was a bunch of folks that recorded that data. It works.
DOC EPD
- Thread starter dt34715
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3waycross":3sc8o54e said:
This will probably be his last breeding season.
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
Just what is he doing to scare you TT?
WalnutCrest
Well-known member
Nesikep":2m3m9bzf said:
No hot shots involved. In fact, I don't even own one.
What I meant was that instead of scratching his back or his poll every so often, now it's a few hard steps towards him to get him to remember that when I say MOVE, I mean it.
Regarding your cow, Mega ... I'm sure I would like her. Sounds like the kinda cow my wife wants (she's begging me to get a single milk cow ... good grief!).
I like calm cattle. Really like 'em. I select for them and have no problem eating the ones who aren't (revenge is sweet!).
But, too much calmness leads to no respect. If a cow or a bull doesn't respect you, they can absolutely eat your lunch.
What I mean is best told in a story --- a friend of a friend has a son who raised a bull calf from birth on a bottle ... he went away to college, and then on a visit home, he went out to see this bull (who was pretty much this kids best friend). Well, as soon as the bull saw him, he ran over to play with the kid. He picked the kid up and threw him about 20', broke two ribs, punctured his lung and lacerated his liver. Why? Because the bull didn't respect the kid. They were best buds, and the bull didn't know his own strength. He wasn't trying to hurt the kid at all ...
That scenario was one I didn't want to see play out at my place with the bull calf I was mentioning ... so ... not going to encourage bad habits that can come with the management of a docile animal.
WalnutCrest
Well-known member
I still would love anyone to comment on the reliability of the Igenity Docility score ...
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
I have not seen enough cattle that have been dna tested to say one way or the other. I will be sending some straws of semen to have the igenity test done on. We will see how some of them match up.
Red Bull Breeder":no191hae said:
He doesn't scare me RBB but he did charge me one time last fall when I was walking the pastures and rousted him up out of the woods when I guess he didn't want to come out. He got after one of the older guys who puts hay out and ran him around the tractor and back up into the seat. My mother in law is 82 and probably weighs 95 pounds, add to that the fact she's not quite as quick as she used to be and I just think we might be better off with him gone.
I'm going up tomorrow and working the group he's in through the new handling facility we build so I'll watch how he handles that. I really like his calves and he brings a lot to the table.
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
Any one tried busting his nose with a good club? Some times it does wonders for one. For your mother inlaws sake just go ahead and get him gone.
Red Bull Breeder":1ihnb5yn said:
Nobody has popped him yet. When he came at me I shouted at him and he turned back but he still came too close for comfort. I was amazed at how much ground he covered in a matter of seconds. The really alarming thing, to me anyway, is that he gave me no warning, he was walking parallel up the hillside from where I was and he just spun and closed ground. No bellering, no pawing, just one shake of the head and BOOM!
I've advised her to stay away from him. Luckily she has a high DOC, low birth weight, calving ease bull at the house who has never given and inclination towards roughness. She feels comfortable walking among that group when the weather is nicer.
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
Don't like them like that.
Katpau
Well-known member
There was some discussion of this recently on another site. Some people found the test to be accurate on their animals and others claimed it was way off. I have done the Igenity test on one bull back in 2010 and did a couple using the Zoetis HD50 test last year. The original test rated my bull as about middle of the road. He was always a nervous animal, and would go nuts if left alone. He had not been aggressive as a young bull, but at 4 he took a run at my husband when we tried load him. He went to the sale barn. I would not have considered that test accurate for him, but it was 5 years ago, and there is more data now, so the test is likely more accurate. On the two bulls I did recently, one received a score of 15 and the other a 62. Scores go from 1 to 100 with the lower score indicating more docility. They look at markers in the DNA that they feel are associated with certain qualities. They determine the number of markers an animal has in favor of (or against) a certain trait, and that is used for scoring. In my case the bull with the 62 docility rating was a bull I chose over several other bulls, because of his good attitude. He has been very easy to work with and I would consider him docile. He is 4 years old, and has always been handled calmly. Perhaps under pressure, I might see another side of him. Most of his calves were also quiet, but a few were a bit high strung when compared to the calves of another bull I had used AI. The AI bull only had a few calves to compare, so that may just have been luck. I looked up the Zoetis HD50K DOC score for that bull, and it was a 4. That bull's docility EPD is 28 with a .89 accuracy. For him the score works, but his DNA Markers may have been used when developing the test. In my opinion the bull with the score of 15 is about the same in disposition as the bull with the 62. He is a son of the bull that scored 4. He is young and I don't have offspring by him yet. I am not sure whether I think the scores are accurate or not. I certainly don't have enough confidence in them to base a purchasing decision on them without observing the bull himself.WalnutCrest":2vt5fq2h said:
WalnutCrest
Well-known member
WalnutCrest":3s7dh2i3 said:
for everyone else's benefit, I found this tonight ... for what it's worth ...
Anyone else know anything?
