Son of Butch":51prr9qe said:
townfarmer":51prr9qe said:
I assume you had good reasons to select him over the other 5.
He appears to have properly shaped testicles of decent size. That would be my 1st consideration when choosing
a bull calf to keep as a cow freshner/clean up bull. I might have kept a 2nd bull uncut as a backup just in case he
turns out to be a deadhead (lacking libido) but no reason to believe that he is or that he isn't a good choice given
your needs and circumstance.
I should have specified that in the second picture he is the calf in front. I did have a look at his testicles and they seemed a reasonable size.
The process of elinination I used was pretty basic
1.) Want a polled bull so that eliminated one down to 5 left
2.) Visual appraisal. Two were carrying more red meat and expressing more masulinity. down to two.
3.) kids moved them through the yards and into the crush a couple of times. One was a lot calmer and quieter which made the decision a bit easier.
What made the decision a little trickier was out of the final two calves I prefer the mother of the 2nd placed bull. Prefer her pedigree, she has a better hair coat that slicks off quickly in summer and is the first to breed back. The Mother of the calf i retained is still a good fertile cow but I prefer the other one.
The other question I have on visual appraisal is how much of a factor is milk supply on the appearance of a six month old bull calf?
Andrew