Gelbvieh Bulls

[HOSS]

Ok....It's that time of year to start deciding on what bull to A.I. heifers to this coming summer. The heifers are 3/4 Angus and 1/4 Gelbvieh. I am wanting to use a Gelbvieh bull...low BW of course. Of the ABS bulls (black / polled only) what have ya'll used on heifers and what were the results....what was good and what should I stay away from? Calving ease is important but the heifers should be of pretty decent frame size by summer. I would be interested in retaing the heifers from this mating if they make the cut. My goal is to start adding more Gelbvieh influence into my herd by using purebred bulls and then maybe coming back on those heifers with another Balancer and so forth.

 

[3waycross]

Ok....It's that time of year to start deciding on what bull to A.I. heifers to this coming summer. The heifers are 3/4 Angus and 1/4 Gelbvieh. I am wanting to use a Gelbvieh bull...low BW of course. Of the ABS bulls (black / polled only) what have ya'll used on heifers and what were the results....what was good and what should I stay away from? Calving ease is important but the heifers should be of pretty decent frame size by summer. I would be interested in retaing the heifers from this mating if they make the cut. My goal is to start adding more Gelbvieh influence into my herd by using purebred bulls and then maybe coming back on those heifers with another Balancer and so forth.

Hoss if your heifers ar homo polled then I'd use the BooBoo Bull if not then look at Encore. Carolina Fortune brings a ton of maternal to the table but he is a little high for birthweight. I would not breed him to heifers.

 

[cleland]

I like Pure Power, He is an exclusive son with a much better front end. Bull seems to have plenty of performance and good calving ease. Calves have lot of length and muscle. Daughters seem to milk good and are easy doing. Would not use him on cattle that are lacking in depth and thickness. He will not take it away, just doesnt seem to add much.

Encore would work good for heifers, have not seen any daughters that I recall, but overall he works fairly well.

Carolina Fortune works great for a lot of producers. He has produced tons of cattle all over the country. Seedstock plus uses the heck out of him and markets hundreds of sons each year. Daughters are great, Carcass is great. He is a bit more moderate than boo boo, without giving up performace. Would be careful using him on heifers.

 

[hillsdown]

Are you limited to just ABS semen or can your rep bring other semen in for you from other distributors. I like Boo Boo as well for CE and he throws some really nice calves, but there are alot of good Blk bulls out there. What about Ozz Ideal ?

 

[cleland]

If you dont use ABS semen, look up the bull hille majesty. Bull Barn has him. He is owned by the same ranch as Pure Power. We have bred him to heifer, and he does a great job. Easy calving, lots of thickness, good performance. CALVES COME EARLY!!!

Also look up Post Rock Granite and OZZ Governor.
Of the three I would go with MAJESTY(1), GRANITE (2), GOVERNOR (3)

 

[3waycross]

Bull barn definately has the best Gelbvieh line-up.

BTW if you are looking for maternal traits the Bennett Ideal G182 bull is the standard of the breed. He not a calving ease bull though.

http://bullbarn.com/gelbepd.asp?ID=102

Ozz Govenor
http://bullbarn.com/gelbepd.asp?ID=239

Majesty;
http://bullbarn.com/gelbepd.asp?ID=187

Dar National, carcass and maternal, and tons of marbling
http://bullbarn.com/gelbepd.asp?ID=185

 

[HOSS]

The guy I usually deal with is an ABS rep. That being said he might be able to bring semen in from other sources if I ask. Alot of the ABS stuff he already has in his tank and since I only need a few straws total it saves me shipping $ if I use something he already has.

I do like the Post Rock Granite bull among some of the others that I have mentioned. Two things that make me nervous about Carolina Fortune is the calving ease as well as I think he is lacking in hind quarter. I have seen some of his offspring locally and I was not overly impressed.....not bad but not that much of an improvement over my current stock.

 

[cowwrangler]

i bred my heifers to Encore,wont know what they are like till feb,i am looking at a son of carolina fortune to buy,the guy has 8 by him and everyone has a huge rear

 

[cowwrangler]

i dont know if it is the pic of carolina fortune on abs but he looks like he is lacking in the rear,i thought the same thing

 

[cleland]

That is a terrible picture of him, get on the ABS website and find him, there should be a link once you get to him that says support photos, click on that one you will like it better. He is not a hard calver just personally wouldnt use him on heifer, I will say though that used on good cows you wont be disappointed from an all around perspective

 

[3waycross]

That is a terrible picture of him, get on the ABS website and find him, there should be a link once you get to him that says support photos, click on that one you will like it better. He is not a hard calver just personally wouldnt use him on heifer, I will say though that used on good cows you wont be disappointed from an all around perspective

Oh heck there's nothing wrong with his but. He just has the same problem all us old fellas have when we get older ..........our but falls off.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

That is a terrible picture of him, get on the ABS website and find him, there should be a link once you get to him that says support photos, click on that one you will like it better. He is not a hard calver just personally wouldnt use him on heifer, I will say though that used on good cows you wont be disappointed from an all around perspective

Oh heck there's nothing wrong with his but. He just has the same problem all us old fellas have when we get older ..........our but falls off.

If my preference for Euro cattle is anything to go by I might have to keep searching out younger men.

 

[hillsdown]

That is a terrible picture of him, get on the ABS website and find him, there should be a link once you get to him that says support photos, click on that one you will like it better. He is not a hard calver just personally wouldnt use him on heifer, I will say though that used on good cows you wont be disappointed from an all around perspective

Oh heck there's nothing wrong with his but. He just has the same problem all us old fellas have when we get older ..........our but falls off.

If my preference for Euro cattle is anything to go by I might have to keep searching out younger men.

Well then you will have to keep trading them in if that is what happens to all men as they age. ;-) Too bad it is not the same for women.. :lol2: :help:

 

[UG]

Recently I was told by a rancher that I respect that their first Encore calves were very impressive. They used him for the first time a couple years ago on the advice of another highly respected, commercially focused rancher in MT. The calves are born easily, moderate framed, plenty of muscle, and decent growth.

Following are a few comments regarding some of the cattle that tncattle mentioned:

Atlas: great EPDs but phenotypically some of the calves lack overall thickness. Not only that but in recent years as some of the early Atlas progeny have aged there are many reports of cork-screw rear feet. That is a tough defect to breed away from so my suggestion is to avoid Atlas...wish I had 6 years ago.

Echo: Pretty cattle, but he will throw some white on the legs, underline, etc. Don't know if that is a concern for you. I never used him but have heard mixed thoughts on his cattle. He was used mostly by the show crowd.

Extra Exposure: Have only one daughter so can't say much about him. He has a reputation for siring good females (at least that is what his breeder Judd Ranch promotes). I see this bull also being used more by the show crowd than the more commercially focused Gelbvieh producers. I don't know if that means he didn't work for the commercial focused producers or they simply didn't use him much.

Never used Boo Boo either, but a cattle producer that I respect (Paul Bennett at Knoll Cress Farms in VA) used him for a year as a clean-up bull, when Boo Boo was fairly young. The comment that stuck in my mind about the bull's progeny is that they tended to be a bit "pencil-gutted." So based on Paul's comment I would only breed him to females with lots of guts.

The ABS bull that I have had good luck with is Carolina Rock'n. He is only 1/2 Gelb and 1/2 Ang but the calves come easily, grow well, and have some thickness.

 

[3waycross]

Recently I was told by a rancher that I respect that their first Encore calves were very impressive. They used him for the first time a couple years ago on the advice of another highly respected, commercially focused rancher in MT. The calves are born easily, moderate framed, plenty of muscle, and decent growth.

Following are a few comments regarding some of the cattle that tncattle mentioned:

Atlas: great EPDs but phenotypically some of the calves lack overall thickness. Not only that but in recent years as some of the early Atlas progeny have aged there are many reports of cork-screw rear feet. That is a tough defect to breed away from so my suggestion is to avoid Atlas...wish I had 6 years ago.

Echo: Pretty cattle, but he will throw some white on the legs, underline, etc. Don't know if that is a concern for you. I never used him but have heard mixed thoughts on his cattle. He was used mostly by the show crowd.

Extra Exposure: Have only one daughter so can't say much about him. He has a reputation for siring good females (at least that is what his breeder Judd Ranch promotes). I see this bull also being used more by the show crowd than the more commercially focused Gelbvieh producers. I don't know if that means he didn't work for the commercial focused producers or they simply didn't use him much.

Never used Boo Boo either, but a cattle producer that I respect (Paul Bennett at Knoll Cress Farms in VA) used him for a year as a clean-up bull, when Boo Boo was fairly young. The comment that stuck in my mind about the bull's progeny is that they tended to be a bit "pencil-gutted." So based on Paul's comment I would only breed him to females with lots of guts.

The ABS bull that I have had good luck with is Carolina Rock'n. He is only 1/2 Gelb and 1/2 Ang but the calves come easily, grow well, and have some thickness.

I am curious about your friend using BooBoo as a cleanup bull. You say he is located in VA. My understanding is that BooBoo was born and located out west the dakotas or Motana if that is true how did he use him as a cleanup bull that far east. Did he own the bull for a while? As far as I know he is back in MT now?

Also do you know for a fact that Atlas throws that corkscrew problem or is it something you heard. I would hate to not use a bull with his numbers based on rumors?

 

[cleland]

I have seen numerous Atlas sons with the problem. That being said I use an Atlas son as a clean up bull on heifers. He obviously does not have the problem. There are a lot of Atlas cattle out there some have it some dont. I have 2 Atlas Daughters that are 7/8 sisters, one has it one doesnt.

 

[UG]

3way,

Though I have never had the corkscrew problem with any of my Atlas progeny or grandprogeny, I have had at least three different people tell me that they have seen it with their Atlas influenced cattle.

Regarding Boo Boo's time in VA, my memory if a bit vague, since it may have been ten years ago by now. However, seems to me that one of the bull's that Paul had leased to ABS (likely Bennett Valiant) was in WI being collected at the same time that Boo Boo was at ABS in WI. Anyhow, both bulls were scheduled to go home. Somehow, Paul and Weavers in MT (who owned part of Boo Boo) came to an agreement that allowed Paul to take Boo Boo home for the breeding season, and then return him to ABS in WI later to be collected again. Who knows, maybe Weavers didn't want to go all the way to WI from MT to get Boo Boo, or maybe they took Valiant back to MT for the breeding season as an exchange for KCF using Boo Boo during the same time.

 

[bandit80]

Encore would be my bull of choice in the ABS lineup. Easy calving bull that produces moderatley framed, easy fleshing calves. Have kept a few of those daughters back in the herd, and really like them.

I saw one poster like Carolina Rock'n. I have had some mixed results with this bull. Brother used him on heifers, and had to pull a couple. The calves aren't too big, but the calfs are so thick in the front end. I like the looks of the calves, but they don't have the growth or EPD's that I am after.