Herd Establishing Tips

[charlie01]

Would like some thoughts and tips on how to select a red angus heifer/cow to start up a stud.

Is it best to looks at EBVs or the structure (showing)? Or even both when starting up?

Better to purchase an animal that has been shown as it can add to promotion when selling progeny.

Young heifer or old cow?

Also any tips on selecting an animal for shows. Eg faults etc

I'd like to have growth, muscle and milk my 3 main objectives and maybe even low birthweight.

And of course any other tips that you've got to help me start up properly.

 

[HDRider]

Why don't you start off by telling us about yourself?

How much time have you spent with cattle, what breeds do you like and why.

Give us a little background.... Where do you want to be in 10 years?

 

[dun]

Wheb we were getting started with Red Angus I would study the catalogs thoroughly. I set minimums and maximums allowable for EPDs (EBVs) for multiple generations and weeded out anything that didn;t fall within that criteria. Only then did I actually look at the animals. The final decision was alwasy based on temperment and structure. I had selection criteria based on that, from 4 (I really want her) to 0 (wouldn;t have her on the place. Didn;t care about age, we bought everything from young heifers to 10-11 year old cows. The older cows always sold lower then the younger stuff. We don;t show (but our vet takes a heifer or bull along with a steer to all of the local fairs. My goal was looking for solid functional animals that had the confirmation I wanted along with EPDs (EBVs) that were satisfactory. The various traits in the EPDs weighted with calving ability, milk, WW and YW weighted the heaviest and carcass traits haivng different weights depending on what I felt was the most important.

 

[double v]

muscle, milk and mothering you just described the gelbvieh breed, if you are looking for those traits and want good tempered animals look at them, and they do come in red and blk

 

[igrowgrass]

I only graze. My animals never eat grain and they rarely eat hay if I can help it. So my criteria is probably a little different than yours. I pick animals with small frames, short legs, low birthweight, good growth, and believe it or not I prefer a lower milk producing female. I look at my animals as grass harvesters and beef factories. I never plan on milking them, so as long as they have enough milk to feed their calf...which doesn't take a ton...that is enough for me. If they're producing huge amounts of milk (which I had when I had herefords) sometimes their tit would swell up so big the calf couldn't get on it and they would get mastitis and all varieties of other problems.

I also pick animals that perform well on grass. This means that if I pay good money for an animal and he/she can't keep up on pasture they go down the road.

I pick animals that are docile. I don't know if this has any bearing on things, but you won't find one "wild eye" on my place. You know that eye that looks at you like something out of a steven king novel.

That is how I pick things.

Also, if you're starting out I would try to get some moderately young cows with calves by their side that are bred back to a good bull. There is nothing worse than spending good money on a flashy heifer and never getting a calf out of her. This is why I only like to buy proven cows. Obviously, if she has a heifer calf on her at the moment that calf ain't proven, but if her momma had her and has another bun in the over I feel better about it.

Just my $0.02 YMMV

 

[HDRider]

Thanks grassgrower.

What is you breed of choice?

 

[robert]

go out and pick the kind of cattle you like, or find some programs that have the type and kind you think you want and go look at them, ask questions of their management, resources, objectives. Find someone who knows their cattle, how they fit in their system, if the first three things someone tells you about a cow is their epd numbers or breed percentile rank they don't know their cows. It's still a free country, for now, buy the kind you like from people you trust, try not to fall into the hype that fuels too much of the registered business, registered stock should provide solutions to problems not be a source of future problems within themselves. Did I say buy the type and kind you like?

 

[Stocker Steve]

Is it best to looks at EBVs or the structure (showing)? Or even both when starting up?

Better to purchase an animal that has been shown as it can add to promotion when selling progeny.

Young heifer or old cow?

And of course any other tips that you've got to help me start up properly.

1) Find sponsor(s) and listen to them.
2) Buys some proven cows.
3) A.I. them based on your sponsor's suggestions.

 

[Old_man_emu]

Charlie I said this before, join Red Angus youth as a starting point. I would also suggest Angus youth australia (black Angus) and shorthorn youth. All great organisations that will be able to help.
Then consider getting in touch with some local red or black breeders and learning from them.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

Charlie I said this before, join Red Angus youth as a starting point. I would also suggest Angus youth australia (black Angus) and shorthorn youth. All great organisations that will be able to help.
Then consider getting in touch with some local red or black breeders and learning from them.

Old_man_emu-

Good advice.

Also, here is some more good advice! Learn - Learn - Learn - from whatever source or location that you can. And never stop learning! Go on the Internet, read books, listen to older producers, and Think for yourself instead of swallowing everything that you hear everybody else say or proclaim as if it were all Gospel! Perhaps it is all Gospel, but decide for yourself if what you hear has merit, and the only way that you can do that is to learn it for yourself!

Good luck with your learning experiences!

DOC HARRIS

 

[CKC1586]

Charlie I said this before, join Red Angus youth as a starting point. I would also suggest Angus youth australia (black Angus) and shorthorn youth. All great organisations that will be able to help.
Then consider getting in touch with some local red or black breeders and learning from them.

Old_man_emu-

Good advice.

Also, here is some more good advice! Learn - Learn - Learn - from whatever source or location that you can. And never stop learning! Go on the Internet, read books, listen to older producers, and Think for yourself instead of swallowing everything that you hear everybody else say or proclaim as if it were all Gospel! Perhaps it is all Gospel, but decide for yourself if what you hear has merit, and the only way that you can do that is to learn it for yourself!

Good luck with your learning experiences!

DOC HARRIS

Yes! Great advise!!! :tiphat: