hereford bull project

[cypressfarms]

Anyone up for tearing apart a young hereford bull? Below is my latest project. No black herefords for me, but I thought I'd run this guy for a little while to see how he turns out. Might make a good cross with the Brangus girls.

He was calved in Feb. 2006, but soon after I got him, he got sick and lost a little weight. He's starting to pack it on now. In another month he'll have all the ryegrass he wants. I feed him twice a day with a "stocker grower" type feed.

 

[Chris H]

At this stage I think he's lacking some butt, both depth and not filled in through the rump as I like. I'd also like to see a bit more masculinity in his neck at his age.
Do you know his breeding?

 

[MikeC]

If he has been given every opportunity to express his genetic merit I would say he is at best average.

If he has not been given that chance , I'd say it's a gamble and you will never know until his calves are scrutinized and compared to calves from another bull. If you are wanting baldy heifers you won't know how they perform until they wean calves. A long time for an experiment.

The amount of time, effort, and resources used to make this comparison might well offset the cost of a bull that will have a higher probability of siring superior calves.

Surely you have read that Phenotype and Genotype are the only two predictors we have at present in improving our cattle.

I say when you use neither you are asking for a trainwreck.

 

[boone]

If cattle are your main source of income, I would not recommend doing an experiment with your herd sire. A negative result to your experiment would have lasting effects. Just buy a bull from a reputable breeeder. Boone

 

[bigbull338]

come on guys that bull calf is barely 8 months old give him a chance.he is a long bodied bull that can have the capity to grow.sure he doesnt have much rump on him now,but he will get that as he is growing.in my book he has 12 months to grow,

 

[certherfbeef]

come on guys that bull calf is barely 8 months old give him a chance.he is a long bodied bull that can have the capity to grow.sure he doesnt have much rump on him now,but he will get that as he is growing.in my book he has 12 months to grow,

With all due respect Bigbull, a decision can be made on calf at a very early age. Espically if you don't have the feed or the space. The rump structure is not going to improve. It will get filled in and covered up with fat.

My only concern with Cypress's calf is the length of the pasturns.

He looks smooth shouldered and deep hearted though. If he will compliment the cattle that he will be covering than so be it. I've seen worse cattle posted up here.

Cypress, I would like to see his dam if possible.

 

[Beefy]

i'm not willing to commit. i think hes in his awkward stage right now and i cant really say for sure what he might look down the road. right now i would say he looks kind of average which isnt even a bad thing (at that age).

 

[jhambley]

For comparison I saw this bull calf last month on a visit. At that time he was 6 months old.

 

[certherfbeef]

j, that is not a fair comparision and you know it. :lol:
We all know horned herefords are naturally thicker. ;-) ;-)

 

[MikeC]

Do some of us really think that feeding a questionable herd sire prospect more will develop his "GENETICS" and improve his ability to pass on those better genes? :roll:

 

[Beefy]

For comparison I saw this bull calf last month on a visit. At that time he was 6 months old.

this bull appears to have better everything, including condition and lighting. cypress's bull looks a bit feminine in comparison. has this 6 bull been weaned? ive sseen late bloomers really surpass a magnificent looking weanling under the same conditions so its still in my opinion hard to predict the future. or maybe my crystal ball is faulty.

 

[redfornow]

j, that is not a fair comparision and you know it. :lol:
We all know horned herefords are naturally thicker. ;-) ;-)

LOL now that is funny, I would use that little fellow horns or no.
I am not a fan of 774, but is the top bull out of him or a son?
774 and many of his sons seem to be later maturing, that could be part of the problem also.
Now with that said, I wouldnt use em for that every reason. lol

MD

 

[redfornow]

Do some of us really think that feeding a questionable herd sire prospect more will develop his "GENETICS" and improve his ability to pass on those better genes? :roll:

Now mike he said the young fellow was sick.
You and I both know that a sick underfed calf will not look good no matter what the genetics.
I would leave him whole for a couple more months and take a look see.
But he is questionable at best....
MD

 

[J&T Farm]

Do some of us really think that feeding a questionable herd sire prospect more will develop his "GENETICS" and improve his ability to pass on those better genes? :roll:

Do you honestly think that these big breeders arent pouring the feed to their bull calves from birth till their big sale days when the bulls are 15 months and ready to breed.

 

[redfornow]

Do some of us really think that feeding a questionable herd sire prospect more will develop his "GENETICS" and improve his ability to pass on those better genes? :roll:

Do you honestly think that these big breeders arent pouring the feed to their bull calves from birth till their big sale days when the bulls are 15 months and ready to breed.

Nope they are all grass fed and ready to go to work. :shock:

MD

 

[J&T Farm]

Do some of us really think that feeding a questionable herd sire prospect more will develop his "GENETICS" and improve his ability to pass on those better genes? :roll:

Do you honestly think that these big breeders arent pouring the feed to their bull calves from birth till their big sale days when the bulls are 15 months and ready to breed.

Nope they are all grass fed and ready to go to work. :shock:

MD

yeah!! :roll:

 

[MikeC]

Do some of us really think that feeding a questionable herd sire prospect more will develop his "GENETICS" and improve his ability to pass on those better genes? :roll:

Do you honestly think that these big breeders arent pouring the feed to their bull calves from birth till their big sale days when the bulls are 15 months and ready to breed.

Some absolutely are, without a doubt. They are allowing them to express their genetic merit. The cream will rise to the top.

They also have ultrasound, ratio's, epd's, and other pertinent data to allow the buyers to make their decision on.

But someone trying to make Chicken salad out of chicken crap is one of the problems in the beef business today.

Feed this calf out to eat and go buy yourself a bull that will definitely improve your herd! You'll be money ahead in the long run!

 

[J&T Farm]

Do some of us really think that feeding a questionable herd sire prospect more will develop his "GENETICS" and improve his ability to pass on those better genes? :roll:

Do you honestly think that these big breeders arent pouring the feed to their bull calves from birth till their big sale days when the bulls are 15 months and ready to breed.

Some absolutely are, without a doubt. They are allowing them to express their genetic merit. The cream will rise to the top.

They also have ultrasound, ratio's, epd's, and other pertinent data to allow the buyers to make their decision on.

But someone trying to make Chicken salad out of chicken crap is one of the problems in the beef business today.

Feed this calf out to eat and go buy yourself a bull that will definitely improve your herd! You'll be money ahead in the long run!

I agree. But we no nothing much about this calf besides the pic and he may not of had enough cream poured to him to start rising yet.

 

[cypressfarms]

Wheew!


O.k. The story behind the story:

Bull calf belongs to a friend. At weaning we struck a deal. I have plenty of forage. I would keep him over the fall and winter until spring. If in spring he looks o.k., I can buy him on the cheap. If I don't like him, we will either sell him and split the money, or butcher him and split the meat.

I say experiment because that's what he is. The week I got him here he came down with a mild case of pneumonia, and after two weeks of nuflor and penn. he came out of it. During that, though he lost a good bit of weight. He is just starting to put the weight back on. I have been fortunate with ryegrass this year with catching the rains and I will have 20 acres of very good rye to graze starting about Dec.1. He will have access to it full time, so we will see how he does. Sure he has faults; no doubt about it. However, It's a kind of a no risk deal for me.

Boone - this is not my herd sire, and he probably never will be. Give me some credit here. Do you actually think I would get rid of my herdsires for an unknown unproven weanling bull??? If, and that's a big if, he does look good in the spring, the most he will see is one or two brangus cows just to see how the cross works.

 

[boone]

No offense intended Cypress. Now that you clarified the term "experiment" I see what you are doing and would do the same myself. Boone