Herefords on RFD
- Thread starter Frankie
- Start date
El_Putzo
Well-known member
How about some more info. I can't watch, but tell us about who's having the sale and what kind of genetics. Oh, and some prices too.
thanks,
thanks,
El_Putzo
Well-known member
Horned? Polled? What kind of bloodlines? Give me some sire names.
LFF
Well-known member
I only watched the presale and the bulls that I saw had terrible EPD's for milk. I'm talking around 5 milk and the highest that I saw was a 12 milk EPD. I believe that all of those bulls should have been steers. No wonder Herefords get such a bad name for not producing milk if people are buying such low milk producing Hereford bulls. I don't like any Herefords to be lower than 15 for milk and try to keep milk above 20. My small herd averages close to 20 on the milk EPD and I believe that we as breeders need to try increasing to a 30 EPD before many commercial buyers will seriously consider a Hereford bull.
El_Putzo":3sjdvjnw said:
Horned. They seemed to be mostly sired by their own bulls and I didn't recognize any names. Sorry. It looked like a good sale to me. They were still selling $4000 bulls near the end of the sale. One thing I did notice and maybe you can help me out: some bulls "tested positive for the diluter gene". I didn't know Herefords had the diluter gene? Those bulls sold cheaper than those sired by the same bull without the notation about the diluter gene.
They did have low milk EPDs. But not all parts of the country can support a high milking cow.
El_Putzo
Well-known member
Thanks for the report Frankie. I'm not sure on the diluter gene. May have something to do with the "orange" looking herefords as opposed to the more popular "dark reds". I think most people prefer the dark reds, and the orange seems to display itself more in the horned lines from what I've seen.
El_Putzo
This was Courtney Herefords. They had a really good sale. I think the top bull was $8,250. with many selling selling in as much as $5,500.00 and as low as $3,250.00. A few sold below the $3.250.00 but not many. Very good quality bulls.
This was Courtney Herefords. They had a really good sale. I think the top bull was $8,250. with many selling selling in as much as $5,500.00 and as low as $3,250.00. A few sold below the $3.250.00 but not many. Very good quality bulls.
El_Putzo
Well-known member
la4angus":3609166p said:
Thanks Lloyd. Those are some pretty good prices on bulls. They must have some nice stock.
Cowboymom
Well-known member
Courtney has one of the top herds in the country, they are mostly Canadian bred. They are of the segment of the Hereford business that really don't pay much attention to EPDs. They consistantly have one of the top averaging sales in the country. They have a great cowherd that lives in country that most cows couldn't survive in. They are real cowmen that have a fantastic job making a living in a very tough business, in very tough country.
Cowboymom
Well-known member
They have a sale every year of about 100 coming two year old bulls. I didn't see any cows in this year's catalog and know they didn't sell any last year because I was there. Their high selling bull last year was over 15k. This year they had their sale in the middle of a blizzard, glad I wasn't there. Last year it was in the low 20's with the wind blowing. The sale yard is out in the middle of open ground, like most of that country is. We bought on the the first lots and left and drove straight to Billings, Mont. There is nothing on that road besides deer and antelope. One person to drive and one to spot!
By the way, the bull we bought had a mild EPD of 18 at the time, which has gone up to 20. One of the reason that their milk EPD's are so low is that they have a strong Canadian influence in their herd and there isn't much history on the EPD's. In the country they run in, a cow with a milk EPD of 30 couldn't survive, let alone breed back.
We saw their cow herd about nine years ago, this first time we bought a bull from them. They have great functional cows that milk and raise calves in some tough country. It was the year after they had a really cold winter. They did not lose one cow or udder. They said they brought the whole herd into the area where their barns and houses were. What cows they couldn't fit in the barns, they lit fires in the yard to keep them from freezing. They hay all summer to put up enough hay to feed all winter.
By the way, the bull we bought had a mild EPD of 18 at the time, which has gone up to 20. One of the reason that their milk EPD's are so low is that they have a strong Canadian influence in their herd and there isn't much history on the EPD's. In the country they run in, a cow with a milk EPD of 30 couldn't survive, let alone breed back.
We saw their cow herd about nine years ago, this first time we bought a bull from them. They have great functional cows that milk and raise calves in some tough country. It was the year after they had a really cold winter. They did not lose one cow or udder. They said they brought the whole herd into the area where their barns and houses were. What cows they couldn't fit in the barns, they lit fires in the yard to keep them from freezing. They hay all summer to put up enough hay to feed all winter.
JHH
Well-known member
Cowboymom":3s5apfqh said:
I think 14 is avg for milk epd on herefords so 20 would be ok and acceptable in my book. That Canadian milk thing may be why some of the heifers I bought last year only had a milk EPD of 5 and 2. They are out of a son of that High selling Calgary bull SNS SILVER PRAIRE 50B.JHH
Cowboymom
Well-known member
Yep, exactly. EPD's in the Hereford breed are like stepping up to the crap table, they change twice a year! There is a lot of political input into the "adjustment" of those numbers. If you don't like the numbers, just wait a year or two, they will come back up. When they accepted the Canadians into the Hereford Registry, they really got hurt on their EPD's because there wasn't any "history" on those cattle.
Like one guy told me, "EPD's won't help you sell a bull, but they will help you NOT sell a bull." You have to think about it, but it makes sense.
Like one guy told me, "EPD's won't help you sell a bull, but they will help you NOT sell a bull." You have to think about it, but it makes sense.
Cowboymom
Well-known member
I agree highly, you have to breed cattle to fit your environment. I didn't know that Hereford had udder and tit problems until I was in college! We never had any, I think it is because if a cow has any problems she is down the road, quickly.
One time, I knew this breeder that had this "super cow". I finally saw this "super cow" and she was prolapsed, double prolapsed in fact, with an awful bag. She was gross. They had been flushing her for years! When they killed her after a couple of unsucessful flushes, I was talking to the head of the Animal Science Department for one more respected colleges. He was all upset that they just killed her and didn't try and harvest any eggs when she was slaughtered! I couldn't believe it, I would have killed her the first time she prolapsed and not kept her heifers.
Another time when I was in college. I heard this now out of business breeder give a big lecture about wanting small tight made udders because the milk quality was higher. His cows also never left permanent pasture.
I learned a bunch in college, not necessarily what the college was wanting to teach me but that people can sure have some strange ideas!
One time, I knew this breeder that had this "super cow". I finally saw this "super cow" and she was prolapsed, double prolapsed in fact, with an awful bag. She was gross. They had been flushing her for years! When they killed her after a couple of unsucessful flushes, I was talking to the head of the Animal Science Department for one more respected colleges. He was all upset that they just killed her and didn't try and harvest any eggs when she was slaughtered! I couldn't believe it, I would have killed her the first time she prolapsed and not kept her heifers.
Another time when I was in college. I heard this now out of business breeder give a big lecture about wanting small tight made udders because the milk quality was higher. His cows also never left permanent pasture.
I learned a bunch in college, not necessarily what the college was wanting to teach me but that people can sure have some strange ideas!
tapeworm
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2005
- Messages
- 627
Yall are sure right about less mm for a better doing cow. some of these cows with a +25 can sure be harder keepers than a +15 cow. Just do the figures in your head...10 extra pounds at 1.40 only = 14 dollars..that higher milking cow takes a whole lot more than 14 dollars in a year to prop her up...if you can even prop her up. I know thats probaly not the way you registered guys figure buts thats the way i look at it
