With our program, we source bulls from within our herds and buy from others. When we wean, we typically select one bull calf from my daughter's herd (about 10 cows) to develop and around 3 from my sister's herd (right around 30 cows). First we sort by phenotype. If we don't like how they look, I'm not feeding them all winter, no matter how good the rest of it is. Throughout the first fall and winter, they are constantly scrutinized for performance and docility. By the time spring rolls around, we usually only have one or two left as bull prospects. If they get through spring work (clipping, bathing, BSE, vaccinations, ect), they get a nose ring and a price tag. Some years I have 3 to put rings in, some years none.