Need help selecting a bull

[Toad]

I'm new at this cow calf thing. We ran steers for a number of years but last year decided to start switching to cow calf. Right now I have 25 cows on two different farms and I need to buy my first bull but I'm not sure what to get.
A buddy and I both run cows on this place, he offered to let me to go halves with him because he didn't have enough cows. We used his hereford bull last year and this year its my turn to provide a bull. He has hereford heifers there and I have my simangus that will be breeding back after calving this spring.
I will be looking at our local bull sale to see what I can come up with. But this is a new experience for me. All my buddy cares about is calving ease for his heifers and something black to give him baldies. I guess I will go with angus but they also offer simangus, gelbvieh and balancers. Thanks for any advice ahead of time.

 

[blacksnake]

If you are mainly selling weaned calves, the best bet would be to find a calving ease high growth angus bull and not worry about all the carcass traits. Whatever bull you bull I would look at the calving ease of the past 2 or 3 generations to give you better odds of getting a calving ease high growth bull. This of course will mean that you are probably looking at a registered angus bull from a breeder you trust since the EPD's for birth weight, calving ease, and growth are all based upon data the producer submits. Not sure how many head you expect one bull to cover but I would be careful and not overload the bull especially if he is very young. If you and your friend calve year round or at least a few months apart, the bull can cover more cows. Right now decent bulls are not cheap.

 

[Toad]

Thanks blacksnake. We have our cattle broken up into about 3 different calving periods. I know that sounds strange but it works fairly well so far. Should have 10 calve by the end of March, then another 10 or so around the first of June and then we have another batch of fall calvers.

 

[Chuckie]

Look for something with a big gut and a big butt, and low BW. Then I agree, don't get tied up in all the numbers.
My best bull was butts and guts. So were his calves.
I hope you find a winner!!!!

 

[3waycross]

You might post what sale you are looking at. If they have a readable catalog I would make a suggestion or two on a balancer bull. Should compliment both operations.

 

[3LEGGED1]

Wish I woulda ask for help. Spent more than I ever had, gotta lot less.

 

[Limomike]

You might post what sale you are looking at. If they have a readable catalog I would make a suggestion or two on a balancer bull. Should compliment both operations.

I tend to agree

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Since you are already running simangus, I would go with a simmental bull, or even simangus bull. There are some great calving ease bulls out there, and I know there are several breeders in Virginia that you could visit. If you need help, just PM me.

 

[3waycross]

hahaha i guess the first breed pimp doesn't have a chance around here.

 

[fitz]

Don't know where you are in Va. but there are several sales coming up soon. http://www.bcia.apsc.vt.edu is coming up the 22nd with an open house on Sun. 15th.
There you will find Black & Red Angus, Gelbvieh, Balancer, Hereford, Simmental,SimAngus, and Charolais.
Also, as mentioned, several excellent private sale Breeders in the State.

fitz

 

[fitz]

There. How was that for not pimping my breed 3way? Ha!

fitz

 

[3waycross]

There. How was that for not pimping my breed 3way? Ha!

fitz

:tiphat: hard to top that one. ;-)

 

[Toad]

Don't know where you are in Va. but there are several sales coming up soon. http://www.bcia.apsc.vt.edu is coming up the 22nd with an open house on Sun. 15th.
There you will find Black & Red Angus, Gelbvieh, Balancer, Hereford, Simmental,SimAngus, and Charolais.
Also, as mentioned, several excellent private sale Breeders in the State.

fitz

Thats the sale I was planning on attending. I'm about 90 minutes northeast of the sale. Thanks for all the help so far. I was wondering about a balancer but I know nothing about them. Also whats a reasonable price to expect to pay around here for a decent bull?

 

[tnwalkingred]

Toad,

Around these parts a good bull is gonna cost you between 2500-3000 dollars. That would be for a well bred registered bull with decent EPDs.

Kyle

 

[3waycross]

Don't know where you are in Va. but there are several sales coming up soon. http://www.bcia.apsc.vt.edu is coming up the 22nd with an open house on Sun. 15th.
There you will find Black & Red Angus, Gelbvieh, Balancer, Hereford, Simmental,SimAngus, and Charolais.
Also, as mentioned, several excellent private sale Breeders in the State.

fitz

Thats the sale I was planning on attending. I'm about 90 minutes northeast of the sale. Thanks for all the help so far. I was wondering about a balancer but I know nothing about them. Also whats a reasonable price to expect to pay around here for a decent bull?

Check your PM's

 

[Toad]

Thanks Kyle, I can handle that. I've got some 4 weight calves I was going to keep but with the prices I am seeing now I think I will sell and invest the money in a decent bull.
3waycross, I sent you a reply. Thanks everyone for the help so far. Started running steers a number of years ago simply because I wanted to keep the wife's home place in the family. Its grown on me to the point I want to do it full time at some point. I've been able to become friends with some of the older farmer neighbors as well who have no one to help now and no one to take over their land when they can no longer farm. My goal is to have at least 250 cows eventually. I've learned a lot from spending a lot of time reading old posts on here.

 

[3waycross]

Thanks Kyle, I can handle that. I've got some 4 weight calves I was going to keep but with the prices I am seeing now I think I will sell and invest the money in a decent bull.
3waycross, I sent you a reply. Thanks everyone for the help so far. Started running steers a number of years ago simply because I wanted to keep the wife's home place in the family. Its grown on me to the point I want to do it full time at some point. I've been able to become friends with some of the older farmer neighbors as well who have no one to help now and no one to take over their land when they can no longer farm. My goal is to have at least 250 cows eventually. I've learned a lot from spending a lot of time reading old posts on here.

I sent you my picks. Take a look and let me know what you think!

 

[Chuckie]

I looked through some of the bulls on the videos, without looking at any of the numbers, I did see some nice looking bulls.

 

[Toad]

Thanks 3way. Its strange asking for help. For years I have been on another forum giving advice on my line of work, outdoor wood furnaces. I've answered hundreds of questions over there, its a little strange to be on the other side of the fence now. Certainly appreciate guys who are willing to help the those of us starting out.

 

[WalnutCrest]

A common refrain I've heard from guys who are buying bulls is some version of: "Buy the best bull you can and don't be afraid to pay a fair price for him. There's a big difference to your herd between getting a great deal on an average bull and getting a fair deal on a nice bull."