New handling facilities and bull

[peacemaker]

I finished my handling area exept for the head gate / squeeze shute area. that will be next month.
And finally got my bull.

I tried for the last hour to get the pictures up but still having no luck...

I managed to get them as far as the member photo area but for the life of me I cant get them here.

Was hoping to see what you all thought...
He's not registered or anything. Just under 2 years old.
He seems pretty happy to do his job...

If anyone can help me to get the picture here let me know or you should be able to see them in the gallery.

thanks

 

[Keren]

The bull:

Bull with cows

Checkin out a cow

Heifer? I think

The yards

 

[Keren]

You had better put your thick skin on.

My guess is you are going to get a lot of negative comments about this bull.

To be honest I dont care for him. He doesnt have enough thickness, depth, length or butt for me. He also appears to be quite small for a 2 year old - I would have guessed him to be younger than that. I would not use him in my operation.

That being said, photos alone are generally not a good way to judge cattle. And if he fits your program and your aims then by all means stick with him.

 

[flaboy?]

He looks to be about 18 months old? If that is the case he may grow into himself. He will probably do what you want him to do for a while.

 

[jj216]

If ya dont mind me asking,How much do you have in the pen (money wise).Is wood the most cost effective way to go?I'll be building one soon.Just curious.

 

[Ryan]

Looks to me like the cows got more thickness than the bull.

 

[MikeC]

People might become disenchanted with Angus if these type bulls keep showing up..................... :lol:

 

[peacemaker]

Thanks Keren For helping with the pic's

I'm not 100% sure on the age. I was told a little under 2 years so thats all I had to go on. I really needed to get one in with the cows and didnt want to borrow one. I looked at a bigger three year old but he seemed to be aggrssive and stand offish.
This one will walk up and let you scratch his head.
I hope he works out but if not I'll use him this year and see how things go. I've had good luck getting the cow's to fill out hopefully he will do the same.

From reading these post's I've learned it's better to have to much pen than not enough.This one is 38'x60'
I wanted the pen to be solid and last. It's just 2"x6" pt and the post were sold as 5-6" but most are alot bigger. All is cemented in and I'm now in the market for the squeeze chute and head gate. I'm leaning towards the Priefert ( I think cause the blue matches my new holland) Looks like a good quality chute.
With the auger the post never went in exactly were I wanted so if you do 6' sections like I did instead of ordering 12' boards get the 14's it will save you alot of @$#%&
I think the post's were $8.25 each and the boards $7.00
Still not happy with my gates ( I think I should have used somthing a little heavier)

 

[oakcreekfarms]

I hope you didn't pay over market price for the bull, he has no rear what so ever. I would send him back to the owner and get your money back.

The cows look fairly decent, you don't want to down grade the future of your herd with a bad bull choice now.

 

[KNERSIE]

Lets do the positives first, your corral looks good, I'd like to see more photos to get an idea of the layout.

Your cows and heifers also look good, with the right bull on them its a very good start.

The golden rule in cattle breeding is that doesn't matter what the quality of your cows are, the bull MUST always be an improvement on them to breed in the right direction. In fact if you breed every cow you own (doesn't matter how poor they are) to the best possible bull, you will be positively surprized with the calves.

In your situation, if I judge strictly out of a cattle breeding point of view and disregard other factors that might have played a role in your decision making, the bull is far inferior to your cows and thus you'll be breeding in the wrong direction. That being said a poor calf is still more profitable than no calf, but he is not a herd builder, consider him as a terminal sire and move on to something better at your first opportunity. You might even consider a different breed to breed a very marketable calf with the added benefit of heterosis. my vhoice would be hereford and sell the baldies for a premium, but whichever breed you choose, get the best possible bull.[/i]

 

[C HOLLAND]

Lets do the positives first, your corral looks good, I'd like to see more photos to get an idea of the layout.

Your cows and heifers also look good, with the right bull on them its a very good start.

The golden rule in cattle breeding is that doesn't matter what the quality of your cows are, the bull MUST always be an improvement on them to breed in the right direction. In fact if you breed every cow you own (doesn't matter how poor they are) to the best possible bull, you will be positively surprized with the calves.

In your situation, if I judge strictly out of a cattle breeding point of view and disregard other factors that might have played a role in your decision making, the bull is far inferior to your cows and thus you'll be breeding in the wrong direction. That being said a poor calf is still more profitable than no calf, but he is not a herd builder, consider him as a terminal sire and move on to something better at your first opportunity. You might even consider a different breed to breed a very marketable calf with the added benefit of heterosis. my vhoice would be hereford and sell the baldies for a premium, but whichever breed you choose, get the best possible bull.[/i]

WOW It sure is good to see a comment with a positive spin for a change, we all tend to criticize without offering any help. I learned years ago that constructive criticism goes along way to help someone.

I also like your corral and especially the green pasture.

I would have chosen heavy duty panels to make the corral, it gives you more options and can be moved and the size/configuration can be changed much easier. You can always expand what you have as you get more cattle.

good luck and don't let the comments bother you, just learn from them and try to improve as you grow.

 

[AngusLimoX]

People might become disenchanted with Angus if these type bulls keep showing up..................... :lol:

Admit it, you are paying these folks to post!

Ya bastage! :lol: :lol:

ALX

Edit - not registered?? Then it's one of those black Charolais!

 

[flaboy?]

Peacemaker, don't let these guys get you down. They are just jealous they don't have a black bull. :lol:

Here is what I assumed. #1 You are just starting out. #2 You wanted to get a black bull on your black cows as soon as possible. #3 You didn't want to give your left nutt for a bull. #4 You want to learn.

So with all that said, he will most likely put calves on the ground while you learn and know what to look for in your next bull.

 

[peacemaker]

Thanks Knersie and c.holland (FL BOY)for the encouragement.
I am new so all the post are still positive for me.
After looking at the pic's myself... He does have a narrow butt.
I'm still hoping I can get him to look a little more acceptable and I'll post more pic's of this bull as time goes on so we can all see progress in this bull (If any) Give me a chance with him.

ALX... not sure on the bull but I got the cow's from a reputable farm with a good name around here. He say's they are a high percentage angus with a small percentage of limosine. He claimed to get a little more leg on them and a little easier to handle. (Just what I was told)

Anyway thanks to everyone for the post's good or bad it teaches us all and keeps the board Interesting.

You should see the chicken tractor I just built....
Maybe Keren will put it on here for me.

 

[J&T Farm]

peacemaker this might make you feel better, This is our first bull we gave the neighbor $500 for him, he was about 2 in the first picture, he looked terrible but we had 6 cows and he was all we could afford so we bought him. The bottom picture was him 1 1/2 years later. We got alot of calves out of him that sold real good, we have had 4 more bulls and with each 1 we try to improve. We buy from a good breeder now and can tell a difference in the calves. But I think your bull will be fine for now, he looks better than ours did when we first got him. :lol:
And you can always improve with your next one.

 

[AngusLimoX]

peacemaker this might make you feel better, This is our first bull we gave the neighbor $500 for him, he was about 2 in the first picture, he looked terrible but we had 6 cows and he was all we could afford so we bought him. The bottom picture was him 1 1/2 years later.

Different breed . Did he ever fill out in the rear, can't see in that second photo.

Lose any heifers with those shoulders or hooks?

Still not bad for a commercial $500 bull.

Peacemaker, eat that black Charolais and come ask BEFORE you buy your next bull. :lol:

ALX

 

[flaboy?]

Peacemaker, all these folks are just jealous they don't have a black bull. :lol:

 

[flaboy?]

I have a black bull Lol. I aint jealous of this bull by any means.

Well, post him up. Lets see if we can find anything wrong with him. :lol:

 

[J&T Farm]

Yes he did fill out he was huge in the rear we never had any calveing trouble but he was starting to throw bigger calves. So we decided to send him down the road, he brought $1,050 when we sold him. We sold him about 3 months after the second picture and he weighed 1850lbs . He was out of a good angus sire but it was a brangus cross cow. Her cow got out with the neighbors reg. angus bull and she kept cows like pets, thats why she still had him. She just had about 12 cows. He grew out much better than we ever thought he would.

 

[Susie David]

Everyone has to take some falkk....could be a real bad picture of the bull?
Guess that they always look better in person...but the camera doesn't lie and you can't get accustomed to a bad picture.
Hate to agree with the others but your bull needs to leave the farm. ( search "sam the bull leaves the farm" )
Just my two bits worth...asked for or not...DMc