Picking a replacement bull from your own herd.

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smartin0022

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So I have some young calves right now 4 bull prospects. I know which one is my favorite for a keeper but I've had 4 people all pick a different calf for a bull prospect out of the 4 I'm choosing from. So #36 out of my #4 cow is heavy gutted calf straight and clean footed, momma is a good cow one of my top 5 cows unfortunately she has 6 udders, 2 are obsolete and probably not that big of a deal. I like him for the #3. #14 is out of #24 has the cleanest top line and best flank set of the 4 he is by far the lowest birth weight calf at 65 lbs. #37 out of #13 is my second pick he's got a lot of things I like small headed medium birthweight 81 lbs, clean feet depth but a little shy in the flank. #27 is out of 29 probably one of my best cows he has a red tinge to him but he's pretty solid just my least favorite headset. So with all that said which one do yall like. All grandsons of SAV Resource.
 

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#27
 

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All these were Feb, or mid March calves born to 3-6 year old cows. By far the best udder is #14 mother she is a Rockstar 3 for 3 always early and just top notch phenotype. 2nd best would be a tie for #27 and #37's mothers being equally early calving superior phenotype to the rest of the herd and probably all 3 generally the best disposition of the 37 cows I've got. #36 mother has the worst udder but she is always in my top 5 calving early heavy milking and holds her condition well from her last 4 calves.
 
#14 hands down. I don't like under 70lb bw on cows though. I like 37 too. If his dam is deep enough I wouldnt worry about flank depth at this point. A lot changes by weaning. I'd keep those 2 and see which developes the best. 36 looks like he isn't as square hipped? The udder would be the deal breaker though. And I've never had great luck keeping a bull I didn't really like off a cow I did, so that takes out 27.
 
Oh I'm just getting opinions. Old timer neighbor told me good cattlemen could pick them they day they was born for a steer or a bull (I can't really pick them that young). These will remain intact until 205 days. I'll cut them then if they don't suit me plus all the others I only banded a few so far. I have a few stragglers calving this week. 36 is slightly less square but he also tends to stand in worst places for pictures. I'll get more pictures when they develop more.
 
#14 looks good, nice square bull face developing. I'd always be partial to the most healthy eater of the bull bunch...with the tallest back. Cattlemen dislike the normal long leg bull look...but for breeding Angus with taller species like Herefords those normally long legs and height are better. (in my opinion).
Enjoy your bull...then when you look at pics of those 2.2 million dollar bull sales....you'll SEE and KNOW how lucky you are to have raised a 3.3 million dollar bull on your ranch.
 
On top of the masculinity traits, I also like to see a bull that can travel well. Going through bull sale videos you can always pick out the 10-20% or so (unfortunately that is a low percentage) that just move better (more fluid, purposeful and powerful) than the rest.
 
As I see it the problem with selecting a bull from within your own herd is the most one can hope for is maintaining a status quo
and forfeiting the probability of improvement. The caveat would be having a herd large enough to have a gene pool to avoid the
possibility of a recessive trait. Yes it is possible to get a very good looking bull calf from a small herd but that does not imply it
will have the ability to pass those traits to its own progeny. (MPOV)
 
IMO if you are going to use your own bulls exclusively you need to keep several...depending on the herd size and that will help spread out your gene pool...if you have some really good cows that you like say ten cows out of the herd...keep bull calves from them which only be about 5 since half will probably be heifers. Every time you bring in a bull in from somewhere else you are diluting your cow herd IMO...since they are not acclimated to your farm and your fertility your forage, etc.
Most cattlemen have good genetics in their herd, just have to be selective...... you can get poor calves from high dollar bulls
 

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