Price of a bred heifer?

[bpwagner115]

A guy down the road is selling bred heifers for 1,500 a piece. Some are PB angus and others are 1st cross baldies. Some are a portion of them are AI'd. I was looking into of purchasing some of my dad's calves this fall to start a herd of my own, but the possibility of buying some 3-in-1's is a thought. Seem's like alot of money to give up without any promise of live calves. Any opinions?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

The price doesn't sound out of line but if I were you I'd want to know as much as possible about the bull in terms of EPD and birth weight of his offspring.

Good luck with your venture!

 

[piedmontese]

depending on the 3 n1's price they are most likely going to be the best deal and definately the quickest return on your $$.

 

[bpwagner115]

Yes for sure. He mentioned in the add that bw epd of sire is -1.2 but no accuacy of course. Clean-up sire has 72lb bw but that doesn't always tell the whole story either. Just worried that 1500 might be a little high?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Can you post any pics or a link to the ad? (assuming it's not a newspaper ad)

Maybe the seller could e-mail you some pics and you could post 'em.

 

[Limomike]

To me the price is high, but then again, I think EVERYTHING is high nowdays... I do know that he should give you a price break if you are buying 2 or more... Thats the way it always has been with me when I purchase bred heifers..

 

[bpwagner115]

I might go visit and snap a few pictures tomorrow. He has 40-45 to sell. Probably looking at 15-20 of them. This is a copy of the ad.

"40-45 black and BW face bred heifers. Syncronized and AI'd
to low birth weight Angus bulls-contrast-1.2 birth and cleaned up
with 72lb birth wt. bulls. Cattle are purebred angus or 1st
cross baldys out of black cows and hereford bulls. Start calving Feb.
15th for only 45 days. Asking $1,500 per head"

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Here's an ad for bred heifers in South Dakota and this guy is asking $1,750 for 'em.

http://www.cattlerange.com/109C763-201/109C763-201.html

 

[cow pollinater]

If February calving is right for your area then that's a pretty good deal. The same kind of stuff around here(but fall calvers) will go $1800 with no information as to what the're bred to.
But, did I miss something? I'm reading these as bred heifers but you're saying 3in1's which would be bred back pairs worth a whole lot more.

 

[vclavin]

I might go visit and snap a few pictures tomorrow. He has 40-45 to sell. Probably looking at 15-20 of them. This is a copy of the ad.

"40-45 black and BW face bred heifers. Syncronized and AI'd
to low birth weight Angus bulls-contrast-1.2 birth and cleaned up
with 72lb birth wt. bulls. Cattle are purebred angus or 1st
cross baldys out of black cows and hereford bulls. Start calving Feb.
15th for only 45 days. Asking $1,500 per head"

The highlighted statement above tells me he doesn't know what he's doing and I for one, wouldn't buy them without lots more info. Especially if they are 1st calf heifers.
Valerie

 

[bpwagner115]

Yes they would not be 3-in-1's. My mistake. Valerie, I would certainly look for more information on who the herd sires were and there pedigrees/eps if available. Any other questions I should ask in regards to the clean up bull(s) used? I guess I'm not sure how you can tell he doesn't know what he's doing?

 

[3waycross]

Yes they would not be 3-in-1's. My mistake. Valerie, I would certainly look for more information on who the herd sires were and there pedigrees/eps if available. Any other questions I should ask in regards to the clean up bull(s) used? I guess I'm not sure how you can tell he doesn't know what he's doing?

Because his 72lb birthweight doesn't mean poop when it comes to what he will throw.

 

[bpwagner115]

I understand. The bull could have been 2 weeks premature and what should have been a 100lb bw. however i'm STILL not sure how that tells me he doesn't know what he is doing. Seems slightly irrational to totally dismiss the guy because he didn't fully describe his herd sire. Maybe not, I guess i don't know. I just am kinda wondering what questions I should look to ask other than pedigree and epd?

 

[dun]

Yes they would not be 3-in-1's. My mistake. Valerie, I would certainly look for more information on who the herd sires were and there pedigrees/eps if available. Any other questions I should ask in regards to the clean up bull(s) used? I guess I'm not sure how you can tell he doesn't know what he's doing?

Because his 72lb birthweight doesn't mean poop when it comes to what he will throw.

Unless that's the weight of the calves the bulls have been throwing

 

[vclavin]

Dun,

Cow's throw 72lb calves not bulls!! Bulls actual BW means nothing by itself.

Heifer will have her first calf at approx 90% of what she will calve at maturity. The bull then affects that weight and so does the environment.

I have a bull with a -2.9 BW EPD , weight of his calves born depends on lots of the things but they are not all born at a special size (65-92) cows have BW EPD's too.

Valerie
PS. I agree with 3waycrosses assumption of my meaning.
Also, I'd find out if he keeps track of heifers pelvic scores.

 

[dun]

Dun,

Cow's throw 72lb calves not bulls!! Bulls actual BW means nothing by itself.

Heifer will have her first calf at approx 90% of what she will calve at maturity. The bull then affects that weight and so does the environment.

I have a bull with a -2.9 BW EPD , weight of his calves born depends on lots of the things but they are not all born at a special size (65-92) cows have BW EPD's too.

Valerie
PS. I agree with 3waycrosses assumption of my meaning.
Also, I'd find out if he keeps track of heifers pelvic scores.

So no matter the accuracy of the BW EPD on a bull it's a usless number! Would that be correct?

 

[vclavin]

Dun,

Cow's throw 72lb calves not bulls!! Bulls actual BW means nothing by itself.

Heifer will have her first calf at approx 90% of what she will calve at maturity. The bull then affects that weight and so does the environment.

I have a bull with a -2.9 BW EPD , weight of his calves born depends on lots of the things but they are not all born at a special size (65-92) cows have BW EPD's too.

Valerie
PS. I agree with 3waycrosses assumption of my meaning.
Also, I'd find out if he keeps track of heifers pelvic scores.

So no matter the accuracy of the BW EPD on a bull it's a usless number! Would that be correct?

Silly Dun, I posted BW NOT BW EPD.
Valerie

 

[dun]

Silly Dun, I posted BW NOT BW EPD.
Valerie

I don;t know about your breed but in Red Angus the weight variation (possible change) keeps getting smaller for BW as accuracy increases. Althouhg it doesn;t give you an exact number, if you've used the bull long enough you getto know what to expect for BW.
The way I read the ad was that bulls with a known genera BW was 72 pounds, not the particular bulls BW.
People ask what kind of BW bulls usually throw, been that way for 50 plus years and will continue long into the future.

 

[vclavin]

Silly Dun, I posted BW NOT BW EPD.
Valerie

I don;t know about your breed but in Red Angus the weight variation (possible change) keeps getting smaller for BW as accuracy increases. Althouhg it doesn;t give you an exact number, if you've used the bull long enough you getto know what to expect for BW. I can see this in individual herds that over the years the match between cow/same bull would be similiar. But put this bull in another herd and story may be different entirely. The EPD gives you average change and is more accurate than actual birth weights alone. to be more accurate the CED takes all that in account and includes some ancestry data, with Angus , never go below +7 for heifers.
The way I read the ad was that bulls with a known genera BW was 72 pounds, not the particular bulls BW.
People ask what kind of BW bulls usually throw, been that way for 50 plus years and will continue long into the future.

If bulls really could "throw" a particular weight calf, they'd be putting them on Holsteins that normally have 125lb calves. I have never heard of a bull that supposedly throws 65 lb calves having the ability to do that on a Holstein heifer.
By the way, 50 years of saying it doesn't make it true.

 

[dun]

If bulls really could "throw" a particular weight calf, they'd be putting them on Holsteins that normally have 125lb calves. I have never heard of a bull that supposedly throws 65 lb calves having the ability to do that on a Holstein heifer.
By the way, 50 years of saying it doesn't make it true.

Before the black Angus got into the frame race we did use them on Holstein heifers and consistantly got small calves that grew well.
Doesn;t make it true but does make it common terminoly and way of expressing it.