Question for Frankie and other Angus folks

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All the bulls mentioned here certainly have the numbers.

That said, on my heifers I use a calving ease "lifer" like Bar EXT Traveler 205. He doesn't necessarily have the growth EPDs but I don't really aim for the best of both worlds with my heifers either. I had 100 pounders out of both SAV Bismark and SS Objective this winter already (from cows) - the objective bull was DOA.
 
Horseless":2uui6354 said:
I have never used any of the sires you are looking at and it also has been several years since I have bred any Gelbvieh. Not sure if they are black gelbvieh or red. The last I new the quality was not quite there yet in the blacks. The Gelbvieh I had didn't seem to grade very well. So maybe Objective might fit your bill, I just didn't like his looks. Also my experience was that Gelbvieh were heavy milkers. In my opinion I would be careful about over doing the milk. "In Focus" milk epd is to high for me, not sure if it would create a problem. New Standard's sire was 1407, which I have heard can have udder and teat problems. Can't verify that myself but I thats the info I have received. What type of pedigrees are in your heifers, what is their strengths and weaknesses.

Horseless, both have Spur Beretta 703G in their pedigree the dams are JBOB genetics. Phenotypically these heifers are fairly deep, long and moderate framed. Muscling is decent. Both have milk epd's around 17. Also they both are homo black.
 
Here is a picture to show the disposition of Connection daughters (or at least one of them). Dont get too critical of the photo it was taken by my 7 year old son.

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Here is a picture of her September heifer calf. Pretty nice calf especially since it is out of a 2yr old.

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I have been really happy with New Design (as greenjeans suggested) and also Krugerrand, who is relatively unknown but I was happy with. Got both of them from Genex. If you could get ahold of some Bushwacker semen that would probably make for some great calves.
 
I got hold of ABS and asked who is a major buyer of In Focus semen and they gave me a contact of a Gelbview / Balancer breeder out west who uses it on Gelbvieh cattle (mostly heifers). In this years seedstock sale this breeder had 40 Balancer bull calves selling that were sired by In Focus. He was very high on them. He said that In Focus was the real deal with BW nad WW numbers. No calving or disposition problems to report. He uses allot of the leading angus genetics for his balancers and ranked In Focus among his top 4 or 5 favorites. Thanks for all the input from everybody.
 
From my personal use on heifers I really like the 878 bull. Mine came out weighing in the high 70's and weaned in the 650's no creep. The females I kept are good moderate frame, easy keeping females with picture perfect udders. One of the most important things I found out about this bull was his consistency. He is kind of the package deal for use on heifers…low birth weights with performance

Going to In Focus…I have not seen this consistency. Some were good some were not so good. The calves I was comparing were mostly out of half sisters or similar bred cows. The one thing he was consistent on was his low birth weights. Some were in the 60's…
 
Lakading,

Awful strong words, care to expand your thoughts? Not disagreeing with you but would like to hear why you feel this way.
 
I could very well eat those words some day. That's why I included "not sure".

I don't like his -.2 for YH and the sons I've seen (admittedly very few) haven't impressed me all that much. Have also heard some reports of his calves lacking consistency/uniformity. My ABS rep wants me to try him though. Which is why I left open the possibility of eating crow. However, I'd sure like to see an updated picture and also a picture of his dam.
 
Hoss,

I know ABS is your rep, but I have had the best luck with my Balancers using Matrix from the genex lineup. Waiting on my best cow to calve to him in March. Bull calf might be destined to be a Balancer herd bull for me, a daughter might be my little girl's first show calf. My Gelbvieh buddy in Texas has used Mitty In Focus with some success. I really like the Pendleton bull and have already ordered some for this breeding season. Also I have put off using Bennett Total for too long and will use him as well this season.

My 2 Cents

Smoky
 

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