Real world WW gains

[Brute 23]

I'm looking at buying an Angus Bull in the near future. I'm curious what real world weaning weight gains yall have seen by increasing your bull power. This bull's sole purpose will be to mash scales at the auction barn.

The bulls I am looking at have bw in the 70s and ww #700+.

If you put that bull over commercial type cattle and were going to the auction barn, how much heavier would you expect the calf to wean... real world... over a bull with a #550 or #650 ww?

I'm trying to get an idea of how to calculate the bulls added value vs his cost.

What's a general range? Is it #5, 20, 50, 100 per head? What is a realistic expectation?

 

[Aaron]

Depends on the quality of the cows he is exposed to. Good cows - mediocre improvement. Poor cows - big improvement.

20-50 lbs. Some guys claim 100, but I haven't seen it.

And depends how they were raised and when they were born. Much better luck on ranch bulls that were not creep fed and proved their worth at weaning rather than those that were 'picked' at birth to begin the 'process of transforming into a herd sire prospect'.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I think there is some data out there that shows average gain per weaned calf is about 12# WW for Herf over commercial black. I have some data where growth Simi over English commercial cow added 40# WW. I have herd a 50# WW increase claimed.

I think the actual gain will be small. Perhaps 20# WW. If you do not creep feed and do not cross breed - - my calculated guess would be to take the bull's WW epd minus your average WW and then divide by 3.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I personally wouldn't expect much out of a 70 lb birth weight bull. There's still some terminal bulls in the Angus breed. I look for a 80+ lb birthweight with lower calving ease and birth weight numbers. From what I've seen it's hard to get growth using a low birth weight bull.

 

[Ebenezer]

Environment trumps genetics. You can bring in larger cattle from the west or north with hair and actually bring down the program in the SE USA. There are proven decreases in growth and mature size as animals (deer, bears, cattle, ...) move from NW to SE in the USA. Line 1 Hereford herds were totally moved back and forth from FL to MT and MT to FL to prove that with them.

Exceed the limits of your environment with higher growth calves and expect lower breed back % on females. No free lunch, even hybrid vigor results require extra pounds of feed per extra pound gained. Not mentioned often for some reason. They do not just gain more weight by breathing more!

 

[Brute 23]

These are local bulls raised with in an hour. I would call the cows better than a lot you see off the side of the road. Nutrition should be adequate to maximize genetics.

Assume all that is the same... from one bull to the next... What will you see in real pounds on the calves?

 

[Ebenezer]

These are local bulls raised with in an hour. I would call the cows better than a lot you see off the side of the road. Nutrition should be adequate to maximize genetics.

Assume all that is the same... from one bull to the next... What will you see in real pounds on the calves?

If the new bull's growth is more from individual growth and not from mama's (more) milk, then expect your new WW to go up one half of the difference.

 

[Silver]

Just my own opinion but I would buy bulls that will improve the quality of my cow herd and the WW will take care of itself.

 

[gcreekrch]

Just my own opinion but I would buy bulls that will improve the quality of my cow herd and the WW will take care of itself.

Always. Breed for mama cows and the steer end will look after itself. Just be careful of frame size creeping up if you are after big weaning weights.

It is also a consideration not how big your calves are but how many dollars each cow leaves in your pocket at the end of the year. There can be a big difference.