Red angus

[dt34715]

What are your recommendations for a Red Angus bull for making replacement heifers?

 

[Travlr]

I don't know any specific bulls to recommend, but I can say that you can always find the right kind of EPDs... while ignoring what you want your animals to look like.

Find some bulls that suit your desires for conformation as your FIRST criteria. They need to LOOK like something you want in your pasture, like what you want your steers to look like (I know, you're looking for heifers but you are going to want good looking steers out of your heifers.) and breed for length and depth and muscle... and then choose from among those bulls that satisfy your eye as far as the EPDs.

A lot of people forget to choose bulls by how they will improve their herds conformation. IMO, the FIRST criteria in choosing a bull...

 

[redcowsrule33]

I agree with the above. When looking at numbers watch maintenance energy (ME), milk, heifer pregnancy (HPG), maternal calving ease (CEM) and stayability. Lots of the "hot" RA bulls are severely lacking especially in HPG. See if you can see a picture of the dam.

 

[Dsth]

one of my favorite calves this year is sired by Free Style from ABS. She is tall, long and has an appealing feminine look to her. As a group, my Propulsion calves are the most appealing. Would like to keep replacements from both, but calf prices are high and at my limit for cows right now. ABS has their best prices of the year on their bulls if you are interested.

 

[birdog]

one of my favorite calves this year is sired by Free Style from ABS. She is tall, long and has an appealing feminine look to her. As a group, my Propulsion calves are the most appealing. Would like to keep replacements from both, but calf prices are high and at my limit for cows right now. ABS has their best prices of the year on their bulls if you are interested.

Pics?

 

[Dsth]

Pics?

I will get some pics this weekend and see if I can figure out how to post them.

 

[Mossy Dell]

When I was raising livestock, the genetics advisor for our association gave us advice on picking maternal sires that is exactly the opposite of what's usually said. He had a lot of experience as a farm boy who got a PhD, had done much research in the lab and field, and became head of Ohio State's livestock program. He said:

Pick your prospects on paper FIRST, looking at EPDs and performance records, and then go down to the barn and see which one you can live with.

Note how this advice implies that the top maternal sire might not look so flashy. Appearance is highly heritable and easy—balancing economically important traits is not. People have stacked size and thickness for eons. As was noted above, many hot sires, and I'd say most, are not balanced in terms of economically important traits like heifer fertility, calving ease, maintenance cost, and even meat quality.

For an outlier who has bucked this trend for decades, go online and peruse the philosophy and sale catalogs of Beckton Red Angus.

 

[Travlr]

When I was raising livestock, the genetics advisor for our association gave us advice on picking maternal sires that is exactly the opposite of what's usually said. He had a lot of experience as a farm boy who got a PhD, had done much research in the lab and field, and became head of Ohio State's livestock program. He said:

Pick your prospects on paper FIRST, looking at EPDs and performance records, and then go down to the barn and see which one you can live with.

Note how this advice implies that the top maternal sire might not look so flashy. Appearance is highly heritable and easy—balancing economically important traits is not. People have stacked size and thickness for eons. As was noted above, many hot sires, and I'd say most, are not balanced in terms of economically important traits like heifer fertility, calving ease, maintenance cost, and even meat quality.

For an outlier who has bucked this trend for decades, go online and peruse the philosophy and sale catalogs of Beckton Red Angus.

I can't get there from here...

 

[StrojanHerefords]

The person behind the bulls is more important than pedigree, performance or phenotype.
A few years ago, I bought a truckload of open cows from Beckton. Good little cows. Beckton doesn't sell semen but Mushrush has several good bulls with Beckton breeding. If you aren't committed to Red Angus, I have had really good luck with using an Isa Beefmaster bull on Red Angus cows.

 

[Dsth]

I will get some pics this weekend and see if I can figure out how to post them.

If pics come through #84 is a bred Free Style, #86 is also Free Style just weaned. all others are this years Propulsion calves. calves are a little dirty from being in barn during our 100+ degrees the last few days.