Replacement heifers/bull breeding his daughters

[SRBeef]

The thread on whether to keep your own replacements or buy them on the beginner board brigns up a question I have been wrestling with as a beginner.

I would like to keep my best heifers from my best cows as replacements. However I also have one very good bull that I would like to keep.

What are the pluses and minuses of having a bull breed to his own daughters? I would not go to a second generation but would like to try one. Or is this a dangerous thing to do?

There is no relation between my bull's genetics and any of my current cows and heifers.

Thanks for any information and experience.

 

[LoveMoo11]

It can be dangerous, but it can also turn out really well. It helps to know about your bull's genetics and any recessive genes that might show up that could be dangerous. A lot of people don't do it, myself included. Just too much of a risk for me. We did however have it happen once, accidentally, only it was a bull x dam. The calf was the best one of the year. Your call.

 

[cowwrangler]

i think you can cross them once but not twice

 

[KNERSIE]

That exceeds the 50% influence of a single parent, which is the benchmark used by most linebreeders. It can be beneficial in order to identify deleterous recessive genes that might be hidden in the woodpile or if nothing shows up you can reasonably safely argue that the bull's genepool is free of those recessive genes.

I wouldn't recommend this for beginners that might miss something in the culling process, as a tool for the serious linebreeder its a different matter altogether.