Selecting AI Angus Sire

[tylerh87]

Hey all-

Wanted to get some opinions/help on selecting AI sires for my Angus heifers. I have 25 of them I will be breeding in December. 12 of them list EXT and Objective as grand sires (maternal side and paternal side), I have a few that are double shots of EXT, and the rest have Objective as their paternal grand sire and Fly Traveler as their maternal grand sire. I am looking to breed to a sire that will allow me to retain as many daughters as possible, if I choose. I'm not opposed to breeding to more than one sire, but would like to choose one if possible. My current candidates are:

Connealy Counselor
Connealy Capitalist
Coleman Charlo 0256
Coleman Regis 904
Hoover Dam
SAV Final Answer 0035 II
Connealy Right Answer

These cows are all raised in North AL on mostly grass, will be fed Bermuda/fescue hay with some grain supplementation this winter.

Can anyone give me some insight, good opinions, bad opinions of the above sires? I appreciate your help!

Tyler

 

[Son of Butch]

I'd take Right Answer over Final Answer II or Regis
Regis is $30 at Select his son S A T Revival is $18 I'd call Revival a poorman's Regis and use him instead of Regis as I expect
very similar results, penny saved is a penny earned, so net profit edge would also go to Revival imo if that matters.

Hoover Dam very impressive early numbers of % of daughters making Pathfinder status.
He sure is on track to being a cow maker. I wouldn't argue if you chose to breed them all to him.

 

[cow pollinater]

Hoover Dam has made a lot of people really happy. I haven't used him on my own cattle but I've used him a lot for customers and I sure like what I see in the calves. His grand sire was a go to bull for me for a long time and he seems to be a lot like him.

 

[WarEagle73]

If you are looking to make females that will work on our forages in N. AL without much supplementation, one of the EPDs I would look at is $EN. All of those bulls have a good reputation as cow makers, but in my opinion I'd would avoid some of the bulls with extremely low $EN. I am looking at using Charlo some this year and now you have me thinking about Regis as well.

 

[Son of Butch]

If you are looking to make females that will work on our forages in N. AL without much supplementation, one of the EPDs I would look at is $EN. All of those bulls have a good reputation as cow makers, but in my opinion I'd would avoid some of the bulls with extremely low $EN. I am looking at using Charlo some this year and now you have me thinking about Regis as well.

If $EN is important to you, why choose Charlo over Dash?
Both are at Accelerated Genetics
Dash $EN 18 cem 13 HP 20 top 1%
Charlo $EN 4 cem 9 HP 2 bottom 7%
When keeping replacement females fertility is important and ranking in bottom 7% HP is why I took Charlo off my list.

 

[WarEagle73]

If you are looking to make females that will work on our forages in N. AL without much supplementation, one of the EPDs I would look at is $EN. All of those bulls have a good reputation as cow makers, but in my opinion I'd would avoid some of the bulls with extremely low $EN. I am looking at using Charlo some this year and now you have me thinking about Regis as well.

If $EN is important to you, why choose Charlo over Dash?
Both are at Accelerated Genetics
Dash $EN 18 cem 13 HP 20 top 1%
Charlo $EN 4 cem 9 HP 2 bottom 7%
When keeping replacement females fertility is important and ranking in bottom 7% HP is why I took Charlo off my list.

I'd be happy with Dash too. The OP didn't list Dash, though. I probably like the way Charlo is built a little better than Dash. He appears to have a deeper chest, more capacity and length. Dash is better on paper. Better accuracies and basically equal to or better than Charlo everywhere. In my opinion, its about a wash between those bulls and I'll lean on phenotype for a tie breaker. Just as easily could go the other way, and I don't breed again until 2016 so I could likely change my opinion by then, honestly.

On the heifer pregnancy deal, I'm just not sure what to believe on some of the EPDs. Charlo has a better actual Scrotal Circumference and SC EPD which leads me to believe that his daughters will reach puberty earlier and likely have a better breed up the first time, but as you pointed out, the HP EPDs indicate the exact opposite. My personal belief is the SC EPD is more accurate and a better indicator than HP just because there are so many factors that play into whether a heifer gets pregnant or not and I am not sure you can statistically account for all of that variation to generate an accurate EPD. Again, just my opinion and that may very well be totally wrong, but its how my brain has interpreted all this data.

 

[Jake]

If you are looking to make females that will work on our forages in N. AL without much supplementation, one of the EPDs I would look at is $EN. All of those bulls have a good reputation as cow makers, but in my opinion I'd would avoid some of the bulls with extremely low $EN. I am looking at using Charlo some this year and now you have me thinking about Regis as well.

If $EN is important to you, why choose Charlo over Dash?
Both are at Accelerated Genetics
Dash $EN 18 cem 13 HP 20 top 1%
Charlo $EN 4 cem 9 HP 2 bottom 7%
When keeping replacement females fertility is important and ranking in bottom 7% HP is why I took Charlo off my list.

I'd be happy with Dash too. The OP didn't list Dash, though. I probably like the way Charlo is built a little better than Dash. He appears to have a deeper chest, more capacity and length. Dash is better on paper. Better accuracies and basically equal to or better than Charlo everywhere. In my opinion, its about a wash between those bulls and I'll lean on phenotype for a tie breaker. Just as easily could go the other way, and I don't breed again until 2016 so I could likely change my opinion by then, honestly.

On the heifer pregnancy deal, I'm just not sure what to believe on some of the EPDs. Charlo has a better actual Scrotal Circumference and SC EPD which leads me to believe that his daughters will reach puberty earlier and likely have a better breed up the first time, but as you pointed out, the HP EPDs indicate the exact opposite. My personal belief is the SC EPD is more accurate and a better indicator than HP just because there are so many factors that play into whether a heifer gets pregnant or not and I am not sure you can statistically account for all of that variation to generate an accurate EPD. Again, just my opinion and that may very well be totally wrong, but its how my brain has interpreted all this data.

I'd go with Dash over Charlo every day all day. At least he can walk.

 

[bse]

Take a look at this bull http://accelgen.com/catalog/semen-beef/ ... inity-141/ he has lots of maternal in his pedigree for the heifiers you may want to retain, and enough perfomance in his EPDS and pedigree to put lbs on steers, or raise bulls.

 

[Lucky_P]

Tyler,
One of my recently departed friends, who was an Angus breeder for decades, and worked for many years as a consulting veterinarian for some major bull studs, etc., recommended Conneally Counselor to me very highly shortly before he passed. Said he sired outstanding daughters with great feet. Have thought about buying a cane for use at some point, just on that recommendation.

I've had great success with daughters of Gardens Wave... he's no longer on the market, but several sons are...Thinking about putting a cane of Pioneer Wave in the tank for use on heifers that might need some Angus influence added back in. Still fairly low accuracy, but with what's behind him, I'll bet his numbers won't move much. He'd get you back in the positive for $EN, moderate frame & milk, boost REA/Marbling - probably has a high tenderness score, too - and HP is good

 

[tylerh87]

I think I've about settled on Hoover Dam. Most of my heifers have a CED in the 3-8 range. Is Hoover Dam safe with his CED of 9? I think he's the best out cross genetically for my heifers, but want to avoid problems if possible. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Lucky_P]

9 is fine.
I don't even squinch up much about a 6... if I know what's behind him.

 

[cow pollinater]

9 is fine, especially on heifers of the same breed. About the only time I'd advise more CE is if you were using it on heifers of unknown heritage with a lot of heterosis from their side of things.

 

[BK9954]

"B3R Back To Basics". on bovineelite.com. thats a great Angus heifer bull. I am using him on ALL my heifers this fall. When you pull him up read about him. His reputation speaks for its self

 

[Son of Butch]

"B3R Back To Basics". on bovineelite.com. thats a great Angus heifer bull. I am using him on ALL my heifers this fall. When you pull him up read about him. His reputation speaks for its self

Wow. He sure is an extreme bull!!! ced 22 bw -4.1 doc 39 hp 17 cem 17 milk 18 $EN 26 and top 10% marbling
As long as you sell all the calves or keep replacement heifers from him, but I sure wouldn't want to feed them out.
Bottom 5% for $B $F $YG Fat RE CW MH YH YW RADG
I think he'd make super f1 replacement females when used on simmentals.
He'd be great for any interested in breeding low-lines too.

 

[BK9954]

"B3R Back To Basics". on bovineelite.com. thats a great Angus heifer bull. I am using him on ALL my heifers this fall. When you pull him up read about him. His reputation speaks for its self

Wow. He sure is an extreme bull!!! ced 22 bw -4.1 doc 39 hp 17 cem 17 milk 18 $EN 26 and top 10% marbling
As long as you sell all the calves or keep replacement heifers from him, but I sure wouldn't want to feed them out.
Bottom 5% for $B $F $YG Fat RE CW MH YH YW RADG
I think he'd make super f1 replacement females when used on simmentals.
He'd be great for any interested in breeding low-lines too.

All the heifers I am breeding are selling as pairs next year and for replacement heifers. I am breeding my angus and hereford and tigerstripes to him. Not feeding any of them out. I am on a schedule to sell half my herd next year for a down payment on my families ranch. Going for baldies and want the best calving ease bull I can get..Dont want to spend a month pulling calves

 

[cow pollinater]

"B3R Back To Basics". on bovineelite.com. thats a great Angus heifer bull. I am using him on ALL my heifers this fall. When you pull him up read about him. His reputation speaks for its self

You found my secret stash of extreme CE! and $EN :lol: Good Job. He is at origen as well as bovine elite so you can get him from any abs rep and save money on shipping charges.
If I wasn't in the process of selling out right now I'd have about thirty calves to show you in another month or so but those heifers are long gone.

 

[UG]

A few years back we had a few Hoover Dam calves. Their growth was a bit disappointing, even for a calving ease bull. A large Angus breeder told me he has the same experience with the bull and wouldn't use him in the future. However, to his credit, the Hoover Dam progeny are born easily and slick off well in the spring.

Another Angus breeder that I respect really likes his Dash daughters and recommended the bull to me.

Check out TC Thunder at Select Sires. He was their high selling bull last year. I have been told that his calves come easy, the slick off, have excellent feet structure, and the daughters have nice teats and udders.