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Breeding / Calving Issues
Selecting the right bull to help my herd
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<blockquote data-quote="Katpau" data-source="post: 1130102" data-attributes="member: 9933"><p>Your goals sound similar to mine 25 years ago. If you are looking to make replacements, make sure you keep maternal traits as your #1 priority. Good udders, docility, milking ability to match your environment, good feet and legs, should all be more important than maxing out weaning weights. I think AI may be a good choice, but make sure you do as much research as you can into the daughters of the bull you chose to use. Don't use a young unproven bull, and find as many people with milking daughters as you can. Find out how happy they are with those daughters. Remember epd's, only evaluate some things. Don't forget forget to look at the whole animal. It is sometimes too easy to get caught up in all the impressive numbers.</p><p></p><p>bcarty seems to assume you are planning to sell bulls. I saw no mention of that in your post. You mention only breeding bulls for your own use. This can work, but if you only plan on running 20 cows, you will likely end up with quite a bit of line-breeding and inbreeding, when you use your own bulls. I am sure as a Brangus breeder you are quite aware of the effects of hybrid vigor, so you are probably also aware of the opposite effect that can result from too much line-breeding. It will also increase the likelihood of discovering the recessive defects that may be lurking in every herd. Perhaps once you have the maternal herd you desire, you might consider buying a good cow or heifer with bloodlines that would be an out-cross for your herd. You could raise bulls out of her to use back on your herd.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Katpau, post: 1130102, member: 9933"] Your goals sound similar to mine 25 years ago. If you are looking to make replacements, make sure you keep maternal traits as your #1 priority. Good udders, docility, milking ability to match your environment, good feet and legs, should all be more important than maxing out weaning weights. I think AI may be a good choice, but make sure you do as much research as you can into the daughters of the bull you chose to use. Don't use a young unproven bull, and find as many people with milking daughters as you can. Find out how happy they are with those daughters. Remember epd's, only evaluate some things. Don't forget forget to look at the whole animal. It is sometimes too easy to get caught up in all the impressive numbers. bcarty seems to assume you are planning to sell bulls. I saw no mention of that in your post. You mention only breeding bulls for your own use. This can work, but if you only plan on running 20 cows, you will likely end up with quite a bit of line-breeding and inbreeding, when you use your own bulls. I am sure as a Brangus breeder you are quite aware of the effects of hybrid vigor, so you are probably also aware of the opposite effect that can result from too much line-breeding. It will also increase the likelihood of discovering the recessive defects that may be lurking in every herd. Perhaps once you have the maternal herd you desire, you might consider buying a good cow or heifer with bloodlines that would be an out-cross for your herd. You could raise bulls out of her to use back on your herd. [/QUOTE]
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