Shorthorn bulls

Help Support CattleToday:

The 12 bulls in the videos have birthweights ranging from 86 to 108 pounds. The average is 98.7 pounds. I don't keep the weaning and yearling weights at my house. My brother has those records at his house. I would guess the average adj. 205 day weight to be 550 - 600 pounds and the average yearling weight to be 900-1000 pounds. They will probably average around 1700 pounds when they turn 2 years old. These are the weights that our sale bulls have averaged the last few years.
At this point in time we have not tested anything for PHA. To the best of my knowledge there has not been a case in Canada.
TH is a very different situation. Most cattle going through sales are now TH tested and some breeders have chosen to test their whole cow herd. There have been some breeding stock that have been found to be TH carriers.
Every bull we sell or use ourself is tested for TH. Last fall we tested the entire cow herd. We found 2 cows that we purchased a few years ago that were carrriers. We have chosen to cull those cows from the purebred herd and breed them in our commercial herd. Because of this, in the future we will be able to declare our sale bulls TH free by parentage, instead of testing every bull every year. It is definately a manageable defect if you choose to use TH free bulls, NO EXCEPTIONS. If you choose to use TH carrier cows for breeding stock then you have to continue to test the calves from those cows.
 
98.7 lb birth weights are a lil heavy wouldnt ya say? Not something most cattlemen would be interested in using in a cross breeding operation. 97 to 108 sounds like Holstein calves bwts to me.
Mebbe ya need some angus in the mix up there to help ya trim down those birth weights, increase your weaning weights your ashamed to post and help you with your carcass qualities to boot. When cow/calf operators are asked yearly at our production sale --what one thing they look for in a bull over and above all other things -- the say calving ease!
Just food for thought-------------- Sim
 
simangus23":37gzz6wh said:
98.7 lb birth weights are a lil heavy wouldnt ya say? Not something most cattlemen would be interested in using in a cross breeding operation. 97 to 108 sounds like Holstein calves bwts to me.
Mebbe ya need some angus in the mix up there to help ya trim down those birth weights, increase your weaning weights your ashamed to post and help you with your carcass qualities to boot. When cow/calf operators are asked yearly at our production sale --what one thing they look for in a bull over and above all other things -- the say calving ease!
Just food for thought-------------- Sim
Click to expand...

turning grass into beef you had better do what Sim has said. The expert has spoken. We should all go add Angus to our herds to lower our birth weights increase our weaning weights and help our carcass qualities. Didn't know Angus was such a miracle breed but if Sim says so we all had better do it. :lol2: :lol2:
 
simangus23":3d8f270a said:
Mebbe ya need some angus in the mix up there to help ya trim down those birth weights, increase your weaning weights your ashamed to post and help you with your carcass qualities to boot.
Click to expand...

<chuckle> Now I've heard it all. Mixing Angus into a purebred Shorthorn herd? <sigh>

Anyway, for those unfamiliar with Saskvalley's bulls, you'd do yourself a favor to check them out. I've used Saskvalley's bulls over the years and can honestly say they were the best bulls that have ever walked on this ranch. Easy calving (yes, "high" birth weights will calve easy), and very easy keeping.

Rod
 
It would be interesting to hear from some reputable Angus breeders in northern Canada on what their birthweights avg.It would be even more interesting if they used American genetics and see how they compare to a herd in south Texas using similar genetics.I do not argue the point that birthweight is a valid concern in bull buying decisions.
 
We calve out around 500 cows annually in total (purebred and commercial). If my memeory is correct I think we helped 3 mature cows calve this year. We don't have time to mess around with cows that can't take care of themselves. That includes calving difficulties, poor feet, poor udders, poor mothering ability, etc, etc, etc. Out cows work for us, not us for the cows.
 
It took me few minutes but I found some information that I posted last fall. This is a complete picture of our calf weights from 2008, not just on 12 head.

We weighed calves off 101 head of purebred cows. 5 cows had multiple births of which 9 calves survived. These 9 calves averaged 66.7 pounds. I have not included these in the following information as I feel this would skew the results.

42 mature cows had bull calves totaling 4122 pounds of calf. 4122 pounds / 42 head = 98.1 pound average.
34 mature cows had heifer calves totaling 3114 pounds of calf. 3114 pounds / 34 head = 91.6 pound average.
10 2 year old heifers had bull calves totaling 826 pounds of calf. 826 pounds / 10 = 82.6 pound average.
10 2 year old heifers had heifer calves totaling 808 pounds of calf. 808 pounds / 10 = 80.8 pound average.
4122 + 3144 + 826 + 808 = 8870 pounds.
8870 pounds / 96 head = 92.4 pound average.
 
If I recall your cowherd correctly, and its been a few years since you gave me the tour, your cows are around that 1300 lb area, right? So that 98.1 lb birth weight is 7.5% of body weight. If anyone has a cow that isn't able to calve 8% of her own body weight unassisted, that cow should be hamburger.

I won't hijack this thread and turn it into another birthweight thread, but the idea of dropping birthweights even lower than 7% or 8% of mature body weight is rediculous.

Rod
 
Great looking cattle and I would gather from the lack of response that there must be some respect for them out there. In 1999 I bought some bulls in Alberta including a grandson of a Saskvalley Visa bull from Les Peterson.He left some great daughters in my herd.
 
Does the shorthorn assa. still allow appx. reg? Are you still allow to breed up? Why don't you all get off the Angus, I have seen a hole lot in the last 35 years, many state fairs , many breeds come and go. The Euros , The Irish Shorthorns, Even maines, and Chis and through it all THE BLACK ANGUS was in the middle of the mix...Like it or not I do not see it a changing any time soon. The Black Angus have made there mark,it is the mark the rest are tring to obtain...like it or not, right or wrong,..In America(USA) Longhorns,Herefords, and now Black Angus have had there day and if BA are replaced it will probably be a composite of some kind...

Your Shorthorns are beautiful, I like to have some, .....If you asked me my favorite breeds it probably be 1. Shorthorns 2. hereford 3. Black Angus , My mama cows are Black Angus and BA/Hereford crosses

AGAIN YOUR SHORTHORNS ARE BEAUTIFUL
 
Thanks for the comments.
I did not start this thread in order to stir up a debate. I simply did it for interest's sake. I appreciate looking at the pictures that other people post. The way I look at it, pictures give more information than a written description, video more than pictures, and in person is the best way to evaluate cattle. Thus I posted the video.
Yes both the American and Canadian associations allow you to 'breed up'. In the past is has always been referred to as the appendix program. I think that the American association is now calling it the shorthorn plus program.
Personally, at this point in time I won't use appendix breeding stock. I don't begrudge anyone who does. It's just my opinion that as long as I can find fullblood shorthorns that exhibit the traits that I am looking for then why use appendix cattle? If the day ever comes when I can't find fullblood shorthorns that have the characteristics that I am looking for I will gladly recant and find another way to turn grass into beef.
I firmly believe that all cattlemen (and women) need to keep in mind that we are not raising cattle, we are raising beef. We are capturing energy (the sun) with plants (especially grass in my case) and converting it into a food for human consumption. If a person can accomplish that in a profitable and environmentally conscientious manner with whatever breed they choose then more power to them. If a man can put food on the table for his family raising chinchillas then who am I to argue?
 
The day we took the pictures it was about 0* F. Plus there was some wind as well. That temperature is very common for daytime highs at this time of the year. Lately we have had a lot of wind which is not common. The cattle don't mind those temperatures at all, as long as they have a way to get out of the wind. We are fortunate that the land where we winter the cow herd has lots of bush on it.
 
We weighed the bulls yesterday. The 12 bulls that I put on you tube averaged 1684 pounds. It looks like we will catalogue 27 bulls. All 27 averaged 1623 pounds. One February bull (that we bought in dam), 4 bulls born the last week of April, 3 June bulls, and rest all born in May.
7 bulls are out of the Master bull that we bought from you and one is out of the Viking bull.
 
Probably a stupid question, are they 07 calves or 08 calves? They would be heavy calves if 08 born-over 1600 pounds?

badlands
 

Similar threads

Chapin81
New bulls delivered
Replies
3
Views
394
A.J.
A
tex452
New bulls
Replies
17
Views
933
tex452
tex452
C
Santa Gertrudis Bulls?
2
Replies
39
Views
3K
Caustic Burno
Caustic Burno
Chuckie
Angus Bulls of the Past Videos I Can Find
Replies
16
Views
666
SBMF 2015
SBMF 2015
Warren Allison
Corriente cows x Black Hereford bulls
Replies
7
Views
1K
Warren Allison
Warren Allison

Latest posts

Top