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<blockquote data-quote="DiamondSCattleCo" data-source="post: 148452" data-attributes="member: 2862"><p>My herd is made up of purebred Black Angus, purebred Shorthorns, some Black/Shorthorn crosses, and a few black baldies (hereford cross) that I pick up here and there.</p><p></p><p>Originally, I started running just the blacks and a few baldies, crossing to either PB Simmental or PB Maine bulls. The Simmental crosses worked ok, with feedlot performance in the 2.5-3 lb/day range (up to 800 lbs, not pushing them hard with free choice hay and a few pounds of oats or rolled barley per day, no implants), however I thought I was missing a little punch, in comparison to a neighbor of mine who ran shorthorn and shorthorn cross cows bred to Simmental.</p><p></p><p>So I bought a purebred Shorthorn bull and bred him to a few of my better performing cows. I saw an immediate gain in weaning weight (about 30 more pounds of calf weaned) and another 50 lbs of calf in March when I shipped. This was echoed the following year on a larger cross section of animals. Birth weights were up about 10 pounds, but I feel this is nothing that can't be overcome with proper bull frame selection. We did have fewer birthing problems, despite the heavier weights, but our bull is pretty much perfect (IMO) with a small head, narrow front shoulders moving into a heavy hind end.</p><p></p><p>We've tried another Shorthorn bull this year, so we'll see if we just got an exceptional bull, or if the increased growth trend continues. I feel pretty good about it (enough to begin breeding PB Shorthorns), and at least 1 feedlot up here will pay 2-3 cents premium on Shorthorn and Shorthorn-X feeders as they feel they get the best feed conversion and best meat from Shorthorn animals.</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure what the US Shorthorn PB market is like, but up here, Shorthorn breeders are moving away from the showy junk that was all the rage a few years back. Its going to be a little tougher finding a solid hind end on a Shorthorn bull than on an exotic or Angus bull, but not impossible. I personally like the SaskValley Shorthorn stock due to their heavy hind quarters, but I'm not sure if you'll find them outside Canada.</p><p></p><p>Hope this helps a bit.</p><p></p><p>Rod</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DiamondSCattleCo, post: 148452, member: 2862"] My herd is made up of purebred Black Angus, purebred Shorthorns, some Black/Shorthorn crosses, and a few black baldies (hereford cross) that I pick up here and there. Originally, I started running just the blacks and a few baldies, crossing to either PB Simmental or PB Maine bulls. The Simmental crosses worked ok, with feedlot performance in the 2.5-3 lb/day range (up to 800 lbs, not pushing them hard with free choice hay and a few pounds of oats or rolled barley per day, no implants), however I thought I was missing a little punch, in comparison to a neighbor of mine who ran shorthorn and shorthorn cross cows bred to Simmental. So I bought a purebred Shorthorn bull and bred him to a few of my better performing cows. I saw an immediate gain in weaning weight (about 30 more pounds of calf weaned) and another 50 lbs of calf in March when I shipped. This was echoed the following year on a larger cross section of animals. Birth weights were up about 10 pounds, but I feel this is nothing that can't be overcome with proper bull frame selection. We did have fewer birthing problems, despite the heavier weights, but our bull is pretty much perfect (IMO) with a small head, narrow front shoulders moving into a heavy hind end. We've tried another Shorthorn bull this year, so we'll see if we just got an exceptional bull, or if the increased growth trend continues. I feel pretty good about it (enough to begin breeding PB Shorthorns), and at least 1 feedlot up here will pay 2-3 cents premium on Shorthorn and Shorthorn-X feeders as they feel they get the best feed conversion and best meat from Shorthorn animals. I'm not sure what the US Shorthorn PB market is like, but up here, Shorthorn breeders are moving away from the showy junk that was all the rage a few years back. Its going to be a little tougher finding a solid hind end on a Shorthorn bull than on an exotic or Angus bull, but not impossible. I personally like the SaskValley Shorthorn stock due to their heavy hind quarters, but I'm not sure if you'll find them outside Canada. Hope this helps a bit. Rod [/QUOTE]
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