Sire look back - what have you experienced?

[hornedfrogbbq]

It takes us several years before we can look back and really know how a specific sire has mixed with our own herd's diverse genetics. Some mix better than others.

What are your top 3-5 (or less) that when you look back now, have had a big impact on your herd through retention of daughters or have added noticable positive traits (improved udders, improved feet, moderate frame, added growth characteristics, were efficient users of inputs/ held their flesh, fertility, etc)?

When you look back, which sires are you super happy you used?

Ours would be:

Connealy Impression - love his daughters. Great mix of moderate frame, fertility, mix of growth and marbling, etc.

Rampage - our experience has been very positive using him. He added some depth and growth.

Mill Bar Hickok - probably our cowboys favorite female maker.

 

[Caustic Burno]

This is an open ended question commercial versus registered.

 

[hornedfrogbbq]

This is an open ended question commercial versus registered.

I would let you all interpret any way you wanted to. Although different, I would say they are pretty related but i hope any answer to it would be informative. Which sire and why...and for a relative novice like us with less than 10 years of experience, we can use all the real world data we can get!

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I like the cows we kept out of our Bismarck bull.

 

[NEFarmwife]

I wish we had registered females even 5 years ago to breed our Styles Up N Coming to. I know he's a female maker and I could have had some nice registered females out of him by now.

Instead, his brother got the fame for what we've known he could do, all this time.

 

[T & B farms]

Connealy right answer has put some awful nice females in my herd. They are moderate, very easy fleshing, nice uddered, fertile, and very calm. Continually bring home the biggest calves.
I should probably still be using him, but there are so many options out there now.
I've been using mill bar Hickok in his place for the time being.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Braxton Giant and Vindicator lines in Hereford, New Design in Angus.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Why ?

 

[hornedfrogbbq]

We've used him for 4 years I think. My guys love the look. They are born small and grow like heck. The feet and udders are very very good. Our fertility rate with his daughters is probably the best in our herd. With the cows we bred him to, the outcome has been very positive.

We have been told his sons marble well (we castrate all...bull calves are terminal in our herd) but I will have more info on that when our first load of steers finishes in the feedlot and gets butchered. I'll share that info when I get it. We have his sons and Rampage sons being fed out right now. The feedback from the feedlot is that it is their best pen of steers since they came, no death loss (which is saying something considering how bad the winter in KS was). We'll see how they finish that race and how they score on the rail.

 

[Till-Hill]

Right Answer has worked wonders for us. Only got 1 left as people always buy them. Some get a tick snotty at calving but not terrible.

My favorite cow on the place today is an SAF Connection. I'd take 1,000 of her.

Image Maker worked great, tho they can have an attitude but the way they can raise a calf I can look past it.

I got a set of ET clean up bulls and some ET Bismarcks x Kaboom x 004 and I really hope they are what the pedigree indicates, good cows!

 

[NEFarmwife]

We've used him for 4 years I think. My guys love the look. They are born small and grow like heck. The feet and udders are very very good. Our fertility rate with his daughters is probably the best in our herd. With the cows we bred him to, the outcome has been very positive.

We have been told his sons marble well (we castrate all...bull calves are terminal in our herd) but I will have more info on that when our first load of steers finishes in the feedlot and gets butchered. I'll share that info when I get it. We have his sons and Rampage sons being fed out right now. The feedback from the feedlot is that it is their best pen of steers since they came, no death loss (which is saying something considering how bad the winter in KS was). We'll see how they finish that race and how they score on the rail.

Would love that feedback also. We used Hicock this year.

 

[hornedfrogbbq]

You bet. They are going to send me the feedlot close out sheets as well as the grades and yields coming out the kill shack.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Shear Force, Hooks Pacesetter, Built Right

 

[jscunn]

Till Hill,
I agree whole heartedly about Connection, One Connection daughter, produced 4 daughters. 7 granddaughters, 3 great granddaughters, and 1 great great granddaughters still in the herd. All from a cow that would only be 13 if she were alive today. I am thinking about using some SAF Connection this fall.

I would also wish I could use Corona, if you could get AMF calves only. Good cattle, slick haired, fertile, milked well.

 

[CreekAngus]

Western Hauler: not real feminine, but cars would stop to look at the cows. Wide, deep, square and docile.
Lead On, Alliance and VRD: they made good cattle, nothing spectacular, just rock solid quality cattle, the cowboy kind.

 

[Nesikep]

I'll just list my sires and make a note on each

Sam, Red angus.. meh.. his daughters weren't bad but HARD on fences

Zal, Salers.. had a lot of good cows from him, really good feet and udders.. Some crazies (this was in the mid 90's), but some of my most docile cows as well, good mommas too and awesome calving ease

Rustam, Shorthorn, got a lot of good cows from him too.. typically more docile but got some crazies in there too, good milk, the roan wasn't that marketable though they were pretty

Bruno, Shorthorn, mean bugger, kept a son and he turned mean quick too, Kept a couple daughters and they all fell out of line one way or another in short order, none of his bloodlines left

Arnold, Gelbvieh, I think he was the best, packed some meat on the framy shorthorns, got lots of excellent daughters and really haven't had to cull many at all.. Of the first 6 I kept I still have 5 (9 years later), and the one I don't have had a uterine tear/infection so hard to fault him for that.. pretty good udders, pretty good milk, No crazies, all docile

Timo, Limousin.. meh, he should have been terminal, Kept a few daughters, 2 have had vaginal prolapse issues and they were from maternal lines that never had a history of it.. Daughters milked well, perhaps too well and they'd lose a lot of condition and look like a can of smashed arseholes by the end of the summer, I think I might keep a couple 1/4 limo heifer calves this year, I think they might be alright.

Marko, Homeraised, Gelbvieh/shorthorn/Saler, Nice meaty calves, He increased the white markings depending on the cow, meaty calves, got 4 daughters, 3 have calved and they're raising nice calves

Hector, Homeraised, Gelbvieh/Shorthorn/Hereford, I'm pushing my luck using him on heifers but I gotta say this is the nicest group of calves I've ever had, and the most docile bunch too (there's only one that's a little skittish), even the ones that are probably going to be a little smaller at weaning still look like powerful animals, the heifer calves so far none look like they'd be a mistake to keep as replacements.. Keeping one of his linebred sons (Zeus) that's seriously impressing me.. he's 54 days old and he's a tank, sniffing butts already and has the bull swagger. I feel like I've made more progress in the last 5 years than the previous 20 so that's encouraging.







Next purchased bull will either be another Gelbvieh which will push my herd to 3/4 GV or back to a Salers and re-up on that a bit.. I think with docile mommas I shouldn't have much docility issues, and the breed has come a long way too since 1994

 

[W.B.]

We have about 50 S Summit 956 daughters here and I have to say they are the nicest Angus cows I have worked with. They range in age from 2 to 5 so I think I can say at this point they are going to stick around. He won't blow you away with carcass epds if that is your deal.

 

[Air gator]

WB,
Summit just disappeared. Never heard a word about what happened.
The feedback was all positive about his daughters and then boom, he was gone.

 

[W.B.]

WB,
Summit just disappeared. Never heard a word about what happened.
The feedback was all positive about his daughters and then boom, he was gone.

He would be ten years old now. They don't all live to be 15. Select Sires stills has around if you inquire. At least our rep still had some last winter. It may well be gone by now.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

My 5 Sav Priority calves have been great! Sold two Reg. Bulls and have kept a heifer I bred