SS Niagara son

[snakegap1]

I got a new Angus bull to put over my red-baldly and red angus cows. I don't plan on using him on heifers'. I am not very knowledgeable on how to read the EPD's.
He is an AI son of SS Niagara and I saw his mother and granddam. Reg # 19936697. I hope to be able to sell decent feeders and keep replacements. I will try and post a photo as well.

 

[Stickney94]

The bull's epd's say higher Birthweight and lower calving ease -- offset by higher weaning and yearling weights -- which seems to align with your plan for selling feeders.

As far as replacements -- the maternal EPDs aren't stellar -- heifer pregnancy for one -- but if your cow herd is solid it can easily balance out. If you saw the bulls dam/granddam and they were structurally sound you probably garnered more information than the epds.

 

[snakegap1]

The bull's epd's say higher Birthweight and lower calving ease -- offset by higher weaning and yearling weights -- which seems to align with your plan for selling feeders.

As far as replacements -- the maternal EPDs aren't stellar -- heifer pregnancy for one -- but if your cow herd is solid it can easily balance out. If you saw the bulls dam/granddam and they were structurally sound you probably garnered more information than the epds.

Thanks for the feedback. I have been using cow maker bulls for several years and I thought I might need a little more power but I don't want a bunch of terminal heifers'! The dam and granddam looked very solid and had perfect udders.

 

[snakegap1]

 

[snakegap1]

I finally got a picture of the new bull. He will be 2 in September. Now that I have figured out how to post I will post some cow pictures as well.

 

[Son of Butch]

View attachment 17875

I like him and think he will do a good job in what you want to achieve.
My guess is after you see calves on the ground from him, you might even feel comfortable using him on some heifers, but that's just a guess and only time will tell.

 

[jscunn]

In my experience (very limited) the HP EPD is real. 3 Niagara heifers went in the replacement pen only one came out bred. only had one other open heifer out of 19..

Neighbors seem to have good luck with him, however.

 

[moses388]

Bull looks good. Sounds like you found what you wanted. I am going to ask the dumb question - did the bull pass a breeding soundness exam (BSE)? I'm sure he is fine, but it doesn't hurt to be sure. The SC EPD is below average so I would want to be certain.

 

[W.B.]

I will agree on the HP epd part with Niagara but I have had none of them come up open as cows. I theorize that it's because they are growing so much they don't breed up well as yearlings. Nice bull by the way I like him.

 

[snakegap1]

Bull looks good. Sounds like you found what you wanted. I am going to ask the dumb question - did the bull pass a breeding soundness exam (BSE)? I'm sure he is fine, but it doesn't hurt to be sure. The SC EPD is below average so I would want to be certain.

He did, the breeder provided it to me.

 

[wbvs58]

In my experience (very limited) the HP EPD is real. 3 Niagara heifers went in the replacement pen only one came out bred. only had one other open heifer out of 19..

Neighbors seem to have good luck with him, however.

js, I've had 2 heifers by Niagara that I retained, both conceived on 1st insemination at 14 mths of age and both bred back on 1st insemination.

Ken