I didn't want to hijack a thread but thought this was worth discussion. How many folks always use low bw bulls? Several years ago we started having calves really early, the first year it happened we chalked it up to the extreamly hot summer and fall. I should specify this was happening with our bred heifers. The following year we changed our breeding date to have the calves come a bit later. That year we still had calves coming early, and lost several that were very small and weak. We started researching and came to the conclusion that our problem was self inflicted. Low birth weight bulls typically are shorter gestation bulls, one of the reasons why they are lower birth weight. Stack those genetics long enough you end up with a very short gestation and weak calves, at least that was our conclusion. I am not saying we need to go crazy using high bw bulls but I think we need to be cautious about stacking low bw and pay attention to ced. You can use a higher bw EPD bull and still have acceptable ced for heifers. Anyone have any thoughts on this, or do y'all think I'm nutty as a fruitcake?
Gizmom
Gizmom