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This mix of bull likes standing like this. Its what makes me notice them. Every one we've kept, produces good growers. And, they produce brindles a lot of the time. And yall know how i like my brindles. One of the grandkids shows a brindle heifer out of a older fancy stance bull. She had 2 in the county show and could only sell one. Buyer gave back the one that made the sale, but the other, a brindle, did not make the sale but thats the one every one wanted. Daughter is still getting calls asking if she wants to sell.... This heifer is massive. They almost get too big cow wise, but, the steers grow really good. Daughter has several she's fed out. SHe even has one that is half magoo, out of a heifer who bred to the waygu. Calf grew terrible on heifer, but once on feed, out grew everyone else. I have 2 brindle bulls out of this line of red bulls. They had their own herd this year and we'll see how many will come out brindle. I know this isnt clear to everyone, but, what i can say is if the bull looks like this, stands like this....makes a great bull on our ranch.
 
When I was a kid, I thought that conformation was just for show too, But I learned through horses early, that if you get the angles off, the animal breaks down quick. When you pick a bull for breeding, he needs to be correct in his angles as he is going to be very stressed when he starts courting the women. He will start standing guard at her side for a few days before he can actually breed her, but he is going to try and if his angles are off, say in his hips, and rear legs, he is going to get sore quicker. He is not going to be able to stay with her and if another cow is in heat, about the same time, he may not be able to breed both. If his back is not straight and sloped badly and his loin is weak, that is where his power is to rise up and stand behind the cow. This bull is going to be sore and worn out and you are going to have long gestation because he is going to miss heats.

I go nuts over the conformation on a bull, because, he must be better than any of your cows if you are going to bring your herd up. If you just throw anything out there, then you start pulling your herd down. But make sure he is the best animal in the pasture. Make sure his back is straight and make sure when he walks, that he steps in the front foot print with the back foot as he moves. That will cover a lot of problems that exist in the hip and hocks. And if he is missing muscle, his calves will suffer. That is what you get paid for as they cross the scale. So if he is missing 100 lbs off one one side of his hip, that is a lot of weight to be leaving behind. Each of his calves may be missing 100 lbs too when they cross the scale. You do not want that. Same with every body part on him. Make sure he is a nice full bodied bull.

I found this video to keep me from writing a book and there are some good points this man makes in choosing a herd bull. This is not a show bull he is speaking of. He is talking about you keeping a sound bull. And if you breed to an unsound bull, your calves will be unsound.
 
I wanted to add that when you see a bull or a cow that stands stretched out like that where it wants to stand like a walking horse, avoid that animal. It means that its thurls are not midway between the pins and hooks. It means that her thurls are more than halfway back, and it will not allow him to get his rear legs up underneath him. This is a great weakness for a bull. There is a dairy video if I can find it that describes this perfectly but it is in a Dairy class, but still, it as important in a breeding bull that you want to make your calves better than the cows they come from. I will see if I can find it and mark the spot where she speaks of this fault and why.
All of this is very interesting and important to your herd.
 
On this video, I think I have it marked, but slide the timer to 8:35, and she will explain why your bull stands camped out behind. She may not go into detail why this is bad for a breeding bull, but it is a strong weakness, but you will see where the problems comes from.
 
Chuckie said:
When I was a kid, I thought that conformation was just for show too, But I learned through horses early, that if you get the angles off, the animal breaks down quick. When you pick a bull for breeding, he needs to be correct in his angles as he is going to be very stressed when he starts courting the women. He will start standing guard at her side for a few days before he can actually breed her, but he is going to try and if his angles are off, say in his hips, and rear legs, he is going to get sore quicker. He is not going to be able to stay with her and if another cow is in heat, about the same time, he may not be able to breed both. If his back is not straight and sloped badly and his loin is weak, that is where his power is to rise up and stand behind the cow. This bull is going to be sore and worn out and you are going to have long gestation because he is going to miss heats.

I go nuts over the conformation on a bull, because, he must be better than any of your cows if you are going to bring your herd up. If you just throw anything out there, then you start pulling your herd down. But make sure he is the best animal in the pasture. Make sure his back is straight and make sure when he walks, that he steps in the front foot print with the back foot as he moves. That will cover a lot of problems that exist in the hip and hocks. And if he is missing muscle, his calves will suffer. That is what you get paid for as they cross the scale. So if he is missing 100 lbs off one one side of his hip, that is a lot of weight to be leaving behind. Each of his calves may be missing 100 lbs too when they cross the scale. You do not want that. Same with every body part on him. Make sure he is a nice full bodied bull.

I found this video to keep me from writing a book and there are some good points this man makes in choosing a herd bull. This is not a show bull he is speaking of. He is talking about you keeping a sound bull. And if you breed to an unsound bull, your calves will be unsound.
Click to expand...

Great comment and a really good video. One of the best, most useful classes I took in college was a conformation class.
 
Chuckie said:
When I was a kid, I thought that conformation was just for show too, But I learned through horses early, that if you get the angles off, the animal breaks down quick. When you pick a bull for breeding, he needs to be correct in his angles as he is going to be very stressed when he starts courting the women. He will start standing guard at her side for a few days before he can actually breed her, but he is going to try and if his angles are off, say in his hips, and rear legs, he is going to get sore quicker. He is not going to be able to stay with her and if another cow is in heat, about the same time, he may not be able to breed both. If his back is not straight and sloped badly and his loin is weak, that is where his power is to rise up and stand behind the cow. This bull is going to be sore and worn out and you are going to have long gestation because he is going to miss heats.

I go nuts over the conformation on a bull, because, he must be better than any of your cows if you are going to bring your herd up. If you just throw anything out there, then you start pulling your herd down. But make sure he is the best animal in the pasture. Make sure his back is straight and make sure when he walks, that he steps in the front foot print with the back foot as he moves. That will cover a lot of problems that exist in the hip and hocks. And if he is missing muscle, his calves will suffer. That is what you get paid for as they cross the scale. So if he is missing 100 lbs off one one side of his hip, that is a lot of weight to be leaving behind. Each of his calves may be missing 100 lbs too when they cross the scale. You do not want that. Same with every body part on him. Make sure he is a nice full bodied bull.

I found this video to keep me from writing a book and there are some good points this man makes in choosing a herd bull. This is not a show bull he is speaking of. He is talking about you keeping a sound bull. And if you breed to an unsound bull, your calves will be unsound.
Click to expand...

This is a very good video that everyone with cattle should watch. Thanks for sharing it.
 

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