Tour of duty

[Hogtiming]

Has anyone seen/ had any calves from him. Curious how his calves are. How are there feet?

 

[rollinhills]

We have a yearling bull well now he's a steer, and a bull calf 3 mo old he looks fine the yearling not so much. Both have good feet so far. The steer has nice big feet just the rest of him is not all that good. I've seen 3 young bull and a couple heifers that look really nice.

 

[Air gator]

I haven't seen anything out of him but just to let you know that he was ranked 2nd in the Angus breed for number of calves registered for the fiscal year 2016. He wasn't in the top 25 in 2015. The photos I have seen of his calves look like he throws long calves. Some seem to have a lot of bone but were described as not clubby-type bone. I think he took a lot of abuse because his original epds were much higher for growth. In the Spring 2014 ABS catalog he had a WW epd of +91 and YW of +148. Now he has +67 for WW and +122 YW. That may have to do with his pedigree correction. His mother was registered as being out of DHD Traveler 6807 but after DNA testing it was discovered that she was sired by Vermillion Dateline. If he were calving ease I would probably take a chance on him. Since he's not, I will have to wait. I know that breeders chase fads but breeders must have seen something they liked to put him second in the breed for purebred calves

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

He was pushed by the AI techs.

 

[Luckiamute]

I haven't used Tour of Duty myself, but a friend of mine has, getting his first calves this past spring and summer. He said the main things he has noticed are increased body length and better-than-average growth.

 

[Air gator]

Named'em,
I think purebred breeders jumped on Tour of Duty because of his epds for WW and YW (and at the time his CED).
The comments from people who have seen him in person always refer to his length.
There was a period of time when his epds dropped and there was negative chatter.
Now, I think people like his calves and the Riley Brothers genetics.

 

[bse]

I dont think he will be anywhere near the top for registrations next time. I've seen a few calves not impressed, great marketing on his first numbers. I wouldn't use him then certainly not now, if the semen was free. Thats just me!!

 

[Air gator]

I found this Tour of Duty heifer from Crouch Angus Valley that looks pretty good to me.

 

[Flatbroke]

I used him on 5 cows last year had 3 births 2 bulls and a heifer the bulls made 2 of the fastest growing steers I have ever seen, and the heifer is going into my cow herd she is a fine looking heifer and only a few pounds lighter than her steer half brothers. So I would use him again.

 

[Air gator]

Flatbroke,
Thanks for your feedback. I always like hear from breeders with first-hand experience.
His epds for BW and growth have enough data to be reliable. Now, it is just a matter of the maternal and carcass.
I think people like Active Duty enough that they will use Tour of Duty because he is available (and Active Duty doesn't seem to be).

 

[elkwc]

I used him on 5 cows last year had 3 births 2 bulls and a heifer the bulls made 2 of the fastest growing steers I have ever seen, and the heifer is going into my cow herd she is a fine looking heifer and only a few pounds lighter than her steer half brothers. So I would use him again.

Thanks for the post. I have had him on my radar for a while. A local breeder has a son of his in a sale the 1st weekend in March. I plan to go take a look at him. His herd is one of the best performance herds in this area and the calf compares very well with the rest in the sale. We need to add some frame to some of our cows. Too many breeders have went way to moderate for what the feeder buyers demand here. I'm developing a calf out of a War Party daughter. He has added length, good muscling and the heaviest calf for his age I've raised. So feel the RB calf might compliment him well.