vs_cattle":1x3j9xp2 said:You Can check out his EPDs
WAguy":3a7xe9rq said:I was wondering how you can know how good of udders will result from a beef bull without seeing his dam and sisters. Any kind of scoring or grading system?
WAguy":3th2efvg said:Yes, I am aware of dairy udder scoring, though I don't know much about them. I've heard they score for udder snugness, teat length and placement, height of front vs rear quarters, etc.
My interest is in someday breeding some dual-purpose cows - beef/dairy, as family cows for milking and meat production. Would breed a dairy cow to beef bull. Of course, to hand milk, need teats of a certain length, and a beef bull could mess that up. Don't necessarily want to drive a long ways to evaluate the teats/udders of relatives before ordering semen.
I have seen beef cows with teats too big for the calf to suck on, so I would assume you serious producers pay considerable attention to that. I can understand not having as detailed a scoring as dairy, but shouldn't there be something? How much do you all worry about udder/teat issues?
WAguy":4hpdu6xl said:Yes, I am aware of dairy udder scoring, though I don't know much about them. I've heard they score for udder snugness, teat length and placement, height of front vs rear quarters, etc.
My interest is in someday breeding some dual-purpose cows - beef/dairy, as family cows for milking and meat production. Would breed a dairy cow to beef bull. Of course, to hand milk, need teats of a certain length, and a beef bull could mess that up. Don't necessarily want to drive a long ways to evaluate the teats/udders of relatives before ordering semen.
I have seen beef cows with teats too big for the calf to suck on, so I would assume you serious producers pay considerable attention to that. I can understand not having as detailed a scoring as dairy, but shouldn't there be something? How much do you all worry about udder/teat issues?
Since you want a combination breed, why not just get some high milking beef cows.
WAguy":nya75fpd said:Since you want a combination breed, why not just get some high milking beef cows.
What would those be? How much milk are you talking about?
I figure that a dairy cross would have less muscle mass to take feed away from milk, yet when bred to beef, the calf would be pretty beefy.
Here's what I think I want to cross with dairy:
A small framed red angus with a nice disposition and udder, not too big or too small of teats. Is this possible?
TNMasterBeefProducer":3npy43px said:A bulls scrotal circumference has a direct correlation between fertility of his sons and daughters and udder attachment in his daughters as well. That is how you can tell. The bigger a bulls nuts the more fertile his offspring will be, the more cows he can breed, and the tighter his daugthers udders will be. Of course the dam plays a role in this as well but not as much as the bull does. Seems like Knersie in his infinite wisdom put it better than I did.
WAguy":25bvlh3j said:Frankie, that's an interesting place, ABS. I could spend alot of time there. On that graph, is below zero a bad thing? I assume below zero on teat size doesn't just mean small teats, but rather less than ideal, whatever that is.
Beef11":sw89npdo said:ABS in years past has had a chart next to some bulls that gives a guestimate of traits on progeny. I've seen Udder traits listed there.