Upgrade son clean up bull?

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Lrj505

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I sold 60 commercial cows bought 15 registered angus pairs. I plan on A I all cows but want a clean up bull. A local vet is selling an UNREGISTERED "upgrade son" for $1500. Seems to be the "cut". Super long and thick. 5 months old. Since he is not registered, my question is is his , What should I ask for ? Does he look legit? Thanks for help. Learning slowly. Have included pic. I will pay for genetics just want to make sure I pay for what I want
 
The way that picture comes across my screen, I cannot make any judgement on the bull.

If you are starting a small Angus registered operation- why would you not employ a registered bull? How will you represent the breeding of the clean up bull's calves? You can only state that he is an Upgrade son and even then, how will you support that? By just telling them the guy you bought him from says he is an Upgrade son?

Furthermore, in this area (Kentucky) selling an unregistered, non-pedigreed 5 month old bull for $1500 would be a very hard sale.

Lastly, if you are breeding only 15 cows totally AI, you are going to find out what I did. Managing a bull to cover a couple cows will never pencil out.
 
The cows I bought are all 12-15 year old pregnant final answer Daughters . I am not trying to get rich just teach my kids to work and make $20k a year to pay for my toys. My father has 1,000 acres of alfalfa and hay. I paid an average of $900 a cow all registered. All pregnancy confirmed by vet. I don't have a ranch so I hay feed. I changed philosophy to ," if I have to feed might as well be better genetics." Advice please. Commercial didn't pay anything. I have 6 acres of alfalfa ( 2,000 bales a year market price $8.00 per bale ) 2 acres of Sudan grass (40 tons a year) and 3 acres of pasture.
 
My bff recommended registered simangus over angus ? Says they are hot ?
 
Lrj505":1fp5i3w5 said:
The cows I bought are all 12-15 year old pregnant final answer Daughters . I am not trying to get rich just teach my kids to work and make $20k a year to pay for my toys. My father has 1,000 acres of alfalfa and hay. I paid an average of $900 a cow all registered. All pregnancy confirmed by vet. I don't have a ranch so I hay feed. I changed philosophy to ," if I have to feed might as well be better genetics." Advice please. Commercial didn't pay anything. I have 6 acres of alfalfa ( 2,000 bales a year market price $8.00 per bale ) 2 acres of Sudan grass (40 tons a year) and 3 acres of pasture.

I am not going to comment on the total care, feeding, boarding and management of your herd of 15 older Angus pairs. The scope of that is too broad. My original comment on a cleanup bull remains the same. Your calves sired by the cleanup bull will be Angus calves - nothing more. Most buyers want to see a certified pedigree if they are buying breeding stock.

Again, it is going to be very difficult or impossible to justify a bull to cleanup such a small herd. However, if your AI program is very poor, then you may need a bull.
 
I`m not a big fan of Upgrade the ones I`ve had were just too plain looking for my liking but they do grow good. I`ve seen some registered bulls at sales this spring sell for not much more than that and they were older so I doubt that`s a bargain. Really can`t see the picture well enough to see what you would be getting so I won`t comment on that particular bull.
 
jd720":1wfn740y said:
I`m not a big fan of Upgrade the ones I`ve had were just too plain looking for my liking but they do grow good. I`ve seen some registered bulls at sales this spring sell for not much more than that and they were older so I doubt that`s a bargain. Really can`t see the picture well enough to see what you would be getting so I won`t comment on that particular bull.

I agree. They have a rugged look. I had an Upgrade calf born today. They do grow well and they are very tough, rugged cattle. Some people don't like the feet. Mine have had great feet. Big and solid.
 
If I had registered Angus and AI to Angus planning on registering the calves I would clean up with a Hereford. That way there is no mistake between the AI calves and the clean up bulls calves. :2cents:
 
I'd find a local breeder who has cattle that he had actually bred for multiple generations and raised for more than one dose of AI and find out what works for them and possibly buy a registered bull from him/her. And if you really want to give your kids some education, set up some of the cows for TAI and let a vet or a tech explain and teach them beyond the bull+cow=$.
 
Not sure about your area but in Kentucky you could buy a very nice registered bull from a good breeder for close to $1500. That would give you many more options on marketing you calves while also having some EPD's to really see what you have.

May also look and see if anyone rents bulls in your area. I have some neighbors who will lease a registered Hereford or angus bull for $300/month.
 

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