what do quality cattle look like?

[ez14]

Im starting this thread so beginners have some thing to judge there cattle on. I was thinking people could put up pictures of both good and poor quality cattle and explain why they think there good/bad. The pictures could be pictures off the internet or of your own cattle or any where you can find pictures. Im going to put up some pictures to get us started and i hope you all will join in because im not very experienced i`ll put up some pictures And leave the critiquing to the more experienced
pic 1
pic2
pic3
pic4
pic5
pic6

 

[uplandnut]

ez14 I think they all look pretty good. I like their top line to be as flat as possible, but I've only had cattle for the last year. I am interested to hear what others like.

 

[dun]

The last cows looks like a decent cow with her working clothes on, BUT, that udder needs help

 

[ez14]

The pictures or just random pictures from the internet none of them are mine pic3 is from craigslist

 

[fenceman]

Good thread :clap:
They all look good to me. I'll post some pics soon

 

[JMJ Farms]

 

[ez14]

Good thread :clap:
They all look good to me. I'll post some pics soon

please do :cboy:

 

[Caustic Burno]

That is a loaded question what is great here isn't great there.
Regional differences are huge.
I know quality is quality .
The better question in my mind is what will work as well in your region.
In my neck of the woods this is about as good as they get, raise a heII of a calf and maintain
BCS on grass.

 

[cow pollinater]

Quality cattle look like they are sound enough to fit their purpose and environment. They tend to look similar to the other cattle in their herd since the owner is trying to maintain a certain "quality" and has taken steps to move in that direction that includes using genetics that match his/her ideal and culling outliers. They calve in a time frame that best fits their environment and management. They look cared for. They most often have only one brand. They are often grouped by age but the quality of the younger stock in this scenario is equal to or exceeds the older stock.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Great explanation CP.

I like the Craigslist cow. About the best I've ever seen on there.

 

[ez14]

That is a loaded question what is great here isn't great there.
Regional differences are huge.
I know quality is quality .
The better question in my mind is what will work as well in your region.
In my neck of the woods this is about as good as they get, raise a heII of a calf and maintain
BCS on grass.

I know Regional differences are huge but im sure theirs still a lot that can be learned here. That cow looks like she has good condition

 

[Son of Butch]

All the pictures posted so far are of good quality animals, so went looking online for poor quality.
Grrrrr... found a lesser quality registered black angus bull for sale on craigslist but for some reason can't link to page.
Comments mean so much less without photo, but here goes anyway....

3 yr old bull lacking masculinity to the point you almost have to look twice to see which is the bull and which is the cow.
Pedigree isn't bad, sired by a Mitty in Focus son out of an Objective x Mitty in Focus dam.
He certainly looks the part of being a calving ease bull and his epd puts him in top 10% for both calving ease and birth weight.
But that looks like all he is good for.
He did not get the best genes in this example of line breeding and his environment has not left him in the best of condition,
as in one picture you can count ribs and see ridge of his spine, but he does have good body length though lacking body depth,
a bit pinched behind the shoulders and even a tad cow hocked.
Seller was foolish in posting 2 of the 3 photos in which he looks just plain awful and should have worked to get a 4th photo
to at least try and show him at his best. Makes you wonder what the seller is thinking or if he doesn't even realize how bad
the bull looks in 2 of the 3 pictures.

 

[ez14]

All the pictures posted so far are of good quality animals, so went looking online for poor quality.
Grrrrr... found a lesser quality registered black angus bull for sale on craigslist but for some reason can't link to page.
Comments mean so much less without photo, but here goes anyway....

3 yr old bull lacking masculinity to the point you almost have to look twice to see which is the bull and which is the cow.
Pedigree isn't bad, sired by a Mitty in Focus son out of an Objective x Mitty in Focus dam.
He certainly looks the part of being a calving ease bull and his epd puts him in top 10% for both calving ease and birth weight.
But that looks like all he is good for.
He did not get the best genes in this example of line breeding and his environment has not left him in the best of condition,
as in one picture you can count ribs and see ridge of his spine, but he does have good body length though lacking body depth,
a bit pinched behind the shoulders and even a tad cow hocked.
Seller was foolish in posting 2 of the 3 photos in which he looks just plain awful and should have worked to get a 4th photo
to at least try and show him at his best. Makes you wonder what the seller is thinking or if he doesn't even realize how bad
the bull looks in 2 of the 3 pictures.

Thanks for your post. Could you save the pictures to your computer then post them?

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Lack of feed can make them all look bad.

 

[suzorse]

22 month old heifer due in March
Suzanne

 

[ez14]

22 month old heifer due in March
Suzanne

Thanks for the pic and nice pigs

 

[wacocowboy]

There are several hundred examples of bad animals on the craigslist bull page. If you look at Sky's show your bull page there were a lot of good looking bulls on there. I be got some nice cows I have posted and people liked them but they don't look as good coming off of the drought we had last year from June to October.

 

[Nesikep]

a quality animal for a beef operation is one that reliably makes a good calf year after year.. it doesn't matter what they look like. Seedstock is a totally different story.. length, depth, topline, udder, shoulders, head, etc are all important.

 

[rynophiliac]

I'm curious what you guys think of this one:

 

[wbvs58]

Not a good photo but she seems to have a lot of length and a lot of depth.
Do they live off that herbage? She seems to be in good nick unlike that other cow of yours but also she seems to be dry.
Ken