Who's yer daddy?

[WalnutCrest]

While I'll be DNA testing to know for sure, I was wondering how the group here would handicap the odds that Bull A or Bull B is the sire of our newest calf.

Also, the BW of the first timer is unknown. Most of the calves calved by close relatives of this first timer are in the range of mid 60s to low 80s. A half sister of this first timer born last year was in the low 70s.

Bull A (cleanup bull):
* Known to have sired three calves, as follows:
--- 50lb heifer out of a 1st timer ... unknown live cover date
--- 61lb heifer out of a 2nd timer ... unknown live cover date
--- 62lb bull out of a 3rd timer ... unknown live cover date

Bull B (AI bull):
* Known to have sired four calves, as follows:
--- 72lb heifer out of a 2nd timer ... arrived on time
--- 73lb heifer (embryo calf) out of a recip (who was a 2nd timer herself) ... arrived two days early
--- 78lb bull (embryo calf) out of a mature recip cow of unknown age ... arrived two days early
--- 72lb heifer out of a 3rd timer ... arrived on time

The calf in question was a 74lb bull out of a first timer ... and was either two weeks late or a week early. Thoughts?

 

[3waycross]

My money is on bull B.

 

[Lucky_P]

Two weeks late...I'm betting on cleanup bull, A.
Sure bull B's calves have all been 70+, so you might be inclined to think 'B', but what's the BW behind this first-calf heifer? She's half the equation.

 

[WalnutCrest]

The BW of the first timer is unknown. Most of the calves calved by close relatives of this first timer are in the range of mid 60s to low 80s. A half sister of this first timer born last year was in the low 70s.

*********

I'll add this to the original post in case someone doesn't want to read through the whole thing to get this piece of the puzzle.

 

[thommoos]

My guess is Bull A, he was early. If he 2 weeks late he would have been HUGE.

 

[TexasBred]

Did you have a "helper bull" with'em?? :hide:

 

[WalnutCrest]

Did you have a "helper bull" with'em?? :hide:

HA!!

Ummm...no. Just the two options. None of our neighbors with adjoining property lines have cattle ... and ... never saw anything with ours other than the one clean-up bull.

So, it's either A or B.

 

[ANAZAZI]

It is far more likely that a first calver is one week early than two weeks late. :2cents:

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I will pick the AI bull.

 

[WalnutCrest]

It is far more likely that a first calver is one week early than two weeks late. :2cents:

I know ... but the weights seem to make it seem like the sire is the AI bull ...

My thought is that its the AI Bull, and here's why:

* First timers are still growing, so calves are already going to be a bit smaller than average (BIF says that to adjust the BWs from first timers, you add 8lbs). So, if she was a mature cow, we'd be looking at a calf that was somewhere in the low-mid 80s (if we follow those averages).
* If it was the clean-up bull, and she was a week early and because she was a first timer, I'd speculate that the calf should have been somewhere in a range from the low to high 50s.
* But, as ANAZAZI noted, first timers are more likely to be early than late ... and when you add to it that all of the other AI calves came on time or a day or two early, thinking that this one calf would come two weeks late (even though it's a small sample size) doesn't seem to make sense.

All in all, it seemed like an interesting sort of puzzle to chew on for a while.

While my money is also on the AI sire, I'll have to wait until the lab sorts it out for us at some point before we register.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I'll hedge my bet on the AI bull...

 

[R V]

I reread your post and noted that it was a bull calf and I would suspect the AI bull, but will be interested to read what the DNA reveals.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Here's the offending bull calf, 6 days old.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Good looking little bull!

 

[muleskinner]

A week early.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Good looking little bull!

Thanks.

My four year old niece wants to name him Cookie. I'm inclined to agree with her; she's precious!

 

[3waycross]

So when ya gonna pull some hair and settle this debate?

 

[WalnutCrest]

So when ya gonna pull some hair and settle this debate?

When mama goes to Transova in a month or so.

 

[WalnutCrest]

The debate is settled:

The clean up bull got the job done.

 

[Nesikep]

Did a good job