Would ya'll tell me what ya think?

[heifer_fitter]

Every one else has their prized babies up here for critique so I thought I'd put my little guy up. The first picture is at two months old and the second is just before Denver, so about 7 months old. He's a May born 2005 out of an Energizer cow and Dr. Who so he's a purebred Maine. He'll be heading for Wichita Falls, Texas to the Maine Jr. Nationals, semen is for sale too, just in case you were wondering! Let me know what ya'll think of the little guy, I'm kind of impressed that from the day he was born till even now he's been good, don't get many that consistant.

http://cattletoday.com/photos/data/503/ ... en_one.jpg

http://cattletoday.com/photos/data/503/ ... C00258.JPG

 

[googly_moogly]

I believe you have every right to be proud of him. He looks fantastic to me.

 

[heifer_fitter]

Thanks so much! I hope more people tell me what they think of him.

 

[shutskytj]

Please tell us how he does at the show I think he is a heck of an animal too

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

He is an extremely eye appealing calf, but too post legged in the rear legs for me. I realize this is the "look" that the clubby market wants, but I don't like cattle like that.
How did you do in Denver? Seems like most Maines are staighter than I like, so he probably fits into breed competition.
And of course, maybe it's just the pics - but he looks the same in both pics.

 

[AngusSenorita]

I agree with Jeanne
He has the club calf look but when you get his heifers in the show ring they will be beat by something that looks like a real cow( at least at majors) If you breed him to a real cowy female you could get a calf with more depth and mass that you need in both steers and heifers.

He looks good in his own way but he is too fancy looking for my taste.

 

[PistolPete]

I dont think "clubby" legs hinder cows at all. I raise purebred charolais and have recently been breeding to maine and simmi club calf sires. I also have several Sugar Ray daughters still around and most of them are 12-13 years old and still get around great and ALWAYS wean a good calf. I hear all this stuff about functionality but it just seems like it comes down to personal preference.

 

[OKJeanne]

I'll bet his back legs are just fine---but all that hair
fluffed up makes him look post-legged. That's what
I really hate about shows....the hair is fixed to
disguise the true outline of the animal's body.
It's deceptive.

 

[heifer_fitter]

Well I was going to take a picture of his dear old momma, shes a national champion, I guess her back legs were good enough, so I decided against it. He's not fit in that older picture, just good haired. I appreciate all of the comments, its interesting to hear the different oppinions. He does have a nice made leg, very show ring pretty, yet he still takes a full stride. The cowy comment made me laugh, I can buy "cowy" cattle with crooked legs all over the country but its pretty legs like those that are sound that are hard to find. We're very happy w/ the little guy, I took a new picture of him the other day while we were out on our afternoon run, he's all slicked out and has his summer hair in, I'll show you all later. Thanks for the posts! Very interesting!!!! God bless!

 

[topsquar]

heifer- fitter are your maines purebred or do they have % of chi/simm in there breeding?? and what is there weaning weights say at 200 days-6months

 

[heifer_fitter]

We do have a few low percentage cows still running around but most all of them are purebreds. I'm not sure if you're involved in the maine breed but, they must be 3/4 or higher to be a purebred. All of our cattle have angus influence, many have a very small amount of foundation chi way back in their pedigrees. No simmy, no shorthorn, no anything else, save the one purebred Charolais hehehe Weaning weights as you know depend a lot on the cows, last year we weaned off some bulls that had just been out on grass with minimal creep feeding at just over 700lbs. Obviously our average weaning weights are lower than that but I was impressed non-the-less. We really like the maines, if you have the right breeding (as with any breed) you can have very low birth weights that wean off really heavy, with out milking the cows to death. I raise my own show cattle but the vast majority of our cattle are used in "the real world". All but two of our bulls last year were sold to either terminal sire operations or seedstock producers. Its great to see a show bull throw calves that can win in the showring and hang on the rail with the best of them!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I should have elaborated on my comments. Yes, he is too post leggeg "looking" for me, but I think he is deep, thick, well balanced with a super great front end (can be very difficult for us in the Simmental breed to achieve). As I said, a very attractive package. I may not like the postie clubby look, but people are making a lot of money in the club calf business.

 

[topsquar]

heifer-fitter if you used a purebred MA red bull over fullblood MA cows would all the calves be red?? at the shows do black MA cattle look the same as say solid black simmentals, or do blk maines have a different look e.g bigger , more muscle? or smaller what fram size are your cows

 

[Angus Cattle Shower]

One word - wow

 

[heifer_fitter]

heifer-fitter if you used a purebred MA red bull over fullblood MA cows would all the calves be red?? at the shows do black MA cattle look the same as say solid black simmentals, or do blk maines have a different look e.g bigger , more muscle? or smaller what fram size are your cows

a red bull should take most of the white off but you're likely to still have some spots and very likely to have white feet. When comparing most black show maines to black show simmentals our maines usually are slightly smaller framed but not a whole lot. Usually maines have a longer muscle pattern than do simmentals, simmies usually have a rounder pattern that causes them to have some movement problems. The simmentals here have "simmie legs" they seem to shuffle step rather than flexing their hocks correctly. Our maines tend to have more muscle over their tops and have better hair. They also are much prettier fronted w/o the dewlap hanging excessivly such as the simmentals. Most of our cows have frame scores in the mid 6's and lower 7's.