We're searching for a great herd bull to use on our Red Angus cows. Something that has some style and eye appeal, with functional numbers and a good pedigree behind him (I know, so is everyone else). The goal is to have a herd bull that will hopefully better the herd, so his calves will be par with the AI calves we've been getting the past few years. I was looking through a catalog and found a few I liked. Some of the ones that caught my eye are out of Ter Ron Fully Loaded.
Fully Loaded has a high BW EPD of 5.6. Here's the link to him http://search.redangus.org/animal/id/13 ... al/1234514. The sons I'm looking at have BW of 3.2 to 3.8. The breed average according to the association website is a -0.3. To top it off, I've heard from some semen distributors that Fully Loaded is a 'cow killer'. I'm not concerned with our cows having a problem calving, but since we retain heifers and bulls to sell, BW EPDs are a concern for our buyers. Our highest BW cow is a 1.8, with the average being below a 1.
My question to you all is would you use a son of Fully Loaded on your cows in my situation? Is the power in his background a concern? Or with our lower BW cows do you think we'd be ok? Thanks for the input.
Fully Loaded has a high BW EPD of 5.6. Here's the link to him http://search.redangus.org/animal/id/13 ... al/1234514. The sons I'm looking at have BW of 3.2 to 3.8. The breed average according to the association website is a -0.3. To top it off, I've heard from some semen distributors that Fully Loaded is a 'cow killer'. I'm not concerned with our cows having a problem calving, but since we retain heifers and bulls to sell, BW EPDs are a concern for our buyers. Our highest BW cow is a 1.8, with the average being below a 1.
My question to you all is would you use a son of Fully Loaded on your cows in my situation? Is the power in his background a concern? Or with our lower BW cows do you think we'd be ok? Thanks for the input.