Your Favorite AI sire Select or ABS

[jscunn]

The Genex thread was interesting but I havent seen any Genex sired calves personally..

Wondering what everyones thoughts were on Select, ABS, or any other supplier bulls?

 

[inyati13]

I have had excellent conception rate with Select Sires. About 90%.

For Angus I have good calves out of Top Hand.

In simmental, I like Uno Mas.

 

[Ky hills]

I have used a few ABS bulls. Really liked most of my Hoover Dam calves, they came easy and grew good, dispositions were also good. This year, had some calves by PA Power Tool and Stevenson Rockmount. Both bulls' calves came easy and thus far are doing well.

 

[ez14]

im using durango 44u from select sires this year will see how that goes. the AI company that i use is partnered with select sires so thats all im probably going to use

 

[wildcat2154]

ABS---Hoover Dam, VAR Reserve.

SS---Prophet, Capitalist, Weigh Up, Comrade, Traction.

 

[talltimber]

If you guys get a chance some time, I would like to see some Power Tool and Hoover Dam calves.

 

[jscunn]

Wildcat,
Which of the select bulls did you like the best. Seen some good Comrade heifers, and the select guy thinks Traction would work for what we want.. but clueless on the rest of them..

 

[wildcat2154]

What are you wanting in your herd? Breeding heifers or cows?

Comrade is good phenotype, feet, and calving ease for sure. Capitalist adds thickness. His sons I have seen have been very thick and stout. Weigh up adds stoutness and will add pounds. The prophets I have seen were good females, good depth, udders and good epds. Tractions have been good too. Power and good feet with outcross pedigree.

To rank my favorite, either be Traction or Comrade.

 

[frieghttrain]

Select sires, Tc Thunder a very nice heifer bull and Durango 44u. We have calves out of each of them also trying Simmental with Uno mas and Another Angus bull Limelight. Has anyone used Absolute from ABS?

 

[Ky hills]

I used Absolute when he was a young bull, new to their lineup. I liked Final Answer, and thought that Absolute would breed similar to him in a lot of traits. I just had two bred to him, and they both calved to him. They came very easily, and were up and going soon after birth. They grew pretty well up to weaning, then were sold. Their dispositions were the only issue that I had with them. The docility of my two was not consistent with his EPD.

 

[UG]

Though I have not used Absolute at ABS, a few folks I know that have used him have been complimentary of the progeny; born easily, grow well and acceptable thickness and depth. I haven't heard any disposition issues with the Absolute calves.

I haven't used much ABS semen in recent years, but an Angus bull that does a lot of good is Nichols K205. Progeny are born easily, good growth, above average carcass traits, good fertility, good feet, cattle slick off in the spring, and daughters have excellent teats and udders. If there is a "beef" about the bull is that his cattle will have a little more attitude than some, but not crazy either.

Haven't used much Select Sires semen, but one bull that we did use a couple years ago is Capitalist. This was my favorite sire group last year. The calves were all born easily, grew well, and so far are developing into big bodied heifers and powerful bulls. These calves are just yearlings so it will be another couple years before I am convinced he is a real good bull. Though the disposition EPD for the bulls is below breed average, all of the calves we have had out of him have had good dispositions. One Angus producer commented to me that they didn't have enough growth for him. Another producer commented that he saw the bull in person and Capitalist is a relatively small bull.

 

[cow pollinater]

I've seen quite a few absolutes and haven't seen any I didn't like. Hoover dam works well in lots of places. Those two always pop in my head when a customer is unsure about what they want and they make happy customers as both bulls cover lots of bases.
Rito 6em3 worked really, really well for me. I didn't sell much of him because of the docility score but the heifers I got were dog gentle. The bulls were little testosterone rockets but not at all unmanageable. They were just good cattle that weren't scared to work for a living.
Bruiser is probably one of the most under used bulls in the industry. He needs to be in every progressive program. I have seen a few calves that I didn't care for(and have a few myself right now on commercial cows that are not much but much better than the dam) but some of them really work and with the feed efficiency data it's worth the risk.
I've seen a few Reserves that I really liked. In fact I added him into my program with Bruiser. He should be on the shortlist for anyone thinking about retained ownership.

 

[Alan]

I started covering my Herefords with a BA bull a few years ago, but AI'd for the years before. Best calves/cows I ever got was out of shf Rib Eye, I used both Harland and M326 calves never really blew my hat off, but m326's son sure was a good nick on my cows.

 

[Lucky_P]

None of the SS lineup ever really flicked my trigger. Used GAR Yield Grade and Rito 6I6 some. Had one daughter of each that made the cut as a keeper, only the 6I6 is still here, but she ain't setting any production records.

Have used mostly ABS sires.
Best Angus sire I ever used was Gardens Wave, but close second has been B/R Destination 727-928 - still in their lineup... nice, moderate(and I don't mean 'pud') daughters with great udder quality that raise a whopper calf; not pretty, but they do the job.
On the Simmental side, I like what I'm seeing of After Shock so far, but it's still hard to beat Dikeman's Sure Bet for a good, balanced across-the-board performance/maternal/carcass sire - with surefire calving ease.

 

[Ky hills]

Just to clarify, I was very proud of my Absolute calves early on. The bull calf was out of a very calm TC Franklin daughter, and he seemed to be calm as well until trying to work with him, then he would go wild and he was determined to go somewhere. The heifer calf was from a more distant but workable cow. Both cows have since had Hoover Dam calves that were very calm. I think Absolute is definitely a good calving ease bull, and like his pedigree.

 

[Luckiamute]

Has anyone used Deer Valley All In from Select Sires? He was on my short list last breeding season, but when SS ran out of female sexed semen for him I decided to go another direction. Would be curious to his pros and cons based on what folks have seen firsthand from his calves, especially his heifers. Are they keepers?

 

[bse]

I'm gonna use some Southside from ABS this fall, I like his pedigree and there's 4 pathfinder females mixed in there.

 

[frieghttrain]

I've seen quite a few absolutes and haven't seen any I didn't like. Hoover dam works well in lots of places. Those two always pop in my head when a customer is unsure about what they want and they make happy customers as both bulls cover lots of bases.
Rito 6em3 worked really, really well for me. I didn't sell much of him because of the docility score but the heifers I got were dog gentle. The bulls were little testosterone rockets but not at all unmanageable. They were just good cattle that weren't scared to work for a living.
Bruiser is probably one of the most under used bulls in the industry. He needs to be in every progressive program. I have seen a few calves that I didn't care for(and have a few myself right now on commercial cows that are not much but much better than the dam) but some of them really work and with the feed efficiency data it's worth the risk.
I've seen a few Reserves that I really liked. In fact I added him into my program with Bruiser. He should be on the shortlist for anyone thinking about retained ownership.
So you don't sell much of Bruiser?

 

[cow pollinater]

So you don't sell much of Bruiser?

I've sold quite a bit but not as much as I'd expect. The people that have been doing it for a long time and understand the genetics deal really jump on him but he gets passed over by a lot of people that don't understand just how well he balances production with do-ability. I'm not saying he's the best fit for every operation but he is a good choice for moving forward without creating other problems.

 

[Duramaxgirl]

Obviously Durango 44u is my favorite but I have had my eye on Hyalite Resource 331 for my older girls for next year. Whats everyone's opinion on him? I like his YW EPDs and his coloring... http://www.selectsiresbeef.com/index.ph ... d=Hereford