SE Manitoba | Hereford Guy - 2/7/2016 14:45
I'll get flamed for this but I'll try and give you a few ideas. One, I think you should have a purebred bull, you already have crossbred cows and in my mind a 3-way cross has maxed your heterosis out. Two, you want a bull developed on grass or forages, preferably pasture raised with only a little grain. Bulls grown on grain will get bigger faster yes, but likely will fall apart unless you plan to feed them from bucket and I don't think you do. Three, find the bull locally so he's been raised in a similar environment. Four, decide what kind of cows you want to have if you are keeping heifers from him and then ask to see his dam and see if she is the type of cow that fits that picture in your mind. Five, spend a few bucks on the bull, he is HALF the future herd! Six, on crossbred cows, and if you have 80 to breed, and I would keep the Senepol since he looks ok and seems to hold up well for you, you need two more bulls in my mind, so pick two bulls of a breed or breeds that compliment the crosses you have in the cows, i.e. black cows to a Hereford, Hereford to an Angus. There's probably more but that's all I can think of right now. If you buy them private treaty maybe take some pictures and post them here with there EPD numbers. I'm sure the whole gang will be glad to chime in and pick them apart.
#1 - - - agreed - - - but what breed is going to give great steers and momma cows that work well on forages in his conditions? (I'm not sure or I'd throw a breed out there!)
#2 the only kind of bull to buy - - - -really don't like the bulls that get anything more than 5 to 7# of oats
#3 can be tricky - - - I had better luck traveling even 3 and 400 miles and finding that herd with a bull that I liked
#4 great idea - - - it does get interesting when you are trying to keep your cow size DOWN and your steer size up and do it on forages - - - that's not an easy to get combination
#5 I rarely bought bulls at auction but I tried not to cheap out on a bull. Sometimes found a deal at a breeders place where a great 3/4 blood cow had a bull calf that was great but not really for the purebred market - - - but made GREAT calves
#6 about the only place I would disagree. Use the Senepol for the heifers and some a handful else (aiming for 30 maybe 32) find yourself a bull that has a great libido and run ONE great bull and make him work. Keep the cows in smaller paddocks were there are almost no trees and it works, in a big area with lots of brush it WON'T work!.
Doing #6 can cut your production costs largely. At 25 cows for a bull your bull costs are real high. The risk is if something happens to the main battery bull - - - you will need a great replacement yesterday. Its a real risk but this can be tempered a bit by visiting that young bull with a pail of goodies (5/6# of high energy stuff - - - can be mostly grain and a shot of alfalfa pellets) EVERY day or two during breeding season. That works and gets him to trust you - - - but I still wouldn't want to turn him into a pet (I don't trust bulls that are too pampered but I've had a few that were tame like a 2 month old pussy cat full of milk until it came to breeding and then they were animals. One bull I used for 6 years on from 55 to 70 head and that was in a 75 to 85 day season. (Went to tighter breeding seasons after he was gone but he would do most of his in the first 2 cycles and I think the rest were more my fault (feeding) than his (was calving in snow in Feb/Mar those days).)
Sorry there was only 1 pic when I first read the thread. I really like the calf with the blaze on his face. He carries a great balance between his front AND back. If his momma fits your plans very well and poppa was a great bull (easy calving, good growing with a moderate frame score I would maybe take him and make him work! Hopefully he would be at least 14 months before you really make him work. As he is one of yours you will know how much he has been riding and chasing cows in heat even as a calf - - - its a great way to note libido!
Edited by dabeegmon 2/7/2016 16:25
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Bulls and potential replacements pics
