cows-n-crops - 2/1/2026 09:35
Baby Robin - 2/1/2026 07:26
t-boss - 2/1/2026 06:57
And I know without looking it up the Guardian bull is in the 90's % so that's why Danny's bull is 50%. More than likely he will probably lean one way or the other even though the epd is 50%. I have a Guardian son that is in the 90's as a cleanup bull but I would rate him as average for disposition. He's certainly no problem to handle.
Op’s bulls mother is a moxie @ 9.7
Guardian is a 1.1. Meaning he is in the elite 1% at the BOTTOM…. 99% are calmer than him
If OP doesn’t care about docility, then that is his choice. But, high headed bitches have different ways of expressing high headed bitchiness AND you don’t know when turbo bitch comes out….. are they just fast? Are they fast/aggressive /get worked up in close quarters? Are they aggressive at calving? Do they settle down as they get older or get more cranky?
For some, docility doesn’t matter.
Life is like a box of chocolates
Maybe I should rephrase. I don't care about
(or put little faith into
) the Doc EPD.
Years ago when the Genetic DNA profile came about and we were testing some cattle, some of the calmest cattle had the worst docility scores. Hopefully that has improved over the years, maybe they have identified better genetic markers for docility, but I was turned off on it and not a big believer in it now.
Also reporting Docility is subjective to each person's opinion. Unlike taking a weight measurement, when the scale says 550#, the scale doesn't care which animal is on it. A hired hand might rank an animal calmer than the owner, or vice versa. Or one farm or ranch's opinion of a docile animal is slightly different than the next farm or ranch.
Does every breeder record and report docile metrics? If half of them don't bother, then the data is already skewed and flawed.
You can take the calmest cow and have a unique situation happen and she could turn into the wildest cow on the place.
So handling and environment plays a big part into docility.
When I walked into the pen of bulls that Lot 11 was in, there was nothing indicating he was more or less calm than his pen mates. So I'll take my chances with his 50% docility score.
Bull Buying Season Has Started
