3C Sturdy

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

I was wondering about the simmental bull 3C Sturdy. Has anyone used him on heifers? What do his calves look like? Does he do any good in TAI? I was thinking of using him on some pb simmental heifers and maybe some simangus heifers. I noticed he was old and had pretty accurate EPDs so I figured someone has used him.

I just started AI breeding my own cows in 2012. I am really liking my AI calves so far and am interested in knowing what possibilities it can bring. I am hoping to start getting cattle that do a little better in the showring but still make good cows. My future father in law is letting us use his old tank. Right now we're making sure it isn't leaking before we store any semen. We were renting tanks.

I am open to any simmental suggestions. I am thinking about using Fat Butt on some cows. I have been using Uno Mas on everything (I really like those calves) but I figure I better start picking other bulls too.

 

[nmcattle]

I used Sturdy years ago when he just came out. I didn't have any calving issues but they didn't grow well enough for me. Calves looked good for the time. I have used Fat Butt extensively the past couple years. I've had some terrific ones out of average cows and also some average calves out of what I think are some of my better cows. Not the most consistent bull but when he works he really works. I wouldn't call him calving ease either. We had champion heifer at our expo last year out of Fat Butt and sold a steer last fall out of him that's being shown currently. He's easily the best purebred steer we've raised. He stood second his first time shown in December and was beat by a Walks Alone halfblood. It's tough for a purebred to compete in the steer world. Bulls I'm currently using if it helps are Top Grade, Allegiance, Upscale, Lock N Load.

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

Thanks! That helps a lot!

I think I will get some Fat Butt semen and only use him on old cows. I'll think about Strudy.

Thanks again.

 

[bryan6807]

we used 3c sturdy 10 years ago and got along great. calves were in the mid 80s for bw. daughters made good cows, bull calves did not have enough power, but they were out of angus cows. they had decent grow (avg. weaning weight was around 620) which does not measure up to what simmy bulls are throwing now. I still feel the bull has plenty of value. I would use him on simangus or maine angus cows, something with a little more power and guts. wish I still had the daughters we raised out of him, we had no problem selling them.

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

Thank you. That helps out a lot! I am strongly considering using him. I have a few simangus cows but not a whole lot. Most of mine are purebreds.

 

[Davidsonranch]

Just a side note. One of my simmental friends had tremendous luck with Grandmaster heifers bred to Uno Mas.  Some of the better calves he said he has ever had.  So if you are looking for calving ease don't count out Grandmaster.  I've never had such a easy calving year as I did last year calving all heifers to Grandmaster.  I'm breeding all of these Grandmasters to Uno Mas because I like what I see in my friends pen.

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

Thanks! I was thinking about Grandmaster too because he was from Select Sires and they have been helping us out a lot. I didn't know he was calving ease though.

I'll be breeding my Uno Mas calves around next year (they're young still). I guess I could use Grandmaster on them. Thank you so much!

 

[ALTSIMMY 79]

I've never used Sturdy but I've sure though about it plenty. I would sure think from a female standpoint he'd make some fancy , fertile , perfect udder cows. I'm also guessing depth and softness of body is his downfall. I'd love to see some calves out of him if anyone has any pics ?

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

I'd like to see some pictures of his calves as well, if anyone has any.

So, Sturdy would probably work better on the deeper body type of cattle? I have a few cows like that but most of my cattle are probably needing more depth. lol

 

[Bar QH]

I bought a bull by the name of ws a step up x27 in Denver, got some nice calves out of him and jones, guyer and holmes have all been using him to make half bloods. Cool markings too. Good luck

 

[Davidsonranch]

Rocky Hill,
Grandmaster is super easy calving.  I had super fat cows all full term and not one problem.  Most calves in the 65-75 pound range.  Up and running before mom could even clean the bag off of them. 
I can't wait to breed my grandmaster heifers to Uno Mas.  We need to stay in touch next year to see the results. My friend has a couple and I was very impressed.  Especially the heifers.  The bull mentioned A Step Up is actually a Grandmaster out of a Macho cow I think.

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

Thanks. I think I will try Grandmaster on my Uno Mas heifers for sure. Let me see some pics of those calves when you get them.

 

[AAOK]

I have made the following statement here on SP many many times in the past seven years, but  evidently it must have a rough time being accepted.

A very seasoned cattleman explained the truth of correct Show Cattle breeding selection as:

"A great Bull will sire great calves with a very select group of cows, but a great Cow has the potential to produce great calves with even a mediocre Bull"

So, don't waste a lot of time and money on sire selection. Breed strictly for the heritable traits lacking in your cows, individually.

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

That's why I started this post. I want calves that won't always place last in a cattle show. I have highly productive cows IMO. I cull strickly if they do not breed back on time (reproduction is a lowly heritable trait). I have tried several different rations to help my show cattle and stuck with the best ration I could find. Back when I was in FFA, my cattle placed well on a cheap, not so great ration. Now I'm running with the big boys and have the best cattle I have ever had... but they still aren't go enough because they tend to get last place. I love showing cattle so I want to make them competitive. I feel like I have pretty good clipping and fitting skills and a great ration. I work with them and brush/clean them every day, twice a day. I just need genetics. I want something that can keep my cattle's reproductive abilities but look better. Judges often say my cattle need more guts and thickness and I have a few that have too big of a dewlap. Most of my cows are long bodied with a big hindquarter or as I have had a judge say "just a typical simmental." I bought a few bred heifers that had more gut with less quarter but they were never showed.

I was just wanting to see what everyone else was using
I am excited about showing my Uno Mas calves. They have so much more gut and hair than the calves from my herd bull.

Last year I showed a simangus bull calf by Final Answer out of one of the bred heifers I bought (this calf was inside her when I bought her). He expressed a lot of traits my cattle are lacking in and the judge loved him. I showed him only a few weeks after he was weaned (no creep) so he wasn't quite fat enough. The judge said all he needed was some more fat and he would do well in a show. He is much fatter now so I will probably show him again and keep him for a clean-up bull. He also has good EPDs and is supposedly calving else.

I hope that helps. I've been showing the very best looking of my herd bull's calves but they just aren't placing. I had one do well in a commercial class one time (got 3rd out of 9) but when I show in the simmental and AOB classes, they tend to get dead last.