Is he good enough???

[Endless Meadows]

We have a shorthorn bull that we are using on heifers and cows.  His birth weights have been great and the calves have some performance in them as well.  I just wanted to see what everyone thought of the bull and if he is good enough to collect semen on to sell.  Just a little background on the bull. He is almost 3 1/2 years old in the picture and out on pasture with cows.  He is a gizmo son (Gizmo, Vann, Goldspear, Mastercharge) and comes out of the Huberdale Brenda Cow family,

BW 78 lbs (ratio 109), Adj WW 638 lbs (Ratio 103), Adj YW 1180 (taken at 13 months)
At 13 months he was a frame score 5.3, weighed 1280, and had a SC 38 cm.

EPD's
BW 0.8    WW 18    YW 24     Milk 2

I have already talked to some of you and shared some pictures, but I'd love to get everyone else's thoughts.  Thank you

 

[chiangus]

From the looks, yeah.

It takes a lot of money to effectively market an unproven bull, once you get successful calf crops than you can get a grassroots word of mouth falling, but it is a tough row to hoe before that.

Good luck.

 

[kane1598]

I think he looks nice, very functional. I think you need a profile shot of him, its hard to see how he balances up from this angle. If you do decide to promote him, the best of luck.

 

[herefordfootball]

He's proven to throw good calves, go for it. Nothin easier to promote than a proven bull, but you might wanna get some hair on him!! LOL!!!

 

[garybob]

He has hair. Masculine, curly hair on his face, his poll, the crest of his neck. It's summer. He should be slickhaired all over the rest of his body.

GB

 

[Hofstatter Farms]

Looks like a good clean up bull. Some pretty nice old genetics.

 

[CPL]

It's summer. He should be slickhaired all over the rest of his body.

GB

I think what herefordfootball was meaning was he'll need to be prettied up for a promo picture. And I agree with him for the most part.

It's hard to tell from the picture his exact strengths and weaknesses. Unless you have any SUPER calves out of him, or  have a reputation of your own I think it will be VERY VERY hard to get him selling lots of semen. I'm not saying that you can't do it or that you'd fail, I'm just saying think long and hard about it and if you're dead set on promoting him jump in with both feet.

 

[Endless Meadows]

Thanks for all of the input.  What I am looking at doing is collecting primarily for our own use and to keep a small inventory for future use.  I know how many straws we would like to have and am planning on offering some for sale at a later date.  I'm not looking at selling large amounts especially right away, but if sales take off they take off and if not...no big deal.  We will not be really promoting the bull heavily, the question I would have is a tough one but, what would be a good number of extra straws to keep on hand to sell, 100...200???  I don't want to collect way too much, but I also wouldn't want to dip into our reserves if orders pile in.  Thanks again for your input, and I have attached another picture taken at 13 months...plenty of hair there.

 

[chiangus]

Thanks for all of the input.  What I am looking at doing is collecting primarily for our own use and to keep a small inventory for future use.  I know how many straws we would like to have and am planning on offering some for sale at a later date.  I'm not looking at selling large amounts especially right away, but if sales take off they take off and if not...no big deal.  We will not be really promoting the bull heavily, the question I would have is a tough one but, what would be a good number of extra straws to keep on hand to sell, 100...200???  I don't want to collect way too much, but I also wouldn't want to dip into our reserves if orders pile in.  Thanks again for your input, and I have attached another picture taken at 13 months...plenty of hair there.

How many cows do you breed?

 

[herefordfootball]

It's summer. He should be slickhaired all over the rest of his body.

GB

I think what herefordfootball was meaning was he'll need to be prettied up for a promo picture. And I agree with him for the most part.

It's hard to tell from the picture his exact strengths and weaknesses. Unless you have any SUPER calves out of him, or  have a reputation of your own I think it will be VERY VERY hard to get him selling lots of semen. I'm not saying that you can't do it or that you'd fail, I'm just saying think long and hard about it and if you're dead set on promoting him jump in with both feet.

Thanks for clearing that up CPL!!!! Thats what I meant, I wasnt trying to take a shot at your bull, from what I can tell he looks good, if you are collecting for your own herd, that would be the way to go. I dont know how much semen you could sell on him until you get some good profile pics from the side, thats what everyone wants to see. As for how many straws to keep back, I would look at your herd size and go from there. Nice lookin bull!

 

[Endless Meadows]

No worries, I know what was meant, but just wanted to show another picture of the bull with some hair.  As for herd size we are not very big at all yet with about 40 total head.  We only AI 10-15 head a year but will be increasing this down the road.  I would like to have about 100-150 straws on hand for my own use after the bull is gone, and am thinking that 300 straws total should be enough for use and any sales that might occur.  Am I too low on my count?  Thanks

 

[BCCC]

No worries, I know what was meant, but just wanted to show another picture of the bull with some hair.  As for herd size we are not very big at all yet with about 40 total head.  We only AI 10-15 head a year but will be increasing this down the road.  I would like to have about 100-150 straws on hand for my own use after the bull is gone, and am thinking that 300 straws total should be enough for use and any sales that might occur.  Am I too low on my count?  Thanks

How far are you from a collection facilty? If quite a ways away then I would have them collect about double that and have them store part of it, that way if you do sell more then you think you have a little more time to get him down there to get him collected again. Also having your extra stored there will give you the ability to use their shipper tanks to have it shipped.

 

[Endless Meadows]

Location is one convenience that I do have being only 50 miles from a collection facility

 

[shorthorngirl2010]

Working at a bull barn myself, we have quite a few guys that do the same thing.  They will pull 100-200 for their own use, and if they know of people that want some, they'll pull an extra 100 or so.  Also, if they have their personal reserve met with no known 'orders' yet, they'll take the bull home. Then, once they have people wanting semen, they'll either bring him there and we'll house him until the order is met, or bring him in as a 'trailer' bull to meet the requested order.  Furthermore, we do use our shippers for the clients shipment (if they so request).  Not saying this is exactly what your stud does, but I hope this does help give insight lol. 
-Sam
BTW-- nice short!

 

[Endless Meadows]

Thank you to everyone that provided comments on our Brass Bull.  He will be going to stud this fall for collection.

 

[Endless Meadows]

I was able to get a few more pictures of Brass this weekend.  I think the pictures let the bull do all of the talking in his working clothes, un-pampered, and unfit eventhough my skills as a photographer are very limited.

 

[box6rranch]

You have a nice looking bull. I have to play devil's advocate though. Speaking for personal experience it's very difficult to market a bull. You have to have the money and the connections. If you have both, go for it!!!!

 

[kfacres]

I would like to add that a bad picture will do more harm than a great picture will ever think about doing good!  You need to be picky about what pictures you use...  Even if you don't want to clip him up ( I would suggest doing so!) 

Early morning works best for taking pictures, great light, and minimal shaddows.. Make the shaddows on the backside, keep the beast in the best bright light...  Head up, feet set up, and make them look cocky!  Get down low to take the pic, the smaller/ lower you are, the bigger, and more massive the animal looks..  Promotion and picture taking are all about making something look better than it is...  Most pictures take away from great livestock-- your goal is to make great livestock look better! 

PS.. As a Shorthorn breeder, I would like to know more about these two bulls!!

Good luck and get back to me..

J

 

[chiangus]

Good luck.

 

[linnettejane]

nice! (thumbsup)