Is it Worth Marketing A Crossbred Bull

[Barry Farms]

I have a nice black baldy bull calf that up til now I am leaving intact, his mom is one of my better cows, he's an AI calf, the product of me breeding her with the intention of producing a replacement heifer. Like I said one of my best cows and this bull has good maternal traits.
Lineage: Victor 719T (PB Herf) X Driver (Cow is Half Simmental)

My question is have any of you had any luck retaining a calf like this and trying to market him as a bull? If I can't sell him, we feed out >15 steers a year or I could just sell him with other groups at sale barn if I end up cutting him, so we've always got a market it's just that he's pretty good and Victor is supposed to be a great cow maker/ maternal oriented bull so I want to give the calf a chance. Also how long can I afford to wait before I cut him? I ask because we usually band everything within a week of birth and probably cut 5 bulls a year into steers at 500 lb if we miss them in the spring. He's probably over 500 lb already but he's still on his mother for now.

Jackson

 

[Barry Farms]

Image from The Side

 

[Barry Farms]

Another picture

 

[Barry Farms]

This one may come in upside down

 

[knabe]

i would learn to take pictures in a flattering position first.


watch photographers at shows.

 

[Barry Farms]

Knabe,

You're probably right, I just snapped those as we ran those pairs thru the chute, it was hot, I was in a hurry  (lol).

 

[knabe]

when contemplating a picture for a sale, the buyer won't be in a rush.


tips for taking pictures outdoors:


- take pictures at dawn or dusk with the sun behind you.
- use a flash, especially on black cattle (flash on phones prob won't go far enough to be too useful)
- crouch
- get animals used to going back and forth along a fenceline, knowing the can stop
- choose a fence line with a slight up hill slope to allow them to stop
- near side legs should be further apart than far legs
- slight tilt towards you with their head. any further and it makes their head look big
- get used to making a soft noise, clicking, whistling, a motion, whatever to get their ears to go forward
- be slightly behind the mid point of the body
- be further than the mid point behind and forward to see what pics look like
- use a partner to move the animal (you want to be in position to take pic, otherwise you will miss opportunity, they don't last long with cattle not used to being asked to stand by themselves (they are a herd animal)


etc.

 

[Duncraggan]

JMO, but you are either a seedstock breeder, a commercial breeder, or a hobbyist.
If you are not prepared to use the bull yourself, what are the chances of selling him to someone else to use?
In my experience, the best money to be made is as close to weaning from the cow as is practically possible! Unless there is good genetic potential and a steady/established buyer group around.
Then you also sit with the situation where you have a contemporary group of one animal, what kind of reliability will you get on performance figures here?
The inconvenience factor of keeping one bull calf will far outweigh any joy you get from selling him unless you 'shoot the lights out' because of his genotype/phenotype!

 

[mark tenenbaum]

Alot of people should be able to see what he is Down to whether a commercial breeder would buy him  O0

 

[knabe]

some commercial guys just want "a bull".  it will only be used on cows.  don't send him to someone who might use him on heifers. if calving is an issue, word will travel far and wide and you will burn a potential existing and  future outlet/s.

 

[knabe]

any new pics?

 

[shortybreeder]

JMO, but you are either a seedstock breeder, a commercial breeder, or a hobbyist.
If you are not prepared to use the bull yourself, what are the chances of selling him to someone else to use?
In my experience, the best money to be made is as close to weaning from the cow as is practically possible! Unless there is good genetic potential and a steady/established buyer group around.
Then you also sit with the situation where you have a contemporary group of one animal, what kind of reliability will you get on performance figures here?
The inconvenience factor of keeping one bull calf will far outweigh any joy you get from selling him unless you 'shoot the lights out' because of his genotype/phenotype!

I second this. If you aren't going to use him yourself, don't waste the time and resources. A great feeder calf is still a great feeder calf.

 

[mark tenenbaum]

Doesn't sound like anyone on here sells many bulls And alot of commercial breeders are NOT DUMB-they know what suits their needs CALVING EASE usually being first, good female progeny GROW and sometimes  feed conversion They also have way more exposure to xbreds of different breeds through the cattle in their herds- and thus have some idea of the strengths and weaknesses  O0

 

[aj]

We run 100 mama's. We don't band until after weaning. It gives the calves to reach their potential. It does have it's problems I guess.