lookin for apricot

[beattieclubcalves]

lookin for some straws of semen of a old simmental bull apricot

 

[justintime]

A couple years ago, I know that Alta Genetics in Alberta had some stored there. I can  check with them and see if they still have it if you want.

 

[vcsf]

SEK Genetics  has it listed for $25.  I have to ask if you really know much about the bull and why you want to use him.  I had some Abricot cows that I liked at the time but I really do not think he will produce what is wanted today.

 

[justintime]

I have always found it interesting how some of the original import bulls sired offspring with totally different dispositions than what they had themselves. I also had several Abricot daughters when we had a Simmental herd, and they were excellent cows and I had no issues with dispositions with any that I had. Abricot himself was one of the few bulls that killed a man at the stud( and he tried to kill a few more) I remember watching them take Abricot to collection. He had two rings in his nose and on collection day the barn was cleared of all visitors, and only a couple of the best herdsmen were allowed to handle him. They hooked a large logging chain in each of his nose rings and he was led to the collection room with a tractor with a cab on it. They were afraid that if he ever got loose, he would try to get the man on the tractor if they used a tractor without a cab. His pen was padlocked all the time. He had been collected so many times that he would mount the dummy cow while still hooked to the tractor with the chains.They had the chains hooked on a spool like device so it could be let out when they got to the collection room but he was hooked to the tractor at all times.  Once the semen was collected they would then lead him back to his stall.

I used to work at the Bar 5 Simmental sales each March. Lacombe Achilles was a very quiet good natured bull, and we could halter him in his pen and lead him anywhere. Most of his calves were totally bonkers.... absolutely NUTS.  Another of their herd sires was a bull named Bar 5 Dutch. Dutch was a complete idiot and he could not be handled at the best of times. He was kept on a seperate location in a pen with 8 foot walls on all side. We fed him by climbing a ladder  outside the pen and dumping his feed over the fence. Anything in the pen that could be broken.. was. Dutch calves were very gentle and easy to halter break and handle. I often think that the Bar 5 Dutch cattle could be quite popular today as they were super thick made, with tons of hair and moderate frames. Bar 5 leased a large land area that was owned by the Canadian Armed Forces.  Dutch was usually put with cows there as he would be as far from people as possible there. One fall a duck hunter got a little lost and ended up in this pasture. Dutch put him up a tree and it was three days later before anyone found him. He told them that the bull had never left so he had no chance to escape. I also heard that when it came time for Dutch to go to market, they dropped him off at the Auction to be sold. He started wrecking pens and chasing everyone and they eventually dropped him with a high power rifle at the auction market.

I have always found disposition to be highly heritable but in these cases, it seemed to work in reverse.

 

[vcsf]

JIT I would have to agree with everything you said about those bulls.  Don't think I ever heard about an Abricot with disposition problems and only heard of a few Achilles progeny that were quiet.  One of the quietest cows I ever had was an Abricot out of an Achilles daughter and all of her calves were good disposition as well.  Kept thinking a problem would pop up there but it never did.  I still have Abricot and Achilles semen in the tank some of which I paid quit a bit for.  Can not imagine myself ever using it again but just can't convince myself to throw it out either.

 

[beattieclubcalves]

ya my dad said it would be hard findin him he said he used him like 25 years ago alot and he was expensive back then but we got a simmental cow that we wont want a show calf from we want a good fat calf producin mama to breed him to

and i tried findin a pic of him cuz my dad was tryin to explain him to me but i wanted to see him my self so if anyone knows where i can get a pic let mek now thanks

 

[zapper]

I have 2 amps of Abricot in my tank, I also have some old bulls, CSS Prince, Midas, New Edition, Magician and alot of amps with just cane codes, like 9798-8616SM 54-10625 that I would like to get rid of..  When I aquired my first take it was from an old ABS tech in the early 80's... I have alot of Herford semen also.

 

[husker1]

I have always found it interesting how some of the original import bulls sired offspring with totally different dispositions than what they had themselves. I also had several Abricot daughters when we had a Simmental herd, and they were excellent cows and I had no issues with dispositions with any that I had. Abricot himself was one of the few bulls that killed a man at the stud( and he tried to kill a few more) I remember watching them take Abricot to collection. He had two rings in his nose and on collection day the barn was cleared of all visitors, and only a couple of the best herdsmen were allowed to handle him. They hooked a large logging chain in each of his nose rings and he was led to the collection room with a tractor with a cab on it. They were afraid that if he ever got loose, he would try to get the man on the tractor if they used a tractor without a cab. His pen was padlocked all the time. He had been collected so many times that he would mount the dummy cow while still hooked to the tractor with the chains.They had the chains hooked on a spool like device so it could be let out when they got to the collection room but he was hooked to the tractor at all times.  Once the semen was collected they would then lead him back to his stall.

I used to work at the Bar 5 Simmental sales each March. Lacombe Achilles was a very quiet good natured bull, and we could halter him in his pen and lead him anywhere. Most of his calves were totally bonkers.... absolutely NUTS.  Another of their herd sires was a bull named Bar 5 Dutch. Dutch was a complete idiot and he could not be handled at the best of times. He was kept on a seperate location in a pen with 8 foot walls on all side. We fed him by climbing a ladder  outside the pen and dumping his feed over the fence. Anything in the pen that could be broken.. was. Dutch calves were very gentle and easy to halter break and handle. I often think that the Bar 5 Dutch cattle could be quite popular today as they were super thick made, with tons of hair and moderate frames. Bar 5 leased a large land area that was owned by the Canadian Armed Forces.  Dutch was usually put with cows there as he would be as far from people as possible there. One fall a duck hunter got a little lost and ended up in this pasture. Dutch put him up a tree and it was three days later before anyone found him. He told them that the bull had never left so he had no chance to escape. I also heard that when it came time for Dutch to go to market, they dropped him off at the Auction to be sold. He started wrecking pens and chasing everyone and they eventually dropped him with a high power rifle at the auction market.

I have always found disposition to be highly heritable but in these cases, it seemed to work in reverse.

That's all interesting stuff...thanks for taking the time to type it all.  One bull that I remember from about 20 years ago that they said was nuts was Savvy....the daughters we had were on the edge of impossible to halter break.

 

[yuppiecowboy]

Never thought I would ever see someone wanting to use Abricot on purpose again.

I cant fathom how hard it would be to handle 3000# of evil like that. 4 inch pipe wouldnt stand a chance. How in the name of Sam did they get the chains on his nose rings? Did they draw straws to see who had to "grab it" and put it in the receptacle?

I heard Signal was a maneater as well. Thankfully I have never been around a truly nasty beef bull. Any I have been around that were getting owly went to the bologna factory before they got the opportunity to go full blown mean.

I have heard horror stories of dairy bulls, but thankfully beef bulls tend to be lovers not fighters in my experience.

 

[vcsf]

Here is a picture of Abricot for you.  Note that you can see the two chains coming off the nose ring and he also appears to be wearing two halters with at least one of the leads passed through the nose ring.

 

[beattieclubcalves]

justintime do they sell it in straws or amps cuz dad was sayin he use to ai with him in amps

 

[justintime]

I expect his semen was in amps. There may have been some straws made on him, but I am not sure. Abricot was a very impressive bull to see, but his attitude was rather poor. He could add some color to his calves but I never had any as blotched up as he was himself.

 

[beattieclubcalves]

well dad use to breed him to angus and holstein cross cows and said he got all colors you could think of and than their semen distrubutor told them if they could get a black white face bull out of him he had a buyer it took them like 5 years to get one but they got it said had pretty easy bw calves him and my grandpa saved 6 bull calves out of him one year to use if they couldnt get them sold thought they would never got em sold but dad said they sold faster than they would have ever imagined said they had great weanin weights and everything

 

[kanshow]

Don't you wonder if some of the older simmi bulls had attitudes like that because there was so much dairy inflluence in them being that they were orgininally a dual purpose breed?

I can think of a lot of other older simmi bulls I'd use over this one.  However,  If I were looking for semen on him, I'd be checking with some of the older bull centers that did a lot of early simmi work - like KABSU.  I'd also try to find a fleckvieh board & ask on that.    JMO. 

 

[vcsf]

There was semen in straws as all that I have and used was processed that way.  I had calves colored up just as much as him and some with even more white out of fairly solid colored cows.


kanshow most of the Fleckvieh breeders would want to kill you for suggesting Abricot was a Fleck.  Actually he was a French Pie Rouge though I heard more than once that he was only 7/8's pure and I always assumed the remainder was probably Holstien.

 

[beattieclubcalves]

my dad said angus cattle had holstein in em too or they would only finish out at 800 to 1000 #s

 

[kanshow]

kanshow most of the Fleckvieh breeders would want to kill you for suggesting Abricot was a Fleck.

True!  I was actually thinking that they might have a better idea of who may still have a stash of old bulls.   

my dad said angus cattle had holstein in em too or they would only finish out at 800 to 1000 #s

Not all Angus for sure.  There was some Holstien influence done on the sly during some point but certainly not across the breed as a whole.

 

[beattieclubcalves]

ok i didnt know that but i am wantin to use this abricot on some 5 year old simmy shorthorn cross cows dad said he owuld work perfect on them and dad likes old bull alot better than new ones when they arent on the clubby cows when they are for feedlot calves

 

[knabe]

abricot, i'd use him.  i'd use the other one too (maine) with a little more caution.

 

[oakview]

We used a 3/4 blood Simmental bull sired by Abricot many years ago on Shorthorn cows and got along real well.  Some of the calves were colorful, but most were red with white on their faces.  There were no real attitude problems other than what we expected in using some of the exotic breeds compared to the Shorthorns we were used to.  When dad experiemented with a Chianina, that's when the real fun started!