Myty in Focus

[aj]

I admire the heck out of Angus cattle......I  have fought off the black deal for 30 years......am using Red Angus for composites. I kinda wondered if the Angus cattle pushing the plus 100 yearling epds......might be getting a bit framey....and I wonder about fleshing ability......I don't know. I like to use the Red Angus with moderate yearling epds around 6o or so. Seems like tthis might keep cow size down.

 

[lightnin4]

So glad this thread was started!  We were thinking of using In Focus on our heifer just because of his popularity and numbers.  What is everyone's opinion on Upgrade?  Our hope is to have something our daughter can use and not just a first calf we have to send to the feedlot.  Our friend who is helping us with the AI'ing has an ABS account so we are trying to stick with them as a supplier.  

If you're trying to stick with ABS, look at Hoover Dam or Kessler's Frontman.  I had two first calf heifers bred to Hoover Dam that calved with no issues and the calves grew really well.  I havent calved out any Frontman calves, but I bought a Frontman heifer this Spring that I really like.  She's moderate framed, plenty of muscle and a "belly-dragger".  Ordered some Frontman to try on some of our cows.

 

[CMANGUS]

If you are looking for show cattle he is not one to use d/t his front end, it is not as clean and goofy looking as some would like.  we have a Mytty in focus heifer and she is flat awesome---will be one heck of a cow and a donor for our program.  as a heifer that has not calved she flushed 23 embryos the very first time, HD 50 K done on her and she is in the top 10% of the breed for just about every epd.    his heifer calves tend to be easy fleshing and very fertile, and he is a no doubt hands down sleep at night prooven calving ease sire.  another one on the calving ease with a little more length is SAF Connection.  Bismark gives you calving ease but also puts a little more of the goofy looking front end in them for the show side of things.  best of luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Moezmom]

Thank you lightnin4 and CMANGUS for your info.  I guess we should just be focused on a live, easy birth but I was thinking if we could find a bull that was calving ease and could maybe give us just a little something extra it would be like the cherry on top!  Thanks again 

 

[Till-Hill]

The objective cattle or the BC Matrix cattle are also the same way. Breeding for numbers doesn't ever seem to work. Remember HARB Pendelton?  Quaker Hill Objective? I have never cared for the In Focus bull.

What's wrong with Pendleton and Objective? I know Pendleton's numbers went down but I have been using him since I was at Harrison's. My commercial producers LOVE THEM! They come easy and grow like a weed. My go to Angus bull is an Objective x 6595 and besides a little bigger bw than what I want he is my go to bull. Daughters raise a calf and can look good doing it and steers come off the cow without feed huge.

I'm not saying they are bad. When they first came on the scene their numbers were through the roof and they seemed to be the next 878. I always thought the Pendelton bull was cool. I just remember genex pushing him hard one year then the next he was just another bull.

I agree, I seen some sisters and his momma and wow were they some good looking ladies! Neither of them are my pick for making show calves on clubby cows but I feel some of these clubby cows can really use their influence. Get some commercial traits bred back into them. Never understand why studs push bulls so hard as yearlings anyway. Let them prove themselves and people will follow!

 

[sue]

Thank you lightnin4 and CMANGUS for your info.  I guess we should just be focused on a live, easy birth but I was thinking if we could find a bull that was calving ease and could maybe give us just a little something extra it would be like the cherry on top!  Thanks again 

Seriously. you should look at Rocking Horse Tailor Made... He might be one of that last bulls at Select sires tha t  Roy Wallace chose.... this bull is calving ease with the pop at weaning.  I breed shorthorns and have some shx red angus but this is the first black bull I have ordered.

 

[knabe]

cow hide color temperatures have been measured.  from memory, black was hotter than red by 5-7 degrees F.

can't find the link but charolais would obviously excel.  charolais also seek shade less often and pant far less than black angus under heat stress.

maybe black is a defect.  in the snow, maybe not.

 

[comercialfarmer]

cow hide color temperatures have been measured.  from memory, black was hotter than red by 5-7 degrees F.

can't find the link but charolais would obviously excel.  charolais also seek shade less often and pant far less than black angus under heat stress.

maybe black is a defect.  in the snow, maybe not.

I may be wrong, but I was thinking that hide temperature could vary up to 25 degrees with dullness and hair length making a difference as well. 

 

[leanbeef]

In Focus has been used a LOT to make some SimAngus cattle, and as far as real world kinda cattle, I think he's been really successful for the most part. I had a purebred Angus In Focus daughter that I REALLY liked...she wasn't heavy boned, but not ugly or slab-sided by any stretch! Her calf got hurt and ended up dying last year and I had to sell her, and I wasn't happy about that. I did keep a daughter out of her that will calve this fall, and I like her more and more every day. Those cattle are born small, they grow and they'll scan. They're not really show cattle. And neither are the Objectives I've had, but I do like the Quakerhill Objective 1/2 bloods we've made...pretty nice females. The reason I ever used Objective OR QO was because I had a couple of REALLY nice females out of Objective's full brother, 2T22, a bull you don't hear much about. Those calves come little and they're pretty plain at first. By weaning, though, they start looking like a cow, and I have one 3 year old that's one of my favorite young cows in our herd. Out of good cow family, but her mother isn't particularly anything special type wise...

As far as older, proven Angus bulls, I'm not sure you can beat 878 for making mama cows. I have one crossbred cow out of 878 and I've seen several purebred Angus cows...they're just cookie cutter and made right. Super nice udders. He may not rank as high as In Focus on paper, but I really like those females. I don't hate In Focus for a commercial type scenario, though. There's also a SimAngus In Focus son named Dual Focus that I've heard a lot of good things about and makes some real nice females...really moderate and attractive.

 

[aj]

I wondered about the charolais color deal. Would white shorthorns actually have potential as a maternal advantage if heat does become a long term concern. I forgot if the white heifer disease was real or not. It was discussed on here.

 

[ploughshare]

Thank you lightnin4 and CMANGUS for your info.  I guess we should just be focused on a live, easy birth but I was thinking if we could find a bull that was calving ease and could maybe give us just a little something extra it would be like the cherry on top!  Thanks again 

If you are looking at solely ABS proven sires and you are wanting the cherry as well I think you have to take a hard look at Brilliance or Final Product.  Upgrade and Hoover Dam if you can't settle on one of them.  OK, I admit that I hate In Focus' front end, but if you want to go that route I would suggest Special Focus as an alternative, however, I have not seen calves out of the bull. Now there are a lot of frame size differences in these bulls, so choose wisely.

 

[leanbeef]

Thank you lightnin4 and CMANGUS for your info.  I guess we should just be focused on a live, easy birth but I was thinking if we could find a bull that was calving ease and could maybe give us just a little something extra it would be like the cherry on top!  Thanks again 

If you are looking at solely ABS proven sires and you are wanting the cherry as well I think you have to take a hard look at Brilliance or Final Product.  Upgrade and Hoover Dam if you can't settle on one of them.  OK, I admit that I hate In Focus' front end, but if you want to go that route I would suggest Special Focus as an alternative, however, I have not seen calves out of the bull. Now there are a lot of frame size differences in these bulls, so choose wisely.

I think that's a pretty decent short list. I was just looking at some of those bulls this morning, and those are probably at the top of my list as far as ABS sires. I think I'm leaning pretty far toward something like Coneally Consensus or EXAR Upshot...but nothing is set yet. I have registered Angus heifers & mature cows and some registered & commercial Simmie heifers, so...

 

[Moezmom]

The advice on bulls, by those who offered it, is much appreciated and will give us a lot to think about.

AJ, your thought on white cows having an advantage if heat becomes a long term issue is interesting but let me throw skin cancer into the mix.  We live in So California and know of half a dozen horses that have had to be put down due to Melanoma.  Not sure which is worse - heatstroke or cancer.

 

[Freddy]

There are feedyards that try to have as many lightier colored cattle as possible to beat the heat when feeding in summer months....Charolais cross excel at this time of the year in feedlots ,if you had cattle feeding now and had most of your problems with black cattle in the heat and was out counting 1300 ib. dead ones with what they are worth ,you proably would sure think about it .....Some feedlots use TASCO  in their feed to help cattle manage the heat .....

 

[aj]

You could be right Moezmom.......excellent post. I have always heard that most of worlds cattle were red cause they handled heat better. The Red Brangus always interested me.

 

[comercialfarmer]

The advice on bulls, by those who offered it, is much appreciated and will give us a lot to think about.

AJ, your thought on white cows having an advantage if heat becomes a long term issue is interesting but let me throw skin cancer into the mix.  We live in So California and know of half a dozen horses that have had to be put down due to Melanoma.  Not sure which is worse - heatstroke or cancer.

Pigmentation around the eyes is the biggest factor.  Hereford's can attest to that- look at incidence of cancer eye in good pigmented vs non-pigmented. 

 

[leanbeef]

Yep...we used to see cancer eye in white face Simmental without eye pigment as well, and Herefords are notorious for problems like that. I've also wondered about sunburn or even some type of skin cancer or other problems with light colored cattle. Cow hide is considerably thicker & tougher than horse hide though, so I'm not sure. I do know guys out west never liked solid coded Simment with white underlines or udders because they can cause problems.