SAV Bismarck Female

[cowboy_nyk]

Since it often gets brought up about what calving ease bull to use on clubbys and Bismarck is often mentioned, I thought I'd post a couple pics of my Bismarck 2yr old. 

The first pic is about three weeks after calving and the second is mid summer.  If you don't like her, that's ok but she's one of my personal favorites at my house.  Last pic is her calf at weaning this year.

 

[kiblercattle]

I like her and her calf. Have you had very many Bismarck calves? I have some semen in the tank but I ve heard reports about them being shallow heeled. Is that your experience?

 

[cowboy_nyk]

That's definitely a risk with some of his calves.  She tends to be bit that way herself. Not to such a degree that I will ever need to trim her feet or anything.  My parents have a handful of Bismarck cows that are better in that regard.  Like any bull, if you wish to use him, know his limitations.  I certainly wouldn't use him on a shallow heeled female, but on a clubby type (straighter leg) I see no reason not to.

His other  "fault" would be soft toplines.  I have seen some bulls out of him (including a couple of influential AI sires) that drop behind the shoulder like crazy.  Again, if you know this up front it's less of a problem.  This cow is just fine in her top.  Her bull calf has an exceptional topline so it's not like it's a major problem.

All that being said, we bred 20 more to Bismarck this year.  The females are hard to beat.  Amazing udder quality, wicked front ends, lots of volume.

 

[FriedgesCharolais]

I agree with cowboy nyk on everything he said. I have to calves out of first calf heifers that both break a little behind their shoulders. He definately brings some nice things to the table tho. As he said the calves are rocket fronted and what really got me was the amount of rib shape these calves exhibit at such a young age. I could add some pictures but they would be a lot like cowboys showing rib shape. The other thing that I really like is the fact that with all the stuff he brings to the table, granted some negetive, he does it with a 97% accuracy for calving ease and in my mind it is a no brainer to use him on first calf heifers whether they click or not. I am looking for a live calf at birth not a barn burner.

 

[RyanChandler]

Hard not to like that cow.  After depth, I think width is most important and she has plenty of it.

 

[Doc]

We bought an Angus bull to use as clean up on our heifers this year and he was out of a Bismarck 1st calf heifer. She was really nice with a 1st class udder. She was one of the things that helped sell me on this bull.

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Below is a terrible photo of our Bismarck son that we used on heifers.  He's a 2yr old.  Was pictured after breeding approx 30 females.  I think he has a lot of good attributes.  Most importantly, he bred 20+ heifers last year and we didn't touch on calf!

 

[cowboy_nyk]

I took my girl "Bizzy" out on the showroad last week and she was named Champion Female at our provincial Angus Show.  I snapped this pic on pasture when we got home and thought I would share.  She's my favorite cow so I never get tired of taking pictures of her.

 

[sizzler14]

This is our Bismarck heifer. She's a Bismarck x trademark x sheza dandy. Shes pretty green in the pic

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Sizzler, your heifer looks great.  Great front end, lots of middle, and looks to have plenty of thickness.  Hopefully she turns out as good as my Bismarck cows have.  If so you'll love them.

 

[sizzler14]

thank you. I'm a fan of her. I'm a FAn of his females. I think their very useful. They're the type that the cowboys want and the ones that don't necessarily fit the bill for the traders but raises the calves that do via natural or ET calves

 

[kiblercattle]

I really like your cow cowboy nyk. I kept 4 Bismarck fall heifer calves this spring and they look very similar to her. One has a little more attitude than I would like but I can work around that. I hope their feet hold up.

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Thanks Kibler.  I'm sure their feet will be functional.  We've got quite a few females between my parents' place and mine and they all seem to be ok.  Not all of them have "show ring quality" feet but they are all functional (no lameness, don't need trimmed) and all have exceptional udders.

Interesting on the attitude.  This particular cow has Net Worth as the MGS and Emulation EXT as the Great MGS so i assumed the worst.  She was a challenge to break but now she is the quietest cow on the farm.  My two year old daughter brings her town friends to come scratch Bizzy in the pasture.  She even rode her at the fair last week lol.

 

[cowboy_nyk]

This Bismarck bull calf was Reserve Champ bull at our provincial show.  He is super docile.  So much so that my 2 yr old showed him herself for the peewee class.  "My buddy Fargo!" was all she kept saying.  I'm not sure I'll ever be able to sell him now...

 

[simba]

The cow sure looks like a tank- she's got so much bone and power! Good luck with them!

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Well I intend to turn Mary KT 30Z into a donor so I thought I should get her pictured.  Wife and I managed to snap this one (without ending in divorce).  She really is an ideal type of femal in my mind (the cow and my wife  )

 

[cowboy_nyk]

We sold the heifer calf off our girl last fall and just got an updated picture (below) from the buyers.  I'm really happy with how the calf is coming along, especially for just an April baby. Also is a pic of my cow getting her scratch.  She's due any day now. Hoping for another heifer!

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Snapped a couple pics of the 2016 heifer calf off my Bismarck cow.  Before and after the clip job.

 

[cowboy_nyk]

She had a bull this year. 

 

[Simmgal]

Well, this just makes me want to use Bismark now! Very impressive set of cattle! I'm really liking your cow's build, and her calves knock my socks off even more!  (thumbsup)