Simmental bull on Commercial Angus Heifers

[dn91]

I've read some threads on here about Simmental calving ease bulls but I wasn't sure if these were results from crossing with Simmental heifer or any heifers. I have about 50 mostly commercial angus heifer I want to breed to a Simmental bull. All of the heifers we under 80 lbs at birth and unassisted.

The bulls I'm interested in are Built Right, In Dew Time, Goldmine, and Ranch Hand. Again, I'm curious how these bulls would work on commercial angus heifers, Thanks in Advance

 

[dn91]

I forget to mention the reason for my concern is that they are marked as calving ease but there birth weights seem to be a little high.

Built Right--87 lbs
In Dew Time-- 82 lbs
Goldmine-- 84 lbs
Ranch Hand-- 91 lbs

This is a huge difference when angus bull sired calves are in the 60-70 lb range

 

[firesweepranch]

All of those bulls are calving ease and I would have no problems using them on heifers. Did you look at Beef Maker? ABS carries him, and we used him on a Pioneer Angus heifer. She calved at two years old, unassisted, and had a 45 pound calf! A bit small for me, but better small and alive than big and dead! She has caught up to her contemporaries, so no worries. I will attach a pic I took of her recently.
Just my opinion, but I have used two of the four you had listed and had no problems. Built Right is one of my favorites to use, as long as the heifer has enough power to go with it.

 

[Davidsonranch]

I will say it over and over again as long people ask.  Ebony's Grandmaster.  Had 10 calves out of him and none even hit the 80 pound mark out of commercial angus cows.  Up and running within mins of being dropped.  And those who say the calves don't have enough grow, they must have just had a bad experience as mine outdid everything on the ranch.  Super safe and I love the offspring. WLE Uno Mas would be my second choice. 

 

[husker1]

No doubt these bulls will work on commercial heifers.  You'll also really appreciate the end results...at weaning and beyond!

 

[WKYIronMike]

I agree those bulls would work fine on angus heifers. There are several Simmental bulls out there now that would work well on heifers with ease. Did well with Triple C Bettis on some Angus Simmental Commercial heifers. Always remember though heifers are heifers and sometimes they don't tend to know what they are doing on their first calving. Just keep a eye on them and they should do fine.

 

[RyanChandler]

You'd think there would be some better options as far as lower birthweights are concerned. Something in the low 70lb range would be where I was looking. 

 

[husker1]

Remember, at least 2 of those bulls are ET's, so you can kinda throw out the actual birthweights.  Goldmine is a natural, and I'm not sure on Ranch Hand.  I know BR is an ET, and I'm thinking In Dew Time is too.  I guess I could look the others up, but didn't yet....

 

[Till-Hill]

We used In Dew Time on commercial heifers and they loved the calves but they had to assist more than they like to see. A bull we use every year is Jumpstart. Bet the ranch calving ease calves grow good and heifers turn into great cows. Grandmaster will get used in the next rotation also.

 

[kanshow]

We've used Goldmine a lot on hfrs and the only assists we've had are with malpresentations.  Calves come small and shape right but don't have as much grow as some of the other sires but if you are after a live calf then he works.  Have also used a lot of In Dew Time and he is our 'go to' bull for heifers.  Rarely do we assist but the calves go ahead and grow better.  We've also used Ranchhand and get along great.  Very few assists and growth wise the calves are somewhere between the Goldmines and In Dew Times.  We've also used Built Right a little bit and got along fine.    One thing about all 4 bulls is that you will like the daughters in production.  They may not be home runs on the show side but they will be great cows for you - udders, fertility, soundness are all there. 

 

[rackranch]

X2

You'd think there would be some better options as far as lower birthweights are concerned. Something in the low 70lb range would be where I was looking.

 

[CAB]

We've been happy with ACC1 Hustler over the years.
Is Shear Force still available at a reasonable price?

 

[Till-Hill]

We've been happy with ACC1 Hustler over the years.
Is Shear Force still available at a reasonable price?

Last I sold was for $80 unit. I got 12 left and think I will hold onto it. Great calving ease and awesome daughters. Have not seen any sell or heard of many units out there.

 

[kanshow]

Another simmi bull to look at for calving ease would be RCR Stetson.  And I agree, if you can get shear force at a reasonable price he would work as well. 

 

[Lucky_P]

Have had a few Bettis calves the past two seasons.  Small, easily born; using him on almost all of our Angus and AngusXShorthorn heifers this year. 
It's still pretty early and numbers are few, but I don't think Bettis brings quite as much growth to the table as his full-sib, Singletary, based on current performance trends in our herd.  Wish I'd bought more Singletary for use on mature cows...