Club sires for disposition

Since the "other topic" said you get everything you want out of a club calf sire, except disposition - it made me think.....are there proven sires with a reputation for puppy dog gentle offspring?  The ones that are notoriously easy to break and easy to pair up with with first time showman?  I ask this because I have an 8 yr old. 

My Firewater (purebred charolais) have all been this way.  Embryos raised by recips, didn't matter, they have all been gentle and walk up to you in the pasture wanting attention.

What I have seen is that the MAB's usually have a real good disposition. I do think I have seen any that were real nervous or mean. Another sire is Harlem Shake I had two flush mates that both were dog gentle. Had them tied up once then brought in washed, blown out, and clipped the 2nd time they ever had a halter on. One steer is in Nebraska being shown by a 9 year old little girl and the heifer is here at the barn being shown by one of our good friends daughter. This heifer does not have a mean or nervous bone in her body. I have a friend that also had a couple Harlems on his fall sale and they were all dog gentle as well.

I will second what you say about MAB.  They may vary in quality but all the ones I have had have excellent dispositions and tons of hair. 

Suh (pb Maine) calves ive seen have all been super quiet.

We have had good luck with Ali and Dirty Harry

I ditto the comments about MAB, we've had three all have been good with young kids.  My kids are young and small and we've had dog tame ones out of Monop, Ali, My Turn, Mossy Oak, Leroy Brown, WMW and Alias. 

I think the My Turn may have been a fluke, I saw quite a few that were pretty nervous.  Ours was out of a fairly snorty PB Limi cow, but the calf was dog gentile!

The only ones that we ever really had a problem with was a HW/WMW steer, and we have a Monop/HS heifer this year that has that shakey ear syndrome. 

About the BIM's.... We saw a TON of this last fall, probably 50+.  They were all pretty good, but there was only two that had a good enough disposition to trust with any kid.  They were nervous and a bit flighty.  I really want to use BIM, I'm not sure I want to put up w/the attitudes w/little kids around.  Maybe when my kids are a bit older and can handle something with a little stank to it. 

I have never had a Monopoly with a poor disposition and I am trying to think of another bull that I could say that about.The Throttle ,SugarRay,Ildeno all sired many champions but their disposition in some cases wasn't the best.

cowpoke said:

I have never had a Monopoly with a poor disposition and I am trying to think of another bull that I could say that about.The Throttle ,SugarRay,Ildeno all sired many champions but their disposition in some cases wasn't the best.

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Most of the Sugar Ray's that I was around were pretty crazy.  It is tough for me to say they were all that way because back then I was clipping a lot of sale cattle that hadn't been handled much.

I have only had a few Unstoppables but they have been extra gentle, as have my Monopoly calves.  Walks is a different story--all over the place disposition wise.  Have one now that is puppy gentle but have had a few that weren't so gentle with most somewhere in between.

Possum Trot Ranch said:

I have only had a few Unstoppables but they have been extra gentle, as have my Monopoly calves.  Walks is a different story--all over the place disposition wise.  Have one now that is puppy gentle but have had a few that weren't so gentle with most somewhere in between.

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I second your Walks Alone comment.

Another thing I think should be taken into account. Sometimes I think early interaction with people can be equally important. Two years ago I had a very good steer out of a old show heifer but he was nervous/spooky. His dam is tame as can be, but I didn't spend much time around him till 4-5 months old. Last spring I had a full sib and took 20-30 minutes a day the first two weeks or so and just spent time in the pen with the calf. Nothing fancy, just combing/petting/sitting by it. That calf will follow you wherever you went whether it be in a pen or pasture to this day. So I would encourage you, if your cows allow it to spend time with the calves right after they are born...you can always encourage the cows to stay close with a little corn.

CRYTSTAL CREEK ...With your good Charolais cow's the MONOPOLY bull is a can't miss as far as quality and super disposition.....I have had also very good luck with the CARNAC  bull .....Haven't had  enough experience with MAB YET, but will know at this time next year ...

I have had very good luck with my matings up until this past year, I had several BIM's this past year and holy cow did I get a lesson. I will say that after we had them haltered 3 times they started to settle down and now do very well but those first few days were interesting. I would like to know if anyone knows if BIM progeny have problems stressing, I lost one the first time she was tied up and I believe she had a stress related heart attack. I did not have a autopsy done but that is my suspicion.

Oddly enough I was told by several that Two Tone calves would be completely nuts, but I never had any problems with them.

Pretty small sample for me to draw much of an opinion but I will start the BIM calves a little differently next time.

My gosh people.  Everyone keeps skirting around him.  Jesse James.  Jesse James.  Jesse James.  From Texas to WI, not only do they have great dispositions, they have personalities.  Wake up!  Calving ease, easing doing, hair, works on all types of cows, and some of the best calves I've ever worked with.  And my friends, family and associates will all say the same thing.

Freddy said:

CRYTSTAL CREEK ...With your good Charolais cow's the MONOPOLY bull is a can't miss as far as quality and super disposition.....I have had also very good luck with the CARNAC  bull .....Haven't had  enough experience with MAB YET, but will know at this time next year ...

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Mr Fred,
We had a jam up Monopoly ET this year, silver one pictured below hours after birth, but unfortunately we lost him at 3 days.  We put in another from the same flush and hopefully the outcome will be better this fall.  We have a MAB half brother ET also, same donor.  We haven't handled him at all yet, and his recip mom is at the ET center getting another egg so we'll see what his disposition will be like very soon when she gets back as we intend to wean and start breaking him.  Wanted to try BIM on this donor, and ordered the semen to do it, but holding off until my showman is older and more experienced.  We flushed to Heatwave, may put one of those in for a Feb/Mar calf as our county fair is in the fall.

We'll be bottle raising a MAB natural calf out of another donor this fall that has fibrosis and can't feed her own calf.  I'm sure that'll be a good first steer for her to play around with.  The purebred heifer we just hand raised from same female is a doll; she's been a lot of fun.

Cattle Cards I love that pic of the Jesse James calf.  Here's a Bells & Whistles (char) same crazy puppy dog personality.

And a couple more of my Jesse James heifers.

The few Monopolies I've been around have all been puppy dog tame

There are exceptions to every rule. I agree that as a whole the Monopolies are gentle but I had one out of a playmate cow a few years ago that was a good rascal but he would absolutely get in your hip pocket. Remember, they are all getting their DNA from two different sources and sometimes any of these traits can pop up from a  generation or two back. That is the nature of livestock breeding! There are very few if any absolutes.

I have a mono heifer out of a irish whiskey just just wants to run away from you all the time in the pen, but when you have her on the halter she will stand with you and not try to run away.

Had our first MAB's this year...  while feeding, the MAB's will come up to you and follow you around.  Real gentle.