which one of these Maine heifers would you take home if any

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jbzdad

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I weaned the May calves today and took these pics... I had to go back after dark for one shot but bear with me ... I will try to get photos and descriptions up in 3 posts before I quit

which one would you take home ... which one will place highest in a breeding heifer show in a year

the first calf #77 is a 5/8 maine .. Top shelf x 3/8 total control grandaughter.. she is going to be about a 1200 pound cow.. will be TH.. PHA clean...
 

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jbzdad

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The second is a red purebred... same sire (Top Shelf)  out of a Power plus grandaughter.. this Dam is PHA positive... this calf is the most muscled of the 3 heifers
 

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jbzdad

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The third heifer is a purebred out of a GVC cow and GVC Suh.. she has always been kinda loose jointed and gangly.. still that way but has enough bone and thickness... kinda horse headed like her Dam.. not sure that matters?
 

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jbzdad

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well this has been a little exercise in picture re-sizing and posting... sorry about the dark shot on the Suh Heifer... would appreciate any input regarding which heifers would be most desirable and which ones should go straight to the feedlot!
 

knabe

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i like the red one.  if she's a carrier, breed her to the full sib of heat wave that's clean.
 

jbzdad

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I am trying to raise Maine breeding heifers .. more than club calves.... but I agree .. if you later bred the red heifer to Bojo I think the calf would still be 3/4 ... the red heifer is TH neg so could use TH positive if you were thinking  terminal ... not trying to raise maine breeding heifers
 
J

JTM

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I like the red heifer the most and would take her home. I am a sucker for good red/white purebred Maines. Breed her to a purebred Shorthorn and breed up Shorthorn. It works really well.  ;D

Here's one of mine we have for sale. Sired by a Shorthorn out of a purebred red/white Maine.
 

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Mueller Show Cattle

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Red and White, she has a better build. The PHA is not a big deal if you watch what you breed her with, there is more TH carriers out there than PHA carriers. So you could still breed her to a TH carrier and get a good calf.
 

Telos

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This is a difficult call IMO. Popular genetics on all three. Go with your gut and what you want in a breading program.
 

vc

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I think all three have their pluses, my question on the red and white is, does her coloring makes her look a little tight gutted and longer legged or is she a little tighter gutted? She may also be younger and in a different stage of growth, other than that I love her muscle and correctness. the 2 blacks look a little softer made to me, in the pictures.
 

jbzdad

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bingo to VC... when we have tried to show these tighter muscled up females as breeding females the judges say they are "too Terminal" and will make good steer mamas but not what they are looking for in heifers... The red heifer isn't tight gutted but certainly doesn't have the rib and softness of the Suh heifer... while the 5/8 heifer Kinda splits that difference and has plenty of power in her own right... she gives up quite a bit of bone thickness to the Suh heifer... all of them walk out OK... just not sure if the Suh heifer is ever gonna be as "pretty " as the red... certainly the Suh has the most hair
 

vc

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She (r/w) looks like a more traditional Maine Anjou (not just the color), more athletic, look at the examples they use on the Oklahoma State- Cattle Breeds page, she has that look.
 

VJ

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Go with the Suh heifer for raising Maine cattle. Today's Maine cattle are black.You will constantly fight the red color and white legs with her offspring. Most of the GVC cattle are homo polled and homo black for several generations and those GVC genetics are hard to beat in the PB Maine business. 
 

knabe

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breed the red and white one to a gvc homo solid homo black homo polled bull.  she's better phenotypically, which is multitrait.  the other 3 issues are easier to "fix" and if she's a carrier, you can fix that along with the other 3 "defects".
 

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